First Drive: 2008 Scion xB
Trick in a box: is it still a square peg in a round hole?

By Edward Loh
Photography by Julia LaPalme

Step 1: Cut a whole new box

"When it launched Scion back in 2003, Toyota claimed the founding tenet of its new, youth-oriented brand would be surprise. Surprise in the look of the vehicles, the low price, and the high level of content. Surprise in its gamechanging plan for short vehicle life cycles and regular rollouts of specially equipped, limited-edition models. Surprises that wouldn't be limited just to the products, but would infiltrate the entire brand experience-from Scion's nontraditional, underground marketing campaign to its no-negotiating, "Pure Pricing" policy.

In retrospect, it should surprise no one that such a well-conceived and thoroughly executed plan worked as well as it has. In 2006, though just three years old and boasting a lineup of only three models, Scion sold 173,034 vehicles. That's 50,000 more than Volvo and 70,000 more than Suzuki over the same period. More important to Toyota is the average age of the people who are buying: At 30, Scion tC buyers have the lowest median age in the industry, and the Scion brand isn't far behind.

With success like this, loyal owners and industry watchers alike waited anxiously to see what Scion had in store for the next generation of vehicles. Maybe a racy crossover or mini SUV? Perhaps some shocking futuristic Japanese minicar that defies traditional American classification?

Nope. Though all-new and substantially upgraded, the surprise is that the new Scions are nowhere near as groundbreaking as the old ones.

Step 2: Put new tricks in the box

One look at the second-gen xB confirms this. Though designed in conjunction with Toyota's Southern California CALTY studio and its Kanto Auto Works subsidiary in Japan, the 2008 xB is clearly an American derivation of the first-generation box van.

Most notable is how the xB has been supersized. It gains a foot in overall length, 4.0 inches of that between the wheels. Overall width is up 2.8 inches, yet height increases only 0.1. A wide and low stance, sculpted wheel arches, and a long front overhang give an appearance of visual mass and menace-a look supported by the addition of 600 pounds of real weight. The cute little box is little no more; equipped with the four-speed automatic, the new xB weighs a portly 3086 pounds.

But it's not all bear claws and custard-filled; massive improvements accompany the additional heft. Interior dimensions have increased considerably. In the passenger area, an increase of 10.7 cubic feet means hipster hips and shoulders have substantially more room to twist and pass whatever they're passing these days.

Replacing the first-gen's 1.5-liter mill is a tweaked version of the Scion tC's 2.4-liter, DOHC four-cylinder. Power and torque are up 55 horses and 61 pound-feet to 158 horses and 162 pound-feet, respectively. Despite the xB's size and weight gain, Toyota claims only a 10-percent reduction in fuel economy. Relocated off the floor and onto the dash, and equipped with a shorter lever, the action of the standard five-speed manual is more rifle than rubber chicken. It's no Honda 'box, but the ergonomics alone make it much better than before. High and quick clutch engagement paired with the engine's extra torque means aggressive or simply absentminded launches will chirp the tires-not such a comical proposition this time around. Grouped with accessories like the TRD cold-air intake and exhaust, sporty lowering springs, and larger wheels and tires, the xB looks and sounds pretty cool.

Scion's slick marketing gives way to reliable Toyota engineering once the xB gets going. The optional four-speed automatic with sequential shifting, a first for Toyota, is always in the right place at the right time. Also new to the xB is an Electric Power Steering system similar to the one found on the RAV4. Like the auto trans, EPS is praiseworthy only in how invisible it is.

As they did the first time around, Toyota engineers used tight panel fits and strategically placed sound-deadening material to quash wind noise and road vibration. What remains is a quiet and comfortable cabin, set upon a MacPherson strut front and rear-beam axle suspension system tuned more for ride quality than cornering prowess. Though the xB does an admirable job of splitting the difference, owners willing to sacrifice comfort for turning will easily find a wide range of accessory manufacturers happy to punch their ticket.

Step 3: Get them to open the box?

The original Scion xB was essentially a carryover of Toyota's successful Japanese domestic market (JDM) bb. The new Scion xB shares no such JDM counterpart (at least for right now) and, thus, no direct link to the JDM aftermarket tuning scene-an important driver of modifying trends for the Scion generation. Scion admits this may hurt its street credibility with some of its most highly sought opinion leaders. Though it's not a huge surprise, even the hippest JDM hipster must admit that at $16,230, the second-generation xB is a fantastic bargain.'

