The Subaru Crosstrek turned out to be a bit more difficult to find good mounting locations versus what we have previously experienced with Subaru. While we were still able to come up with a few good suggestions, there are several places that aren’t going to work well.
We previously looked at the Subaru Impreza and Subaru Ascent. The Subaru Crosstrek is more difficult. We will go through the most popular locations and discuss the pros and cons.
Subaru Crosstrek Mount Analysis
By the way, you may have noticed we left out the tablet in our title as a device for mounting in a Subaru Crosstrek. A tablet is almost impossible to comfortably mount. The interior is too compact and we don’t think it’s possible to mount a tablet comfortably and safely.
Our requisite photo of the interior of a Subaru Crosstrek accompanies this article. The design is fairly similar to other Subaru SUVs including the second display console popping out of the upper middle of the dashboard. Unlike other Subaru SUVs profiled on our site, this one has vertical vent slats.
So just to get it out of the way, forget using the vents as a mount point. The vertical louvers together with the shape of the vents themselves make this a poor location. Not impossible, but very difficult. We’re fans of vent mounts, just not in a Subaru Crosstrek. So let’s move on to a few areas that will work better.
The most obvious and easiest location for mounting a phone or tablet in a Subaru Crosstrek is the windshield. The dash can also be used either in front or on top of the secondary display.
Some Mount Recommendations for a Subaru Crosstrek
Our go-to mount for the windshield is the Arkon MegaGrip Suction Cup Windshield and Dash Mount. These fits an Apple iPhone 6s Plus with a big thick Otterbox Defender case so it’s going to fit almost any phone. The mount features a vacuum locked suction assembly attached to a pivoting arm. The phone can swivel into any orientation. The mount also comes with an adhesive disk at no additional charge so that you can stick to the dash and turn this into a console mount. The suction assembly can adhere to the adhesive disk just like it would on a windshield.
If you remove the cradle and dual T adapter from this mount, it will fit a Garmin GPS, but if you just need the bare GPS mount then get the Arkon Windshield Dash Garmin Nuvi Suction Mount. It’s longer than the stock mount from Garmin and fits the back of the cradle that came with the GPS. The mount also comes with a dash disk to turn this into a dashboard selection if desired.
If you already have a suction mount but want to use it on the dash, that’s easy. Add the The iOttie Adhesive Dashboard Pad for use on the dashboard. It’s a semi-permanent adhesive accessory which works in conjunction with the suction cup mount. The bottom has an adhesive surface and the top is smooth like your windshield. Clean the dash area before application to free it of dust or oil. Now stick the suction cup from the mount to the smooth surface on this dash disk. When it’s time to remove the dash pad, read our article on removing an adhesive mount.
Like other Subaru models we have seen, the cup holder is a problem when it comes to a mount. The cup holders are set too far back to be easily accessible by the driver, especially with the seat all the way up towards the steering wheel. So let’s avoid cup holder mounts in the Subaru Crosstrek.
We have been encountering fewer vehicles with a CD player installed. Fortunately the Subaru Crosstrek isn’t one of them and includes this accessory on most models. Consider the Apps2Car CD Slot Mount uses a knob on the bottom to secure the mount within the CD player. I prefer this mount to others in this category as it will permit a more custom and secure fitting. You don’t want the mount to rattle around inside the player. The cradle opens to almost 4 inches which is wide enough for most phones and many GPS devices.
So where does that leave us for a Subaru Crosstrek? The best locations are the windshield, dash and CD Player. The cup holder and vent are poor choices. A smartphone and GPS can be mounted easily but we put a tablet on the no fly zone due to space constraints.