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Posted March, 2008

Road Test: 2008 Scion xD

By Thomas E. Bonsall

The Scion brand is Toyota's attempt to go after the youth market with unusually "expressive" vehicles. That's the term in the design biz, and it follows the success other expressive vehicles, such as the New Beetle, the PT Cruiser and, most recently, Honda's Element. The Scion's expressiveness can be further tailored to each owner's taste with more than forty dealer installed accessories, including sport parts from Toyota Racing Development.

The other keys to the success of the Element (along with its expressive shape) have been its low price and its terrific sound system. The importance of the latter should not be underestimated. Young buyers like their music and really care about quality sound in a way that most older buyers don't. Honda was extremely shrewd to cotton onto this and installed a sound system in the Element that you rarely find in cars costing less than thirty grand.

With the xD, the designers focused on a clean interior style. The simple dash features an instrument panel located directly in front of the driver while the center cluster—digital clock and HVAC and audio controls—flows down the center. The xD's, radar-like speedometer and tachometer have been consolidated into one circular gauge centered on the instrument panel. Indicator lamps, LCD fuel gauge and odometer flank the centralized gauge.

The xD features front bucket seats and 60/40 fold flat rear seats for a level cargo space. The rear seats were designed for comfort and utility as they can slide forward and back up to six inches for additional leg room and cargo area. In addition, they can recline ten degrees and be adjusted into five different positions.

Storage and cargo space is aplenty in the xD. Up front, the xD has a storage tray located beneath the steering wheel, a small box in the front of the center console for holding portable music players or cell phones, an upper and lower glove box, and driver's side change box. A hidden storage space is located below the rear cargo area.

Then, of course, there's the audio system. The xD's standard 160-watt maximum output Pioneer audio system features iPod connectivity and a mini-jack port located beneath the HVAC controls for easy access. This standard head unit integrates track, artist and album information from the iPod into a one-line display on the head unit's screen. Connectivity is achieved by simply plugging the iPod into a port via a connector cable, providing sound through the car's stereo system and constant power to the iPod. Music is controlled through the head unit and the steering wheel audio control buttons. The mini-jack port allows users to listen to their portable music collection through the xD's Pioneer speakers.

The xD's optional Premium audio system adds one more feature to the standard head unit, the ability to download “skins” to play on the organic electroluminescent (OEL) screen. Customers can download images, four-second video clips and eight-second movies from Pioneer's website. In addition, Pioneer software allows customers to burn their own images and movies onto a CD and upload them onto the available head unit. The faceplate light also changes from deep orange to blue at the touch of a button.

Since many Scion customers add in-car entertainment systems to their vehicle, the xD's optional Premium audio system has head unit outputs in the rear allowing for the addition of external amps to boost power to additional speakers and subwoofers. All head unit features remain unchanged if this feature is used.

Both the standard and premium head units retain key Scion audio system features such as Scion Sound Processing (SSP) where listeners can choose from three pre-set equalizer settings, satellite radio compatibility, a user-customizable welcome screen, MP3 and WMA capability, Automatic Sound Leveling (ASL) and Sound Retouch Technology (SRT), which provides clearer CD sound quality. Both systems will also feature six speakers: a tweeter and a speaker in each front door panel, plus two full-range speakers in the rear.

If none of the above makes any sense at all to you, ask your kids to explain it.

The xD is powered by a lively 1.8 L four-cylinder engine with dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i) that generates 128 horsepower. Customers have the choice of a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic. This 2ZR-FE engine features a roller rocker system and light weight piston for better fuel economy and a piston cooling oil jet for better efficiency.

The xD comes "mono spec" like all Scion vehicles. Customers need to choose exterior color and transmission type, while the only factory option is Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (TRAC). The xD comes with standard features including power steering, windows, door locks and mirrors; remote keyless entry; air conditioning; four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA); a tire pressure monitor system; driver and front passenger dual stage airbags; front seat-mounted side airbags; front and rear side curtain airbags; cruise control; first-aid kit; and tilt steering wheel with audio controls.

All Scion models come with complimentary factory-recommended maintenance services at the first 5,000 mile and 10,000 mile intervals, to be performed by an authorized Scion or Toyota dealership.

We thought the xD was the best-looking Scion model yet. Better still, our deep-red test car felt and drove like a car costing far more than its $17,732 final sticker price. How often are we able to say that? Truth to tell, the xD is the fist Scion model we have really liked, and we liked it a LOT. Kudos Toyota. Keep it up. R&D