Even though the 2022 Subaru Outback, Ascent, Legacy, and Crosstrek Hybrid get the highest IIHS safety awards, why not the Crosstrek and Impreza? See why the 2022 Crosstrek and Impreza fall short.
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Subaru has four models with the highest score for customers looking to buy a new all-wheel-drive vehicle. The 2022 Subaru Outback, Ascent, Legacy, and Crosstrek earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ 2022 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) safety awards. The 2022 Forester and 2022 WRX were not available at the testing time.
Why do the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek and Impreza get the lesser Top Safety Pick awards, and why don't they earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ scores? There are two reasons why.
To qualify for a Top Safety Pick+ award, vehicles must have "good" ratings in all six of the institute's crashworthiness tests. Vehicles also must have front-crash prevention that the institute considers "advanced" or "superior." The 2022 Subaru Crosstrek and Impreza meet these requirements when equipped with Subaru's Eyesight safety technology.
The Crosstrek and Impreza come standard with a manual transmission, and Subaru's EyeSight driver assist technology is not compatible with the manual gearbox. The models without EyeSight don't get the highest scores and can't be included with the CVT transmission models.
Another category where the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek and Impreza fall short is their headlights. The Top Safety Pick+ is only awarded to models that meet all the requirements and must have "good" or "acceptable" headlights across trim levels and packages. This is where the Crosstrek and Impreza still fall short. Not all trims have the best headlights.
2022 Crosstrek Base, Premium, and Sport trim come with Halogen headlights and get a "Poor" rating. The Crosstrek Limited trim has LED projector headlines and earns a "Good" rating. All 2022 Impreza trim levels come with Halogen reflector headlights and get a "Marginal" rating.
Subaru will likely improve the Crosstrek and Impreza headlights and offer the best LED projector headlights across all trim levels and packages when they get a complete remodel for the 2023 model year.
They could drop manual transmission models with the next-generation models. When Subaru makes these two changes, both Crosstrek and Impreza will earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ awards.
The 2022 Subaru Outback midsize SUV, Crosstrek Hybrid subcompact SUV, Ascent 3-Row SUV, and Legacy sedan earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ award. The 2022 Subaru Crosstrek and Impreza earn Top Safety Pick awards. The 2022 Forester and WRX will test soon.
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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Photo credit: Subaru USA
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