This is just out from Money Magazine on the CNN/Money website.

Best cars by type. They put the Scion xB in Crossover (probably couldn't assign a type to it)


Best Crossover: Scion xB
The most significant box since Corn Flakes, the xB is a smart answer to the car-truck conundrum: It drives, parks and sips fuel like a tiny car but hauls more like a small van or SUV. It's as economical as it is efficient: The Toyota-built Scion starts at about $14,000 and showed us a stingy 36 to 38 mpg on the highway.

PERFORMANCE: With just 108 horsepower on tap, the xB dawdles a bit, and gets mildly buzzy above 70 mph. But it's more fun to drive than you'd expect, and its low-rider stance feels steady and safe.

DESIGN: Some will gape at the funky curve-free design. But the payback is great utility for the price, including a huge cargo hold and more headroom than nearly any full-size car or truck.

TARGET BUYER: Scion has young buyers in its sights, offering some 40 custom accessories, including a bass-thumping subwoofer and funky LED lighting inside, all for a youthful price.

-Lawrence Ulrich, MONEY magazine

:clap: :clap: :clap:

-THE DON

:clap: :clap: :clap:

-THE DON

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

Aw, give him a break. The reviewer who wrote that is probably over 30. :lol:

I like this article and he is so right when he says it is "more fun to drive than you'd expect". That's what I had to tell all my friends and family when they first saw it. Well done Mr. Lawrence Ulrich. :clap:

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

Aw, give him a break. The reviewer who wrote that is probably over 30. :lol:

Hey! I resemble that remark!

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

Aw, give him a break. The reviewer who wrote that is probably over 30. :lol:


yep!!! over 30 alright!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :doh: :silly: :silly: :silly:

Nothing like raking in the respect these little cars deserve.

What's up with over 30. Do your research the Scion has completely missed it's target market. There are so many Silver Heads and 30 somethings buying this car at an increasing rate. Smooth lines, good price, low to the grown, alot of after market acc's to upgrade, who cares about the age. And yep I am over 30!

Thomas your retired you help prove my point.

Disco, I was just joking around about the reviewer thinking the sub was a real 'thumper' and using '30' as a possible cutoff age for those who like their ears to bleed while listening to music. :)

As to Toyota missing their demographic: Yup!

Seems that not only are their target demographic picking up these vehicles because they are very mod-able and a good value for the money, but us old folks are also buying them because they are a good value for the money, have excellent ergonomics, and the potential for great reliability.

They are just too good to pass up.

I'm not in the Toyota planned Scion demographic - I'm just about old enough to be the grandparent of that demographic...Thing is, I can appreciate a whole lot of the appeal of these strange little boxes - and I've never really been a 'follower' anyway.

"I'm *NOT* marching to the beat of a different drum. Its the same drum, I just have no rhythm."

What's up with over 30. Do your research the Scion has completely missed it's target market. There are so many Silver Heads and 30 somethings buying this car at an increasing rate. Smooth lines, good price, low to the grown, alot of after market acc's to upgrade, who cares about the age. And yep I am over 30!

Try over 50. I turn 50 this year and love my xB. For the reasons described in the review and more. 8)

hmm. I know that scion is "missing their demographic" but scion as a brand has a lower average buying age than toyota. toyota is 47 and iIbelieve scion is 34 or 36 years old.

I bet it won for being the only car in its class too.

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

Aw, give him a break. The reviewer who wrote that is probably over 30. :lol:

:ttth: and what's wrong w/ being over 30?! We do exist! Be loud, stand proud!

24 year old Bob Dylan: "Never trust someone over 30." Today, Dylan is 63. :rofl:

Woot Woot!!!!! for box cars!!!!!! :P

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/best_car_values/popup/frameset.15.exclude.html

As a 60 year old silver hair, who loves his xB, I also resemble that remark. My xB replaced my old 83 Cressida, and I expect the xB to also last a long time--Standing proud and loud with his xB!

:rofl: a "bass thumping subwoffer" the stock sub is fine but "a thumper" it is not :rofl:

Aw, give him a break. The reviewer who wrote that is probably over 30. :lol:
Spoken by a bunch of illiterate teens whose attention span is so short they can't read a complete sentence. . :P :silly:

From the article:
offering some 40 custom accessories, including a bass-thumping subwoofer and funky LED lighting inside,
The reviewer was referring to the optional subwoofer.... NOT the stock one.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is no stock subwoofer. I would assume he was referring to the optional Bazooka tube sub. Which IS quite weak even for non-bass heads.

tcperconti, the xB doesn't come with a subwoofer, so I would expect the "stock sub" kacosta was referring to is the Bazooka offered by Scion as an option.

While it *is* a subwoofer, it can't really be heard/felt from three blocks away - which appears to be the primary objective of many of the more 'serious' aftermarket units.

Personally I don't even care for that Bazooka unit since it is wildly unbalanced with the rest of the system. I prefer something that accurately reproduces the original sound, not something that modifies it.

