2021 Subaru Crosstrek vs 2022 Land Rover Defender

The Crosstrek applies the successful formula of the Subaru Outback to a smaller vehicle. Like the Outback, the Crosstrek is an ordinary car that gets a raised ride height and plastic body cladding to make it look like an SUV, plus standard all-wheel drive. But while the Outback is based on the Subaru Legacy, the Crosstrek is a derivative of the Subaru Impreza.

Subaru launched the Crosstrek for the 2013 model year as a replacement for the Outback Sport. The current Crosstrek was introduced for the 2018 model year as the second generation of the model.

The 2021 Subaru Crosstrek is the same basic vehicle as before, but gets a handful of notable updates. In Canada, new Outdoor trim level joins the previous Convenience, Touring, and Sport, and Limited trim levels, and a 2.5-litre engine is now available alongside the previous 2.0-litre engine. The 2021 Crosstrek also gets an upgraded version of Subaru’s EyeSight driver-assistance system.

Over seven decades in the car business, Land Rover has shifted from making utilitarian vehicles prized by farmers, explorers, and soldiers to making luxury vehicles prized by wealthy suburbanites. The 2022 Land Rover Defender aims to bridge the gap between Land Rover’s past and present.

As other Land Rover models got more luxurious, the original Defender carried on as a rugged, basic off-roader. While Land Rover stopped selling the old school Defender in North America during the 1990s, it remained in production for other markets until 2016. By that time, Land Rover was already planning a clean-sheet redesign that brought the Defender back to North America for the 2020 model year.

The new Land Rover Defender contrasts the automaker’s other models, like the Discovery and Range Rover, with an emphasis on ruggedness. It’s still bigger and cushier than the original Defender, but less fancy than its sibling models. And like the original Defender, the new model is available in two-door 90 and four-door 110 body styles. A three-row, eight-seat Land Rover Defender 130 body style is also on the way for the 2023 model year.

Meanwhile, changes for the 2022 model year include a new optional 11.4-inch touchscreen, standard wireless phone charging, and an expansion of trim levels. The Defender 90 gets a new X-Dynamic SE trim, and a new V8 powertrain option debuts for both the 90 and Defender 110. Shared with other Jaguar Land Rover products, the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 provides a serious boost in performance. We sampled it in a Defender 90 for this review.