December 02, 2004 - Day One
Scion is kicking major ass. The youth brand from Toyota has done nothing but good things for cars, making enthusiasts out of an eclectic and atypical crowd--one not normally associated with customized rides. That was back in 2003, for 2004 Scion introduced its third vehicle, the tC.

Surprisingly, the third vehicle is quite a departure from the xB and xA. In a way it's much sportier and something that can more easily combat the Civic, RSX, Sentra and other sports compact cars. For the next week, we'll tell the tale of a silver Scion. Our manual-transmission equipped Scion tC

Pricing
It's a deal, you can say that. With a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $15,950, the Scion tC is one of the best deals we've found. For the money it offers styling, interior design and performance that probably should cost a few thousand more. Our test unit runs a bit more than a base tC.

It has the following options: driver and front passenger side impact airbags ($650), carpeted floor mats ($145), AM/FM six-disc Changer ($395), exhaust ($525), ground effects ($995), sport pedal covers ($79) and a billet oil cap/battery tie-down combo by AEM ($120). These items along with a destination charge ($515) bring the total price to a still-decent $19,374.

Styling
Scion origin concept was called the ccX. Save for the panoramic glass roof concept it was a very different car than the hatchback-coupe we see in showrooms now. This is another one of those few examples where the final production vehicle looks better than the strangely-styled concept car.

Designers took styling cues from other famous must-have sports cars. Examples? Headlight design on the tC is similar to that of the all-new BMW 5 Series sedan. The ginormous front air dam and minimalist front bumper are very Skyline GT-R while the side and flanks take a bit of inspiration from both the Infiniti G35 and Audi TT.

Not that this Scion has anything to be ashamed of. And it's like the tC has directly stolen any ideas from one given vehicle. It's more likely that these design elements are just part of the current generation of automotive and it's what to do right, right now. And Scion has apparently hit all the right boxes on the design checklist, this one in particular is one of the best looking vehicles we've seen all year, in any price range.

It wouldn't take much to make the already killer design even more lethal. Our test vehicle came with optional ground effects that lower the already low stance. The only issue with this modification is that it really requires the optional biggie wheels. We'd go at least 18-inch, but, from the dealership, this one can go up as large as 19 and it looks good.

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