Subaru sent me another 2021 Crosstrek to drive this week because the car I was supposed to get became indisposed. I’ve already reviewed this little Soobie (here), so this article will focus on one aspect of the Crosstrek, which isn’t really about the Crosstrek, per se.
It’s about what it’s available with and what it’s not. That being a six-speed manual transmission.
They are generally rare and unavailable, specifically in the Crosstrek’s small crossover class–every one of its rivals like the Mazda CX30, Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, and Jeep Renegade are automatic-only.
Automatic only models render them less appealing to drivers who like to, you know, drive. Without a third pedal, you’ve lost at least a third of what there is to do, as a driver. It’s less fun, and you have less control.
With a manual, the up and downshifts occur when you decide, period.
While it is true that most modern automatics have a “manual” function that lets you hold the automatic in first or downshift to second from third (and so on) contrary to the programming in Drive, the computer still has overall control. It will not let you downshift into first (and so on) if the car is above a certain speed nor down to second (and so on) if it judges that doing so would result in over-speeding the engine.
This is by no means a bad thing. It keeps you from grenading your engine. But it also keeps you under control.
Not just as regards when to shift up or down, either.
There is no automatic analog to slipping the clutch when launching the car from a stop. You can hold the brake and load the converter, by flooring the gas, but that is not the same.
Another thing is that, contrary to what you may have read, a manual-equipped car can outperform an automatic-equipped version of the same thing when it comes to gas mileage. You may have read the contrary because that is what’s generally published on the window sticker.
An automatic-equipped version of a given car will usually tout a 3-4 MPG overall advantage vs. the same car with a manual. This helps sell the automatic-equipped version, which generally costs more because automatics (especially modern, electronically controlled automatics) cost more to design and build than manuals, which remain fundamentally mechanical devices not much changed from those put in cars 30 or 40 or even 50 years ago.
It’s a twofer for the car companies. They can tout the automatic-equipped car’s putative gas mileage advantage and take advantage of the higher gas mileage averages regarding the government’s mandatory-minimum MPG standards (CAFE). Anything that boosts the average is a boon, though not necessarily in real life.
The automatic-equipped car can be programmed to the test, that is, programmed to shift in such a way as to deliver the best-possible MPG numbers on the tests used by the government to establish those city/highway numbers you see on the new car window sticker.
And so, they do.
But when you are driving the car and not trying to score the best on a test, the mileage can vary significantly. Because your right foot over-rides the programming, causing the transmission to shift from overdrive (or from sixth to fourth) to keep the car that’s coming up fast behind you from pile-driving into you, to merge with traffic without becoming a traffic hazard, and so on.
That chews away at the on-paper numbers, and then you have the efficiency losses that come with most automatics, which have to allow some slippage through the torque converter as when the car is in gear but not moving to keep the engine from stalling as it would with a manual, in gear.
A manual-equipped car can equal or better the MPG numbers posted by the automatic-equipped version of the same thing if it is driven by someone who knows how to drive a manual-equipped car.
It will also usually save you money in the case of the Crosstrek, $1,100. That’s the difference in price between the manual-equipped Crosstrek ($22,495) and the same thing with an automatic ($23,595) if you can find a dealer who has one available or who is willing to order you one.
After I published my review, several readers wrote me to express their frustration about not being able to find a manual-equipped Crosstrek at their local Subaru store. And about the unwillingness of these dealers to order one.
All they had on the lot were the automatic-equipped versions. Naturally, the dealership wants to sell those. Because it bought them by taking out a loan to get them and each month longer they sit on the lot increases the dealer’s carrying costs. And each month that goes by means another month closer to the new model year, which is not always the following calendar year. When the new whatever-it-is comes out, say in mid-summer, the remaining inventory of still-new-but-now-the-old-model of whatever-it-is usually goes down in value.
Plus, the automatic-equipped versions are usually more loaded, so there’s more money to be made on them.
But that doesn’t mean you should give up the third pedal. Instead, be relentless. Tell the dealer you want to buy the car with the manual and won’t buy it with an automatic. Email every dealer in your area and tell them you want to buy, but only if they can get you the manual.
And if that doesn’t work, call the company — in this case, Subaru. Let them know their dealer won’t sell you the car you want to buy. It’s worth the hassle, even though there shouldn’t be one.
Eric Peters lives in Virginia and enjoys driving cars and motorcycles. In the past, Eric worked as a car journalist for many prominent mainstream media outlets. Currently, he focuses his time writing auto history books, reviewing cars, and blogging about cars+ for his website EricPetersAutos.com.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