Scion xB
By Paul Niedermeyer
May 14, 2007

"Having wrested the title “world’s largest car manufacturer” from General Motors, Toyota’s already committing some of the same mistakes that brought GM down. The all-new 2008 Scion xB is a blot on Toyota’s relatively unblemished copybook. It bristles with classic GM-think: dumb it down, fatten it up and cheapen it out.

The original xB was a brilliant design, an instant cult-classic, as iconic as the first VW Beetle. The box fresh box elicited the same emotional responses as the old bug: children, freshly-minted motorists and the young at heart all loved it. The xB was barely longer than a MINI and almost as much fun to drive, with the accommodations of a Tahoe and 30-plus mpg.

If the last gen xB evoked images of a laquered bento box lunch, the new xB evokes a big, sloppy hamburger wrapped in greasy paper. Toyota’s drive to assimilate into the American heartland is relentless; its Texas Tundra brand BBQ sauce-stained fingerprints are all over this little porker.

The xB has gained 650 pounds, a foot in length, and three inches in width. Obviously, there’s a price to pay at the gas pump for that corn-fed heft. EPA numbers are down almost 25 percent for the city cycle (’06 adjusted), from 28 to 22 mpg.

That xB’s extra 12 inches are totally wasted; it all goes to making the hood longer. More room to mount a set of Texas steer horns? And since height is reduced, the XB actually loses usable passenger space.

The throne-like seating position has lost four inches of leg room. Headroom has also diminished. Ditto the back seat, where my 6’4” frame once sat in limo-comfort, with a good four inches of clearance to the front back-rest. Now my knees graze the horrendously cheap-feeling fabric of the front seats.

The xB’s front seats might as well have been lifted straight out of a 1971 Chevy Vega. Where the old thrones were nicely bolstered and contoured, with a nubby textural two-tone fabric, the new ones are molded blobs covered in a dreary monolithic black fabric. The Chevy Aveo’s seats put these to shame.

Toyota must have scored a volume deal from GM for vintage interior molds; the door panels are now harder than a trigonometry quiz. The xB’s lamentable polymerization also includes the upper arm-rest surface where my elbow likes to rest. At least the Vega had a little cushion there.

The xB’s interior package suffers mightily from the reshaped dimensions, the new seating position and the new model's higher belt-line. The xB’s superb view– favored by many of its elderly patrons– has been cruelly reduced. Now one sits deep and low, Hummer style, peering out gun-slit windows. And less of them: the rear three-quarter windows have disappeared.

The cute, perfectly positioned, oval-shaped analog instrument cluster that once perched atop the xB’s artistically shaped and textured dash has been replaced by four small oval, orange-lit displays. They're buried low and deep in the middle of the ponderous dash. The nervously-flashing digital speedometer is yet another 1980’s GM throw-back.

The new XB has the Camry’s 2.4-liter 158hp engine. It’s a competent and smooth mill that makes the new xB a faster vehicle, but a less engaging one. The old XB’s little 1.5-liter engine had an eager willingness and mechanical presence that made every trip to the pizzeria fun, especially with the stick.

In another GM-esque move, the Camry’s five-speed automatic didn’t make the bean-counter’s cut; the xB’s old four-speed slushbox soldiers on. Buyers opting for the manual tranny now row their boat with a shifter that protrudes from a large extension from the bottom of the dash– which enhances the perception of lost interior real estate. Equally annoying, the vague-acting clutch pedal sticks up higher than the brake pedal.

The new XB is faster, but the fun (and challenge) is gone. The new-found heft and softer ride takes XB handling from MINI territory right to into Camry Land. And we all now how engaging and exciting THAT is.

The xB’s electrically-assisted steering lacks the crispness and linearity of the former hydraulic unit. There were times I swear I could feel the electric motor on the other end of the steering column muttering at me under its breath– in a way that reminded me of my fifteen year old son.

Is there anything good to say about the new, ostensibly improved Scion XB? Yes. It now comes with cruise control and more air bags.

In short, the xB has become nothing more than a low-content five-door Camry. It’s Toyota’s el-cheapo ($16,230) version of the Chevrolet Malibu Maxx.

In fact, the new xB doesn’t deserve the Scion moniker, which established the brand's U.S. reputation as a provider of affordable automobiles with style, efficiency, quality, innovation and fun. Maybe Toyota could get a deal on the Oldsmobile name from GM."