Is Subaru AWD The Best? - A New Crosstrek Sport Just Failed The "Slip Test"
The 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, Crosstrek, and Ascent SUVs all come standard with Symmetrical all-wheel-drive, but is it the best? The Fast Lane Car (TFL) puts the newly-refreshed 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Sport through a "slip test," and it doesn't do well.
What is a slip test?
TFL uses a slip test to put a car on a small section of an industrial conveyor roller to see if the car can pull itself off. This simulates having a wheel stuck in extremely slick conditions like ice or deep snow where there is minimal traction. TFL puts the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek through three tests.
Photo credit: The Fast Lane Car
The first test puts both front wheels of the 2021 Crosstrek Sport in the rollers. The small SUV pulls itself off with no problem. Next, they do a diagonal slip test where the front left and rear right wheel is put in the rollers. The driver puts the Crosstrek in X-Mode, and it takes a bit more power, and the car drives off the two diagonal rollers.
Next is the three-wheel slip test. Both rear wheels are stuck along with the front left wheel. The Crosstrek does not get itself off the rollers in regular all-wheel-drive or X-Mode. When the driver puts it in deep snow and mud dual-function X-Mode, the small SUV gets off the three rollers.
Photo credit: The Fast Lane Car
The last test puts both front wheels in the rollers along with the rear left wheel. In standard all-wheel-drive, the car sits on the rollers and the wheels spin. In dual-function X-Mode, the Crosstrek eventually makes it off the rollers. The driver says, "That was way too hard for a Subaru."
Does the TFL slip test prove the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek is not as effective in snow and ice as it should be? Torque News reached out to Subaru of America and asked for their response to the slip test. A Subaru spokesman said, "I had the opportunity to review the video. No comment on TFL's test."
What is our response to the TFL video? We live at 8300 feet elevation in the mountains west of Denver, Colorado, where the conditions are severe. We have owned many Subaru vehicles and have tested every model Subaru manufactures. In deep snow, ice, mud, and off-pavement conditions, we have never been stuck in a Subaru vehicle.
With the right winter tires, Subaru's Symmetrical all-wheel-drive offers the best traction of any small SUV. X-Mode will help in every day driving to capitalize on the traction available and provide sure-footedness over and above what is afforded by Subaru's full-time all-wheel-drive system.
We think TFL's slip test using industrial rollers to spin the wheels does not provide a real-world scenario of what happens when one, two, or three wheels begin to slip. It would be too hard for any small SUV.
Are the 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek the best all-wheel-drive SUVs? In our experience, in severe weather conditions, Subaru's Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system will get you home safely. X-Mode offers additional traction in challenging off-road conditions where there is deep snow, ice, and mud.
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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: The Fast Lane Car