Drove the Scion tC

(Why is this relevant to the 5th gen? GM needs to get one of these in for the interior design and marketing study, FAST ASAP!!)

So I just got back from Chacho's (on Westheimer, in Houston). Awful food, and the service was like prison or high school.

But screw that. The Scion was the main event. They were holding a short test drive event around the block and down Westheimer. They were automatics, pretty much bone stock.

It's freakin' awesome. Good torque, good acceleration, fantastic interior quality, fantastic HVAC controls (GM please to be taking a hint here) and a great factory radio to boot. The 'dual sunroof' has two sliding vinyl (??) shades that cover it just as well as any solid cardboard/plastic piece would, with the advantage of storing away neatly in a 5"-wide space between the front and rear roof windows.

Pulling out onto the side street, it was pretty willing to rev up from the get-go (you do NOT need to rev this thing up to get power out of it) and I believe the redline was around 7000-7500 RPM. The steering was precise but soft, good for everyday driving duty. The steering wheel was just plastic-rimmed or whatever, no leather wrap. The gauges were slick and looked stylish as well, but I'm not sure about readability at night.

The seats were covered in some kind of lycra or something. It also seemed to be a high-quality fabric and felt very nice in the summer heat, despite being black.

As for the interior... there's been a lot of talk about this! I guess...

The giant HVAC knob felt OK, and the sunroof switches were definitely on the cheap (Corolla or something...), but they're out of sight most of the time. The rest of the controls were awesome. The interior panels had a sort of rice-paper look. If you haven't seen that before, it's a horizontal grain that seems to make the interior panels feel more soft to the touch and firmly installed.

Chevrolet could learn a lesson from this. I'm going to test drive a manual trans version when they're available. (Note on the manual -- shifter is on the rubbery side.)

I want one.

The tC sounds like a good car, but it's exterior looks rather bland.

Giving kudos to GM, the pre-production Colbalt I saw at the LA press unveiling had a splended interior for the market it's going to be sold at, and it wasn't even the final version (which was to be upgraded before production).

I think if people can get over the Cavalier look-alike exterior (aside from the tail lights), the Colbalt will wow just about everybody. At least the Cavalier was basically a very good looking car. :)

If they had gone a little farther on the exterior, it would have been a "Gotta Have It".

Yeah, you'll notice I didn't say much about the exterior. I like it, but it's definitely missing a wow factor. It hasn't even got a spoiler!

But the IS300-inspired (IMO) nose piece and the sort of bulky profile give it a certain appeal. The inteior and option packages would really sell me on this car, though, and the aftermarket supercharger is a great idea. Why didn't GM think of this first? Oh wait... ;)

After seeing the vague, sketchy shots from the Scion commercials, I checked one out on line this morning. I was attracted to the tC.

It looks from their website like a really nicely designed, competitive 4cyl coupe. Nice lines, headlights that look like something off of a new BMW and all in a package with 160hp.

That's in deserve of respect in my opinion.

IIRC, Scion is like a Toyota off-brand therefore should share some of the quality and reputation that Toyota has.

The other 2 vehicles are just oooo000oogly. I have nothing against any nationalities or cultures, its just funny - The two Scions here in town (the box van thing) are being driven around by what I would consider to be "hip-looking" Japanese people. Unfortunately, the xA and xB (if those are the names) are just dwarfed by anything on the road. Next to a base model Focus, Corolla, Kia, Hyundai or anything, it looks like a midget. Argh.

Overall tho, I expect the tC to be a big seller and something that the import market needs to kill offthe Hondas.

Add: Since Scion.com has very few scion pics, I found some, although its part of some ebay auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6059&item=2483515230&rd=1

http://www.wieck.com/public/

Search for 'Scion AND tC' (or just 'tC' would probably work)

The interesting thing is everyone (including myself) predicted Scion to fail miserably...and if they had just left their product line with just xA and xB they probably would have. The tC is a much MUCH more conventional-looking vehicle compared to the odd 'x' twins, almost as if Toyota backpeddled and realized they weren't getting the reaction (or sales) they were looking for. Then again, it's probably not the time to doubt anything Toyota does....from Scion to their upcoming Nascar involvement, who's to say these ventures won't turn to gold too? :rolleyes:

http://gallery.machined.net/scion2004

Sorry, but the Cobalt looks to have a little bit more on the ball then the tC, though the tC's roof idea is pretty awesome. I would still take the Cobalt over it, the tC doesnt have the looks of the Cobalt IMO.
And you cant get a 240hp supercharged 4cyl from Scion. On top of that, GM's 2.4 seems to make a bit more power then Toyota's.

Originally posted by Big Als Z
Sorry, but the Cobalt looks to have a little bit more on the ball then the tC, though the tC's roof idea is pretty awesome. I would still take the Cobalt over it, the tC doesnt have the looks of the Cobalt IMO.
And you cant get a 240hp supercharged 4cyl from Scion. On top of that, GM's 2.4 seems to make a bit more power then Toyota's.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the S/C Cobalt is rated at 205hp and the 2.4 Cobalt is rated at 170hp, BUT word from GM is that the 2.4 N/A version isn't coming.

Originally posted by Dante93GTZ
Correct me if I'm wrong but the S/C Cobalt is rated at 205hp and the 2.4 Cobalt is rated at 170hp, BUT word from GM is that the 2.4 N/A version isn't coming.

Yes, GM raited the SS Cobalt at 205hp, but Sport Compact Mag got ~200frontwhp out of the Ion Redline. You do the math :cool: .
The 2.4 still puts out more power then Scion at 170-175. Scion says 160ish.

There is a dealer installed (fully warranted) Supercharger option for the tC that boosts horsepower to 200, but I'd still rather have the Cobalt.

I'm going to drive a Cobalt as soon as I get the chance to as well and see how they really measure up.