While most competitors in the compact crossover field created a dedicated design, the Subaru XV Crosstrek is a more straight-forward approach. They simply started with their Impreza five-door hatch, giving it a healthy suspension lift and a punchy dose of off-road visuals.

While that is oversimplifying it, that is in essence what we have here and I think it works quite well. Its black plastic cladding protects from nature that would reach out and touch it. And its 17-inch alloy wheels have taller sidewall tires than many, making it better out here in the rough.

Though our Limited model has extras on the exterior like heated body color side mirrors, auto on-off headlights, and power sunroof, those alloy wheels are standard equipment even on the base model as are the fog-lights. Not bad for a vehicle which starts at just over $21,000.

The interior of our Limited was well outfitted with heated leather seats, and a heated leather steering wheel. The design here is basic in layout, executed with quality materials and has a rugged feel that gives you the sense it will last.

The front seats were both manually adjustable even on the Limited, but enabled enough range to be comfortable for both taller and shorter drivers in our office. The driver seat gets height adjustments to go along with the tilt and telescoping steering wheel.

Rear seat space is pretty generous here with a lower cushion high enough off the floor to be comfortable for longer trips. The seats of course fold down in a 40/60 split pretty easily and offer up a flat load floor which is nice.

Switchgear is of a higher than average feel and quality whether on the dash or the steering wheel. With the constantly variable transmission, ours also had steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters along with its various controls.

With its Option Package 23, our tester had the top-line infotainment and audio system with Starlink and Navigation. This bought all currently available connectivity options both hardwired and wireless, and a suite of connected services.

The audio quality still left room for improvement here, as did its overall usability. The capacitive touch screen is sometimes slow to react, the menus not all that intuitively laid out, and the learning curve quite steep. Adding to the frustration is the glossy screen which is hard to see in sunlight.

In scoring the interior, its material quality, storage, and comfort all come together to earn high marks. It’s easily a five star cabin, which is rare in this class. Technologies on the other hand are a mixed bag. Audio quality is a downer. And while the Eyesight system works exceptionally well, the fact that it defaults to on makes it annoying, therefore we score this category at three stars.

Under the hood of the XV Crosstrek is the brand’s venerable 2.0 liter flat-four cylinder Boxer engine. Here it generates 148 horsepower and is rated at 26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway and 29 mpg combined with the constantly variable transmission.

The CVT does however afford good fuel economy. We achieved 30 mpg for our week with it combined city and highway. The available five-speed manual transmission might be more fun to drive, though it is rated a few mpg less than the CVT.

Scoring the powertrain like the technologies was a mixed bag. The engine provides a reasonably smooth and refined demeanor, with adequate power. The CVT just kills the fun, bringing our powertrain score to four stars.

The suspension on the XV Crosstrek is beefed up considerably over the standard Impreza. With its electronically controlled active torque-split all-wheel drive system it has an impressive if not class leading 8.7-inches of ground clearance.

The chassis impresses with its compliant ride over the rough stuff, but also its control and handling on the highway and around town. The off-road oriented ride height and suspension do trade off some highway handling sharpness however. Overall though, it earns four stars.

When it comes to safety, Subaru seems to be taking on the role as the Volvo of Japanese brands. The IIHS awards it the high honor of Top Safety Pick+ due to its good ratings on all their tests but also because of its advanced crash prevention technologies.

Following up that praise is our scoring for quality feel. Fit and finish were flawless all around, and this thing just feels like its gonna last. The only complaints really were rattles and squeaks through the cabin when off the pavement. Overall, it checks in with four stars here.

The total price at just under $30,000 with all its features makes for a good value and one we rate at five stars. When combined with all the rest of the categories, the 2015 Subaru XV Crosstrek earns a four of five star rating for our test drive.