Scion tC matures but maintains its youthful profile

BY JOHN STEIN Automotive Editor September 15, 2011 11:15AM

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2011 SCION tC

ENGINE: 180-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder

TRANSMISSION: six-speed automatic

DRIVETRAIN: front-wheel drive

FUEL ECONOMY: 23 city/32 highway

BASE PRICE: $19,275

AS TESTED: not available

WEBSITE: scion.com

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What was so revolutionary about Scion when it launched in 2003 was its out-of-the-box design approach and its marketing appeal to the younger audience it targeted. Success was fast and maintained for years.

The new Scion tC manages to maintain all the core initiatives Scion put in place as a youth brand while delivering an appealing new exterior design and upgraded interior amenities that will move the bar to a slightly older buyer.

The compact coupe segment is competitive and at the price point of less than $20,000, there is not much room for wiggling about with tremendous engineering or material upgrades. Hence, the tC provides a change over the previous model, but nothing that risks the current market share or pushes prices up where younger buyers might not be capable of reaching.

The new exterior design is still a bit conservative – after all, we are talking about Toyota’s little brother – but it is attractive and, for me, it felt a lot sportier and a lot more like a true coupe profile. I especially liked the elongated lines running from the tips of the wraparound headlamps to the tail end of the tC. It makes it look bigger and more formidable. Unlike the initial tC, this 2011 version has some literal “edge” to it.

Pricing for the tC starts at $18,275 for the six-speed manual and $19,275 for the automatic. Standard equipment for the tC includes sport seats, a panoramic moon roof, a 300-watt audio system with eight speakers, a leather tilt and telescoping steering wheel (with embedded audio controls), and air conditioning.

The new 2.5-liter four-cylinder gets a boost of 19 horsepower to 180 and 173 pound-feet of torque. The engine can be paired with the standard six-speed manual or the optional six-speed automatic, which I tested.

I found the shifts to be crisp and smart. Toyota has this tuned to shift down if you really jump on the accelerator, but it isn’t anything that affects the experience in a negative manner. The tC won’t throw you back in your seat and it will not bring you to wide, gaping grins with powerful maneuvers off the cloverleafs and into merging traffic; however, it is responsive and I found it to be quite fun the entire week I drove it. Fuel economy is 23 mpg city, 32 mpg highway.

Inside the cabin you will find upgraded materials, soft-touch surfaces and comfortable seating. I liked the extra thick steering wheel for its comfort; the controls in the rim make it convenient to operate the audio system.

Given the tC’s youthful demographic, safety features abound in the Scion line. Traction control, eight airbags, vehicle stability control, a tire pressure monitoring system and a brake override system make this tC an impressive offering.

Overall, the tC manages to impress from the outside into the cabin. The upgraded six-speed automatic will be a big plus with the addition of the 19 horsepower and long list of safety features. The lack of a leather option and Bluetooth (dealer-installed only) should not do much to deter youthful buyers from flocking to this fun-to-drive coupe.

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