Have you listened to a normal male speaking voice on a system with one of those subs-on-steroids? A bit boomy, unnatural, eh? A good sound system will accurately reproduce the signal fed to it...

(And yes, I do have a legit subwoofer on my home system since that is one of the few ways to accurately reproduce a pipe organ - I need accurate response down to about 16 Hz - but I DON'T need something that's exaggerated.)

BTW, I'm not an illiterate teen - I'm closer to 60 than 20, and have been a serious audiophile for over 40 years...

Again, I feel that the original reviewer and kacosta were both referring to the Scion/Bazooka subwoofer, since that's the only one available from Toyota, but I could be wrong...

tcperconti, the xB doesn't come with a subwoofer, so I would expect the "stock sub" kacosta was referring to is the Bazooka offered by Scion as an option.

While it *is* a subwoofer, it can't really be heard/felt from three blocks away - which appears to be the primary objective of many of the more 'serious' aftermarket units.

Personally I don't even care for that Bazooka unit since it is wildly unbalanced with the rest of the system. I prefer something that accurately reproduces the original sound, not something that modifies it.

Have you listened to a normal male speaking voice on a system with one of those subs-on-steroids? A bit boomy, unnatural, eh? A good sound system will accurately reproduce the signal fed to it...

(And yes, I do have a legit subwoofer on my home system since that is one of the few ways to accurately reproduce a pipe organ - I need accurate response down to about 16 Hz - but I DON'T need something that's exaggerated.)

BTW, I'm not an illiterate teen - I'm closer to 60 than 20, and have been a serious audiophile for over 40 years...

Again, I feel that the original reviewer and kacosta were both referring to the Scion/Bazooka subwoofer, since that's the only one available from Toyota, but I could be wrong...
If a male speaking voice seems too boomy then that stereo system is mal-adjusted. That or some crossovers/ high/low pass filters are incorrectly setup. ALOT of guys just turn the bass way up and set it to full range.

If a male speaking voice seems too boomy then that stereo system is mal-adjusted. That or some crossovers/ high/low pass filters are incorrectly setup. ALOT of guys just turn the bass way up and set it to full range.

Yup! You're absolutely right, hotbox.

Thing is, most guys that have massive subs installed seem to want to prove it, and have them purposely mal-adjusted... :loser:

Yeah sometimes I like to showcase my (weak) system , so... I have different settings for different sounds. I guess they just don't seem to care about sound quality much.

hmm. I know that scion is "missing their demographic" but scion as a brand has a lower average buying age than toyota. toyota is 47 and iIbelieve scion is 34 or 36 years old.

I think the average is even lower, but you are right with your point, they are reaching a younger demographic (on average) than their main Toyota brand is.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is no stock subwoofer. I would assume he was referring to the optional Bazooka tube sub. Which IS quite weak even for non-bass heads.
Well, then there ya go. I've never heard of an optional accessory referred to as "stock" anything.

If the tube sub provides stronger bass than the Pioneer HU w/ stock speakers, then I'd say it IS strong by car stereo standards. (maybe NOT by bassheads' standards)

I understand that the xB attracts a large percentage of the "Fast n Furious" streetracer-types but they have a skewed perspective...they're NOT the mainstream. Just as HP gearheads do when they're focused on raw HP. Or us gadget-freaks when we see a mainstream mag talk about how "powerful" a low-end Dell system is.

Money magazine is a mainstream mag. The write-up on the xB is very accurate from the perspective of the mainstream car buyer. The fact that Money "gets it" with regard to the xB, is pretty amazing. So focusing on the fact that the guy says the sub option is "bass thumping" (when on a scale of 1 to 10 it is a 1 by the clique) ignores the fact that it is far more thumping than the mainstream car stereo systems....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is no stock subwoofer. I would assume he was referring to the optional Bazooka tube sub. Which IS quite weak even for non-bass heads.
Well, then there ya go. I've never heard of an optional accessory referred to as "stock" anything.

If the tube sub provides stronger bass than the Pioneer HU w/ stock speakers, then I'd say it IS strong by car stereo standards. (maybe NOT by bassheads' standards)

I understand that the xB attracts a large percentage of the "Fast n Furious" streetracer-types but they have a skewed perspective...they're NOT the mainstream. Just as HP gearheads do when they're focused on raw HP. Or us gadget-freaks when we see a mainstream mag talk about how "powerful" a low-end Dell system is.

Money magazine is a mainstream mag. The write-up on the xB is very accurate from the perspective of the mainstream car buyer. The fact that Money "gets it" with regard to the xB, is pretty amazing. So focusing on the fact that the guy says the sub option is "bass thumping" (when on a scale of 1 to 10 it is a 1 by the clique) ignores the fact that it is far more thumping than the mainstream car stereo systems....
yeah the stero part isnt a major part of the review but , have you even been in a car with a monsoon system? or even a ford mach system? i'd say more bass are in those. not very good decks but more bass.