Home - Car Reviews - 2008 Scion xB Preview
2008 Scion xB Preview
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The new xB is a bigger vehicle, it's significantly
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| The x-box rides again... (Photo: Toyota) |
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| It's been no time at all, and already, tuned versions of the xB are popping up. (Photo: Toyota) |
And if it's room that buyers are looking for, it's mostcertainly room that they're going to be getting. Increasing the xB's size means that there's more living space for passengers, not to mention the cargo that they'll inevitably be carrying along. The xB's cargo area grows by nearly eight cubic feet to 29.1 cubic feet, which
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| Lots of space thanks to the larger design. (Photo: Toyota) |
The xB's interior has been overhauled too, in a major way. The layout ofthe dashboard is a cross between the Toyota Yaris, with its centrally mounted instrument cluster, and the Honda Element, with its upright dashboard
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| Interior is funky and functional. (Photo: Toyota) |
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| Gauge cluster - part digital, part analog - is cool. (Photo: Toyota) |
But stepping back to the exterior for a moment, the new xB is a fairly differentlylooking machine compared to the vehicle that it replaces. Yes, the new car is still considered boxy, but the proportions have changed quite a bit. With a reduced overall height, the xB is lower and sleeker. It's a lot curvier too, and a lot more organic, with wraparound headlamps that don't seem to be mere glass blocks for lights, as on the old car. This time around, there's some actual styling going on, which (other than an anti-style coolness) was hardly the
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| Safety equipment is generous with standard ABS brakes, stability control and six airbags. (Photo: Toyota) |
To stop its forward motion, the xB gets bigger brakes with discs that arejust under 11 inches across in diameter. That means the xB also needed 16-inch wheels to house those brakes, which are made out of steel and covered by plastic pie plates as standard equipment. A wide variety of snazzy aftermarket wheels will be available as optional equipment. Surprisingly, Toyota has also given the Scion a solid safety repertoire that includes standard ABS brakes with brake assist
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| Could this be the Element SC's biggest threat? (Photo: Toyota) |
While the old xB's little Echo 1.5-liter engine wassufficient for crawling around the city, with more room to move five in comfort, plus a lot more room for their stuff, the new xB needs more power and indeed, Scion has given it a bigger heart. They've actually reached out to the sports car of the range, the tC, for power. The 2.4-liter DOHC VVT-i four-cylinder found under the hood of the new model makes this the most powerful factory-offered "box" yet, with 158 horsepower. Buyers get the choice of either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic, though the automatic gearbox has a new manual mode, something that Toyota hadn't yet offered with a four-speed autobox. No word yet on performance figures,
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| Powerful stereo system is designed for customization, much like the rest of the car. (Photo: Toyota) |
Scion knows that for its customers that are in the street customizationdemographic, sound is just as important as style. That's why they equipped the xB with a pretty slick sound system structure. The standard head unit on the car is a 160-watt Pioneer CD player with an aux-in jack, plus an iPod connector; that's right, a standard aux connector that not only charges the MP3 player, but also links the controls through the steering wheel and displays the credits on the LCD screen. The system features a digital sound processor (DSP) with different equalizers, plus Automatic Sound Leveling and Sound Retouch Technology for CD-like quality on burned discs. The system plays through six speakers. An upgraded head unit also gives owners the chance to customize their interface with downloadable "skins",
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| Body kit by Five Axis. (Photo: Toyota) |
The Scion project has been quite a fewyears in the making, but it's one that have given Toyota an advantage and an outlet for consumer creativity. Scion brags that the brand is more in touch with its buyers than any other, and we think that this might just be true. Because of this, they were really able to focus in on developing and improving the areas of the old car that needed to grow, and have kept many of the things that owners love, such as its general shape, not to mention its functionality. For that, we can see the new xB picking up very well, where the previous car tailed off. The new car will arrive in U.S. showrooms later this year, and will be available in one trim level only with a choice of color and wheel covers. It will of course be followed by a whole host of upgrades, from performance, to styling, to interior, to sound system. Prices are expected to start at $15,000.
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