We just sold our BSP 5spd xB after 3 months w/7500 miles on it, and want to pass on some suggestions (in case the product planners are paying attention :o )

We really loved the xB, especially owning it in the NW, where they're not officially for sale. It was fun (MOST of the time) to drive down the street parallel to a Fly Yellow F355 and receive the bulk of the attention. We may buy another one (likely Silver or Camo), and really just sold ours because we don't want 3 cars in our driveway (and I still need my pickup! )

Here are my (low-cost / big benefit) suggestions:

1) Height adjustable front seats - so us long-of-leg-types can trade some of the excess headroom for some needed legroom. (see Nissan Cube)

2) Sliding rear seat - so the abundant rear legroom could be traded on occasion for more luggage room.( see Nissan Cube again)

3) Keep the bulldog front end, but fix up the rear with some better taillights (clear is passe)

4) Put a small hitch access in the rear apron (so a hitch mount bike carrier could be attached)

5) When redesigning the body, raise the 'beltline' to save weight (glass is heavier than steel) and to more closely emulate the Hummer-esque 'gunslit windows' look.

6) Add a 6th gear to the manual (short gearing is nice in town, but 5th is just too short for US freeways)

We found the power to be more than adequate (then again, I learned to drive in air-cooled VW vans, diesel Rabbits, 600cc Hondas & old Saabs )

Overall - the xB is an awesome car, and I predict will sell like hotcakes.

 

It's your finances, not ours. If anyone begins the personal attacks, I will intervene.

Hope to see you in another scion at some point!

Andrew

 

Nice write up.

 

I agree about the rear seats. Too much rear leg room IMO.

 

sorry to lose you

i agree with all but #5, i'd like the belt line to stay. other things itshold have/change...
better cup holders
arm rest
some way to stop water from splashing up into the engine bay (picky about keeping my motor clean)

 

I can't stand cars with high beltlines... here's the thing: on cars with height adjustable front seats, I like to drop the seat as far as humanly possible and back as far as possible... I like there to be basically no height difference between my behind and my feet. If I'm up too high, I feel like I'm sitting on a car instead of sitting in a car... I like to wear my car like a glove, and being up too high gives too great a feeling of seperation from the road.

And I always like to keep my elbow out the window. It's a throwback from when I first started driving, constantly having a cigarette out the window, and always having my left arm perched on the window ledge. I don't smoke any more, but the habit's still there.

Too high of a beltline, and the sitting really low in the car thing and the having my arm out the window thing can't mesh. So I like cars with low beltlines, low front seats, and pedals stuck waaaaaaay back under the dash so I can drive with my knees unbent.

 

The more and more I notice annoying quirks about this car I remember the price tag and I can deal with it. There are a few but at this price it is expected. There are also many things I would never expect to get in a car at this price:

ABS, TRAC CONTROL, VAC, INTERIOR ROOM, VISIBILITY, HANDLING, MP3 PLAYER, 160-WATT RADIO, STABILIZER BARS, GOOD YEAR TIRES ...TRY GETTING ANY OF THAT FROM MAZDA, FORD, HONDA OR EVEN HYUNDAI FOR THIS PRICE!!! GOOD LUCK!

...so, I aint complaining about a thing.

All that said, your points are well taken and the ARMREST (lack of one) will always be an issue for most on this board.

 

Then the xB is definitely not for you. This is what I like best about this car! Not to have to fall into it and climb out of it. I like the effortless stepping in and out.

Sean

 

i hate driving like 40-120mph with one window down and getting the hell beat out of my ears. i hate the way the window shakes when it is only down a inch or 2 and driving 35mph or above. and damn our tail lights are ugly as ____ (just noticed this today). the more i think about it our cars would look better if the space behind the rear seat was about a foot longer, the back is just strange looking to me. oh well i love my xb and wouldn't sale it for $20,000

 

Yeah, the xB definitely isn't for me. There's basically nothing about the car that I like (other than the price). It's the tC that I'm really gunning for... I HATE SUV's, and the xB just seems to me to be a subcompact trying really hard to be an SUV. I like a car with a roofline about at the bottom of my chest, and a floorpan about four inches over the ground... I drive very, very hard, have been since I was 16 (I'm 24 now), and I take turns on two wheels pretty often. If I did something like that in an xB, I'd flip it for sure. I've never been in an accident, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

Yeah, if you like to drive hard, the xB is sure isn't it. VSC and TracCTRL wont let you perform the type of driving you just described, especially with the always on VSC.

 

You guys seem to be missing something on the storage vs. rear legroom thing. The shopping bag hooks on the back of the front seats are your first clue. The rear footwells make awesome cargo space and with the high seats fairly bulky items can fit under it! Think outside the box ( or maybe inside the box in this case) and make use of the tons of useful space in the xB.

Sean

 

I don't have a Scion yet, just so you all know.

Are you referring to the space under the front seats? Or is there also space under the rear seats?

 

I was referring to under the front seats. There is no storage space under the back seats. I am thinking the gas tank is under there, but not sure.

Sean

 

I hear what you're saying about the 6th gear thing, that's a common suggestion.

Here's the thing that people fail to realize though:

1) at this price point a 6 speed tranny is unheard of and not feasible

2) this engine doesn't have the torque to maintain highway speeds uphill if it's turning 2800 rpm at 75 mph, it's only a 1500cc motor with 105 lbft of torque.

It's easy to forget that, but with a taller final drive these things would not be very responsive at highway speeds. A 6 speed would be prohibitively expensive and impractical. It's just a sacrifice that has to be made.

If money were no object, and I was going to shell out $$$ to install a supercharger, one thing I'd do would be to swap in the Echo's final drive. The xB has a shorter final drive ratio than an Echo to compensate for the aerodynamics and slightly higher weight. With the extra power of a supercharger, the short gearing wouldn't be needed.

Anyone who's really unhappy with roaring along @ 80 mph and 4000 rpm (i'm used to it now) might consider that if they can find a practical way to do it. The Echo final drive would probably lower your rpms by 250 or so at speed. Slightly taller tires would buy you another -100 rpm or so.

 

Good point. I notice that the xB is very responsive in 5th gear. More so than my old Corolla , which had a bigger engine and was quieter in 5th gear. For safetys' sake , I am glad the xB is more responsive.

Sean

 

If you want to be laying down when you drive, you bought the wrong car.

What i'd like to see is the seat tilted back about 5 degrees, it makes a world of difference.

 

nest,
I just realized you are in Phoenix. Did you just move here? Why no registry yet?

Sean

 

i wish somebody had the forethought to add an interior light for the back tailgate. the small light dead center in the car just doesn't cut it.

 

the one BIGGEST important thing that ends up being the SMALLEST thing in the scion xB is the gas tank.

15.9 gallons vs 11.9.

I'm sure an inch or two of legroom would comfortably give us 5 more gallons of fuel!

Since fuel eco is good, it means range has to be good too. this is where toyota really dropped the ball.