It was quick but fun. They had a tent set up. You sign a waiver, show driver's license, get a paper wrist band and wait in line. The test drive was literally one lap of one city block. Since there was two of us, we each drove a lap while the other sat in the back. A "Scion expert" sat in the passinger's seat and answered questions.

I saw 5 tCs, one was for show only. It was white with bright graphics on the sides and many modifications inside and out including having the supercharger. The other 4 were all automatics.

Here are my subjective impressions:

Colors: The 4 cars were black cherry, azure blue, silver and Black or flint (I didn't get a good look at the last one). Black Cherry looked great, very rich and upscale. Blue looked surprizingly good, better than in photos, had "life" to it and contrasted well with the darker roof. Silver seemed rather dull to me as a comparrison light color, not as metalic as the blue.

Interior: good quality feel to the materials, switches,etc. Seat hight adjustment was a help to me (I'm 5' 7"). I was comfortable in the back seat. My wife who is 5' 9" found the back seat cramped but did not hit her head. She was comfortable in the driver's seat. The "one touch" sun roof is actually three touches. One touch tilts the roof. The second touch opens it about 3/4 of the way. The 3rd touch opens it all the way. They said that the "regular" setting of 3/4 opening produces much less turbulance than the full opening. The "rice paper" texture of the dash was hardly noticible, neiter positive or negative to me.

Ride: This was hard to tell because it was so short. Suspension seemed firm but not too stiff, just right to me. I gave it a lot of gas on one leg of the lap. Acceleration seemed ok for an automatic. It gives me hope that it will be pretty good with the stick shift and very good with the supercharger.

Overall, I am now even more impressed with the styling, features and quality at such a low price.

At the end we were each given a bag of goodies including a Scion Cap (pretty ugly), a Scion Key Chain (nice), a Scion logo thingy to put on a car antenna, a sampler CD and a $15 gift cirtificate for the independant record store where the event was held. We each got to pick out a CD of our choice there.

A couple more comments. The rear center brake light does only illuminate the middle third. What appear to be lights on the left and right ends are actually passive reflectors according to the Scion guy. They definately do not light up when the turn signals flash. The Scion "expert" did not seem very knowlegable. He said that the supercharger would be available in December and would cost about $1000.

I would definately recommend doing this if they come to your city.

Roy

Nice...Thanks for the info.

sounds nice. sucks that the 3rd brake light only lights up 1/3 of it. i was hopping the sides were turns. i wanna see the tC in person really really bad...

what do you drive now?

Actually good that they have a large reflector on the back. Might help during parallel parking in the city. I have had my rearview mirror clipped two times.

Where was this event? Are there going to be any more like it?

He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado so hopefully they make there way west!!!

wouldn't mind that $1000 s/c ;)
and how come none of these tC tours come to the midwest... we're people too! :P

Here is a link to tour dates and locations:

http://www.sciondrivetour.com/dates.htm

They will be in Chicago in two weeks.

Roy

Here is a link to tour dates and locations:

http://www.sciondrivetour.com/dates.htm

They will be in Chicago in two weeks.

Roy

Thanks for review. Did you get a listen to the stereo and what did you think?

Kevin

what do you drive now?

I drive an Audi A4. It is fun to drive but is 7 years old and has had several problems in the last year. I was looking for a more reliable, i.e. Japanese, equivalent. I want a small, good handling, peppy, attractive and hopefully reliable car. Our other vehicle is a Nissan Murano SUV which gives us versitility when we need it and my wife loves it so it is "her" car. The Audi replacement would be my every day car.

I tested an Acura TSX, found it adequate but unexciting in styling, accelleration, etc.

The Subaru Impreza WRX has the pep but looks like the old econocar design that it is based on.

The tC appeals to me with it's fresh styling, fun features and especially the option of adding the supercharger if it doesn't feel peppy enough after a few months of experience with it. All cars lose power here at 6200 feet. A blower can make up for that and more.

Roy

Here is a link to tour dates and locations:

http://www.sciondrivetour.com/dates.htm

They will be in Chicago in two weeks.

Roy

sounds great! thanks for the info bro.

Here is a link to tour dates and locations:

http://www.sciondrivetour.com/dates.htm

They will be in Chicago in two weeks.

Roy

no los angeles? bah humbag

it wouldnt be too hard to convert the other 2/3rds do be turn signal LEDs. just find out what the voltage is in the regular turn signal and work with it from there. ill probably do it and post a DIY after i get the car... maybe.

if not... i may post a pseudo DIY if i dont actually do it. then you would do it at your own risk

The Subaru Impreza WRX has the pep but looks like the old econocar design that it is based on.

LOL, by all means man, if you have the 30 grand to spend on a new car, get the WRX, no contest.

WRX Impreza $23,500
STI Impreza $31,000

Ok, so i also went to the test drive deal and here are my thoughts.
The drive was very smooth and nice. i didnt get to drive the standard because of busy traffic. the short 1 block drive was not nearly enough to "play" with it but it was fun nonetheless.
the flint mica (the one royrose thought could have been black) is actually a standard but they were not testing it due to traffic and most likely due to the fact that they dont know who can drive a standard well in that type of traffic.
i asked to see the engine bay of the s/c'ed car and boy is that s/c big! im used to seeing the smaller 1.8 version for the corolla but it sure looked like it weighed a chunk. the "scion experts" ( i say this because they knew how to quote specs and thats about it. nice guys and gals though.) stated that they go to actually drive the tuned model and stated that the difference is very noticible. :D
ill be able to write more later about other specs but i can say that i am an official corolla traitor and will be converting to the scion soon :twisted:

ok some more stuff about the test drive.
I test drove on friday and took my gf the next day because she saw that i had the new 311 greatest hits CD from the promotion gift certificates and wanted get a cd also.
she got to drive the manual flint mica for a 4 block square!! pays to be a cute female :) anyway the pick up of the standard was way better than the 'matic and she was allowed by the scion guy to floor it on this one straight and wow did it fly. i should have been looking at the speedo to get an estimate of 0-60 cuz thats about the speed we got up to before the guy began to look worried and asked her to ease up.
anyway she loved the car and is currently persuading me to get the tC before november but i wanna wait for the S/C and have more fun. :D

tC sounds fast with the manual. :D

You know you can get the tC now and add on the supercharger when it arrives in November. :wink:

so the S/C can be financed now and then added on later?
thats cool cuz i was wondering about the break-period on a new car. i kinda thought that the S/C would put to much stress on the engine for the first 1000 miles. but if i can get the car first and then the S/C later on then i guess that would be better. :D

i dont know if you can finance the s/c because its from TRD and not from scion. then again i can be wrong. but yeah, you can always add the s/c later.