"Without a Hemi."

That's frickin' funny.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

I'm sure these are fine and reliable cars, but I think it's a mistake to assume that Toyota is applying what they learn from their WRC experience to the xB. The xB is based on the Echo/Yaris. It's not a WRX. It's not based on a rally car of any shape or form.

The power to weight ratio is sufficient for the type of car this is, but you are still in the bottom 20% of cars when it comes to acceleration. There are only a handful of cars much slower than the xB and there are tons of conservative family cars and SUV's with much more thrust.

Furthermore, I wouldn't say there is much performance potential. You don't often see "1.5 liter engine" and "potential" used in the same sentence and with good reason.
Supercharging the car ($4000) would get you around 150 hp. If you just added the $4000 to the purchase price of the car you could get something faster with better handling in the first place.

xB is cool, no doubt. But lets not pretend like it's a WRX or EVO or something. Be realistic dude.

If you want a performance car, then buy one, if you want an SUV, get that. Spending $1000's to turn an econobox into something it's not is a little silly if you ask me. All those thousands later you will still get raped by SO many cars out there. After jacking up an xB 2" and completely fouling up the handling and steering, a Subaru Forester will still kick your ___ on a rough road.

They're pretty good just as they are, really...

 

I use my xB as a work van. I have a cabinet shop and it is just right for carrying tools and a few small cabinets. I took the back seats and spare tire out and leveled the deck and put a roof rack on for longer pieces and it works great. I have a full size van and pick-up for larger jobs but the xB is perfect for buzzing around to smaller jobs

 

Ditto! I really bought my box as a work vehicle but somehow I strayed into being a Tuner. :?

 

No, but you can buy a 15K car and modify the hell out of it to make it what you want.
Thats what the xB is all about. I agree with your suggestions George. Although I like what some of the people going the other direction have done to their cars. The xB is easy to work on and is a modifiers dream come true.

 

You are correct, you can modify it. Thats what it is about. George's suggestions seem more of a factory option rather then an aftermarket modifications.

 

Arrrgggg... ya' got me!
Too much logic... can't deal!


* sigh * Maybe your right.
A more powerful, purpose built car would be better for such things.

But... I can still modify my car just for fun and enjoy it.

 

no you could do that
bolt on rack, take the skirts off, lift it, and put bigger tires on it

 

im sure george would like to keep the appearance to look intact.. No skirts would look like ___. Bigger tires yes, Rack, ok.. Large Fuel tank, questionable without loose too much interior space. Softer ride, yes, but will take some experimentation (which i think george has already done without lowering it). 2 more inches of ground clearance will require new shocks and springs that I doubt any manufacture has even tried, or if there is even a market for it.

 

he could have 1 off pair made. and I'm sure body work could be done to make it look ok without the skirts. and there is a ton of room under the car

 

Americans have a way of creating markets for stuff that nobody else on earth would think to buy more or less sell.

 

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 9:35 pm Post subject: Re: How about the SUV side of the xB?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MissoulaTim wrote:
I bought my xB to be used as a SUV, and a SUV only. The box is seriously good in the snow. I do everything I can to lose control on icy roads and can barely slide three feet without straightening out. The only custom work I have done is a set of Thule racks, and this is all I really need.

Is there anyone else using their xB as a SUV....that is, not ghetto?


Cool Man! I agree. The xB has potential to be so much more
than a rice boy car or another low rider. It's safety features are awsome:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...496&highlight=

While not technically a truck (or SUV)
I think it will make a great Rally-Car.... which is what I'm doing to mine.



My Mods so far:
* Yakama roof rack
* reinforced the front bumper
* custom built trailer hitch
* front skid plate
* taller, wider tires (bridgestone blizzak)
THIS IS NOT HIS CAR!!!
{Check out the pictures of my mods.
https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/sh...00&ppuser=3955 }
IT'S MINE!!!

Edit: URL fixed so that it will show RallyxB's car instead of the gallery of whoever click on it!

- RallyxB
_________________
Using generations of mechanical know-how
to build a Street Modified, AutoCross / RallyCross xB

Last edited by rallyxb on Thu Dec 16, 2004 9:41 pm; edited 1 time in total

 

'RALLY XB' is ____.....
He'll copy & paste someone elses pic of their XB & claim it as his!
I know this for a fact as he did so with MINE!

Moderators Note:

For someone who is new around here, you sure are quick with the flamethrower.

The link you clicked on took you to your _own_ gallery. If you had taken a moment to look at the URL instead of attacking Rally xB you wouldn't look quite so foolish right now.

Learn from your mistake. The rest of the hostility you created will be removed from this thread.

 

I don't want to lose the skirts completely, but shorter skirts in the front and rear would be nice. When have guys ever objected to shorter skirts?

A larger fuel tank would fit in the existing space without intruding into the interior..

Taller suspension would require new struts or some spacing of the existing struts. I'd say that about an inch from the suspension and another inch from the tires would be about right. As I said, Nissan did it (supplied rally struts) with the 510.

The rack I was talking about is an aftermarket item. No, I don't want Toyota to put a Con-Ferr rack on from the factory, but some threaded hard points in the roof would have been nice!

As for the Rav4, I did look at it, but the interior room of the xB was so much larger than the Rav4 it was no contest.

George

 

My only heartburn with messing with a bigger gas tank would be rear crash safety. There is a reason they moved most gas tanks in front of the rear axle...can you say Pinto? BTW, I spoken to a lot of folks about mods and a few mentioned that the placement of the spare tire in the back is factored into rear crash design by the OEMs. :?

I have installed a larger aftermarket tank on one of my Econolines and the first thing I notice was the tanks wrap around the frame to the outside thus making it the first solid part that would get nailed in a side impact. The point is many aftermarket folks don't pay much attention to these little details.

KABOOM! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

What are you waiting? Send pics when your done.

 

The existing gas tank is in front of the rear axle. There is enough room in this space to put a larger tank without compromising safety. In fact, you could put Explosafe in the new tank and be safer than thin stock tank.

I'd be surprised if the spare tire was factored into the crashworthyness of the xB, as the bB doesn't have a spare at all. A donut spare was kludged into the xB for the American market.

 

Very few cars come with a spare, so I assumed they meant the donut.

 

Thank's for the save Moderator.
You da' man!