2010 - 15 Scion TC Review

Does the "TC" stand for Totally Cool?

The car is cool, but its not for everyone.

Scion is a sub-company of Toyota who's main purpose was to offer young buyers a line of cool and edgy cars and offer a huge line of customization options. Their main vehicle is the Scion TC. It is a compact vehicle that was supposed to be the replacement of the Toyota Celica which ended production the first year the TC started sales. Im looking at the second generation of TC, which received a mild "face lift" in late 2014. 

Let's take a look:

Different Styles:

The Scion TC only comes in one style: a 2-door coupe. Wait no, that's not right, its actually a 2-door hatchback! Yup, even though this great looking car looks like an awesome and sporty coupe, in reality it is a very cleverly disguised hatchback! More on that later. . . 

The Scion TC comes only with a 2.5L, 4 cylinder engine that is actually the same as the Toyota Camry's ( not really a good thing for a "sporty" car . . .)

It is FWD.

You can have it with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed auto transmission. 

It has 5 seats ( even though only 4 are really usable).

Styling and Comfort Impressions:

Let's make this easy.  This car looks fantastic on the outside. It's edgy, it's got great sporty angles, large sporty-looking wheels, sharp lights, and the 2014 face lift made it even better! It's not a very long car, but it does have a long wheelbase and a wide low stance that makes it look like it can tackle just about any racetrack.

Going inside is a slightly different story. It still looks somewhat sporty, but there could possibly be more chrome, aluminum, or carbon fiber accents. It's just too plain for this vehicle, and everything is just black plastic. And just grey seats. In either cloth or leather. 

Note - There are some specific versions of the Scion TC that you can order that will have more coloured accents inside that liven it up a bit ( Orange / Black edition...).

The dash layout is good and there are just a minimal about of large knobs and buttons which is good, everything is angled toward the driver too. 

The seats save the interior a bit. They are very comfortable and supportive  it is supposed to be sporty remember). You have very good head and leg room in the front, even though it is a low car. 

The sound system is supposed to pretty good, but for a car like this, I found it just adequate. It does have 8 speakers but the system isn't the easiest to use and quality seemed to be just acceptable. 

Take a look:

The rear seats for the Scion TC are actually pretty good, for two people. First off, getting into the back is relatively easy due to long doors and front seats that slide easily, meaning quite a large gap to get through. The two outer seats are very deep and almost like bucket seats, so they are comfortable and supportive. There is plenty of leg room but head room is limited due to the low roof and sloping rear hatch. A unique feature the TC has is that the rear seats can recline a bit, so that on longer trips, rear passengers can get a bit more comfortable. The front passenger seat also folds flat for long items. 

Finally, the trunk. Its pretty good, it has a decent length to it, but due to the car being disguised as a coupe, you don't get much height. The seats do fold down flat though, so you can have as much interior volume as some larger compact hatchbacks, but the TC looks better. Also, it has a rear window wiper that is nice and large, good for bad weather. 

Driving Impressions:

If you have been following my blog for some time now, you may remember a review I did on the Hyundai Veloster (non-turbo). Well, this is like that. To put in one word: disappointing. Let's start with the driving position. While the drivers seat is comfortable, you sit so low in the car, and the windows are so high and small, that visibility is quite bad. The awesome coupe / hidden hatchback design means that the rear quarter roof supports are huge and create huge blind spots. 

Start up the engine and it's loud. Not super loud, but loud enough to make people think you have a sporty car. That's good for impression's sake I guess. The engine is loud no matter what speed you are going; it's a sporty car so this is acceptable. You want a sporty car not because it's quiet, but because it makes some noise, gives you the feeling of power and speed.

It's not just the engine making noise either, at higher speeds there is quite a bit of road noise that is coming in through a combination of crazy big wheels as standard (18 inch), and the aerodynamics / lack of sound insulation. 

Let's get back to the ride quality: rough. It comes with 18 inch rims as standard which is pretty large for a small car like this. The suspension is also tuned to be sporty as well, so there is no relief there. The car is also not very heavy so it can't use its weight to soak up bumps. 

The turning is tight and responsive, which is actually very good. 

The power the engine puts out is at least better than on the Veloster, which was just sad. In normal drive mode the car feels like any other normal compact, with adequate acceleration, but put it into "sport mode" and the TC really comes alive. Quick shifts and high revs really move the TC and the true sporty nature of the car comes out. It may be the engine from a Toyota Camry, but the car is much lighter so that engine can really whip it around!

Overall:

The Scion TC looks awesome from the outside, has a decent interior, and can comfortably seat 4 adults. It has the looks of a sporty car, but the practicality of a hatchback. The engine has enough power to get you moving, it has tight handling, and not horrible fuel efficiency. It also has the nice ability to be easily customized. However, you need to be looking for a certain type of car for this to work for you. If you are looking for a sporty car, that just happens to be somewhat practical, and has the backing of one of the most reliable companies (Toyota) then the Scion TC may be a good fit. If you are looking for any sort of comfort while driving it, the TC is not for you. If they could offer the TC with some smaller rims and a base trim that wasn't so sport tuned, it could be a very good car for the masses. Would I pick it? No, because there are other options out there that are more practical, more comfortable, and just as fun. However, that coupe design may be enough for some people to pick it over a traditional hatchback. 

Note - be careful when looking at used ones as owners tend to do their own modifications on them as well, which are normally not the best.

Facts/ Figures:

Price ( for mid trim level): $25,000+

FWD

Max HP: 179

Max Torque ft-lbs: 172

MPG (approx*): City: 22 Highway: 31

Cargo room (approx*): 15, 35 CuFt

Length: 177''

Width: 71''

Tank Size (gal): 14.5

Miles on one tank (using combined MPG figures): 390

Average used price with 60,000KM or less: $13,000

* when I say "approx" I usually am using the numbers given by the actual manufacturer or Consumer Reports, minus 1 to be a bit more realistic. 

**No pictures featured are my own, they have been taken either from Google images or the manufacturer's website and their rightful owners should get any credit for them. This review featured all pictures from the manufacturer's websites ( some through Edmunds.com).

Links:
Scion Canada
Scion USA

Related Cars:

2012+ VW Beetle

Honda CR-Z
Hyundai Veloster

Enjoy!

J.K.