This is the Master Landing Page for the Scion tC. From now on, as we further review this car, we will be updating this page with whatever fresh content we create. Future drive reviews, updated specifications, videos, and other relevant information will all be found right here, in one convenient spot.
Toyota’s game of one-upmanship goes something like this: take a GT86, the nimble, light, and fun-to-drive coupe, whose American cousin was one of our top cars, and remove the roof. Then place on a plinth and gauge critical and public reaction.
The iQ EV joins Toyota’s RAV4 EV and Prius Plug-In Hybrid as the Japanese brand’s chargeable offerings. It only packs 63 horsepower, but torque is up to 120 pound-feet. Combine that with a 50 mile range and a three-hour charge time on a 240-volt plug, and it makes a fair bit of sense as a gas-free city car. It should hit 60 miles per hour in a leisurely 13.4 seconds, and will cover 30 to 50 miles per hour in nearly half that time. Top speed is 78 miles per hour.
The basic reason that many enthusiasts will have trouble with the FR-S and BRZ is that many sports car buyers still accept the logic of “faster is better” and the related meme “more power is faster.” I propose here that these ideas will be less of an issue to greenformance buyers, and therefore that the FR-S and BRZ might be the car(s) you’ve been waiting for. If not those cars, there are others that fit a similar model of driving pleasure.
This year at the North American International Auto Show, Scion shows us what’s possible with the new FR-S by unveiling the 600HP Scion Racing/GReddy FR-S Drift Car. We’ve captured the full media experience, with this, up-close-and-personal press conference video.
Scion Racing brought its 600-horsepower GReddy FR-S drifter to the auto show in Detroit. With 500 pound-feet of torque, it should have no trouble breaking the rear wheels loose and make big clouds of smoke when it competes in the Formula Drift series next year.
Today, we saw the upcoming Scion FR-S in the flesh. We were able to put together this gallery of live images from the show floor.
Ask me which of the boxes (Scion xB, Kia Soul, Nissan Cube) I’d drive, my response was, and continues to be, the Kia Soul. That’s because the Kia walks the line; it avoids feeling too big like the obese xB while delivering a firmer ride than the squishy Nissan Cube. It doesn’t hurt that its funky styling is the freshest execution of the box-on-wheels-theme.
With the iQ, Scion is launching one of the few really different cars that we’ll see for 2012. Having spent time driving it on the streets of San Francisco and the highways and winding roads of Marin County, we can report that the iQ is very nearly brilliant in its concept and execution. We can also forecast that 99 percent of you will see the iQ as a curiosity or a bore, not as a real alternative to the 499 other models on the market. The remaining 1 percent, on the other hand, will find the iQ close to ideal, though it takes some mental effort to fully appreciate Scion’s philosophy.
Today Winding Road brings you a brand new video short of this stylishly modified 2011 Scion xB.
We came across an interesting statistic while working on the Quick Drive of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X SE last week. By cross referencing the Evo’s score on the Involvement Index, we discovered that each point of involvement would cost about $411. Compare that to our Index-topping Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sports, which with a $2.58-million price tag will cost approximately $26,000 per point, and you see the bargain that the Evo represents.
Scion has revealed its version of the rear-wheel-drive, boxer-powered sports coupe. Called the FR-S (which stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport), the attractive concept is inspired by Toyota’s iconic AE86 Corolla.
We are rather familiar with Toyota’s long-awaited FT-86 rear-drive sports car, having seen an agonizing number of concepts. What we aren’t sure of yet, is which badge it’ll be wearing when it finally hits dealer showrooms. If Scion’s latest teaser video is any indication, don’t count on it being a Toyota.
The new Scion tC removes a lot of the things I didn’t like about the last car. It feels a lot more solid, and less bouncy in the suspensions, which also gives it the nice characteristic of being a better communicator. Steering, while still a bit numb, doesn’t feel like it uses a system of rubber bands to turn the wheels. The chewy, springy sensation in the pedals is also fixed, making footwork in the tC more accurate and, to a greater degree, more pleasant. Scion even addressed the front seats, building in a lot more bolstering and comfort this time around.