No idea when the Corolla based Scion Xb will be out. I think I read about it on www.thecarconnection.com.

 

Yeah, CC says new Corolla after 2007, new xB "in a couple years." If it is on the Corolla platform, might be some time after that gets re-done. I don't know what to make of the 2.4 engine comment. WAG - Maybe it will be on the Camry platform?

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Shop...283.A8372.html

 

My guess is that the we'll likely see the Scion xA replaced first, probably by a model based on the Toyota Ractis that just came out in Japan recently. The xA successor will likely compete against the higher-end Honda Fit. If the rumors are true that the xB successor is based on the next-generation Corolla platform we might not see one until at least Fall 2008.

 

The Ractis would be cool. In 2WD form, the rear seats do what the fit seats do.

http://toyota.jp/ractis/index.html

 

If Toyota could make the rear seat bottoms fold up they'll have a direct Fit competitor. Now, let's see how long before its shows up in the USA as the Scion xA successor....

 

Honda will only sell cars that they think will sell in the US market and that it won't interupt the sales of their other models. If there is a threat that it will interupt the sales of the models they will either not bring it over here, or they will DOWN GRADE IT LIKE THE HONDA FIT. THEY SELL THE REAL THING OVER SEAS, BUT THEY ARE DOWN GRADING IT SO IT WON'T BREAK THE SALES FOR THE CIVIC SI AND HYBRIDS. THE HELL WITH THAT!

 

I've been in both. I was in the Fit overseas in August, and tried out the xA two weeks ago. We want a Fit, but decided we needed to car shop in case our car died before it came to the US.

Well, compared to the Fit, the xA seemed cramped in every way- seating and storage. I hated how the odometer and everything were in the middle! And it just seemed cheap. I wouldn't want to spend the money for the Matrix because I want something more like the Fit, but I'd get the Matrix over the xA in a heartbeat.

 

How would you rate the performance of the Fit verses the xA? Did the Fit seem peppy enough for the US market? Do you know what engine the Fit had?

 

I'll have to check and see which engine it had. In Europe, would it say anything on the back of the car to denote which engine it is? I looked at a picture and the back of the car simply says Jazz.

Seemed peppy enough for me! Didn't drive it on the highway, just around town.

 

I think the Fit will be peppy enough in the city, and that it would be a great city car. That is the way I see the Scions, both of them, as good city commuters. I dunno about hiway though. It would be interesting to take an xA or an xB from Phoenix (1300' altitude) to Flagstaff (7,000' feet altitude). When you make that drive, you find out real quick if the engine has enough power! Only other thing I'd worry about is if the car can get on the freeway with no problems.

 

These K-kart cars (ie fit, xA, xB..) will give you decent acceleration, what worries the most is after 3rd gear...unless you wanna do what Mugen did, swap a type-S motor then you dont have to worry about anything...lol

 

With 1.5L VTEC unless you need to do over 200km/hr (don't think thats legal anywhere in the US as you don't have speed unlimited like parts of Australia) you won't have a problem. 0 to 100km/hr acceleration in real world tests not the ultra conservative factory figure is 8.9sec even in the CVT (auto).

Sydney is full of 100km/hr motorways so everyone drives on the 'freeway'/toll roads every day and no problem keeping pace with anything else on the road. Equally fine on the open road 110km/hr limit. BTW your 55mph is only 88km/hr.

For steep hill climbing you need torque something small cars don't have but CVT maximises what torque there is better than anthing else can. If climbing steep mountains is essentials then V8s are great.

 

The Jazz I rented had no problem cruising at 140k+ on the relatively flat motorway from Bangkok to Pattaya. It had the CVT, but I didn't check which engine, because I wasn't that interested until after I returned it and thought, "what a great little car."

 

Note to Vividjazz: the hiway speed limit in Arizona is 75 MPH, not 55 MPH. I wish I knew what that converts to in KPH. Anyway, most people drive 80 MPH and a lot of them will go 85 MPH. Anyone who has made the trip from Phoenix to Tucson (or vice versa) on I-10 will know that you can be going 80 MPH and get passed by someone going 90. Even in the Phoenix metro area, people drive the freeways faster than the speed limit. We now have the dubious distinction of being the first state in the USA that has cameras on the freeway (the loop 101) and they will send you a ticket in the mail if you go 10 MPH over the speed limit. They are also thinking of making us have 2 license plates so they can get you coming or going. (We only have a license plate in the rear of the car.) What was that about Big Brother (really) watching you....heh

 

75MPH is about 120KPH (pretty much what people do here in the 110KPH highway). When I drove to Canberra from Sydney which is all that speed I got 5L per 100KM fuel economy. Got to be happy with that.

90MPH is about 145KPH. No problems getting up to that speed fast and well beyond it in a safe controlled environment, of course.

As well as fixed and mobile speed cameras everywhere, highway patrol hiding in the bushes they want to introduce a system where by all cars are photographed and your time logged between the log points. They already have the system in place for trucks and so are just going to expand it to cars. This means if your average speed between say Sydney and Melbourne (a 10 hour 1,000km trip) is greater than 110km/hr by even 1km/hr you will be fined a minimum several hundred dollars and lose a minimum 3 of the 12 points from your license unless its double demit points during all holiday periods like at the moment for speeding. ie. half you license for 1km over the speed limit (zero tolerance policing for our safety but also quite convenient for their cash register).

 

hey, vivid, when you cruise at 120kph, what is the engine rpm? I wanna know about the MT one too if you have that info.

 

[QUOTE=vividjazz]75MPH is about 120KPH (pretty much what people do here in the 110KPH highway). When I drove to Canberra from Sydney which is all that speed I got 5L per 100KM fuel economy. Got to be happy with that.QUOTE]

If I did this correctly: 100km/5L x 3.785L/gal x 0.62m/km = 46.934m/gal and you were cruising around 75? I'll take that any day.

 

I own a CVT so it doesn't work anything like a manual. Revs are approx. 2,500rpm at that speed but affected by how long crusing at that speed, gradient, any current or recent throttle movement, the mode the transmission is in (assuming in just D rather than S or D 7-speed or S 7-speed), assuming engine warmed up (cold engine light off) and goodness knows what other factors it takes into consideration but there are plenty. VTEC hasn't kicked in and the noise level at that speed is exceptional for a small car.

The revs are very low for a small engine. To put it into perspective my 4 litre straight 6 4 speed auto ute would sit on about 2,300rpm at that speed.

The manual sits on higher revs (approx 3,500rpm but someone with a manual can confirm) because of gearing but don't know the exact revs just that manual owners complain of cabin noise/drone at that speed. The other issues with the manual are worse fuel economy, increased emissions, clutch point (personal preference thing), the need to have a fair amount of revs before engagement (again relative personal thing) and clutch wear (I think dependant on how you drive).

The CVT is an expensive option on an entry level car at A$2,300 but it is one of the key things that sets this car apart from every other small car.

 

[QUOTE=BKKJack]Canberra is exactly 300km from the centre of Sydney. Its approx a 3.5hr trip with a good 45min spent getting out of Sydney. I'm a good law abiding citizen so was doing 110km/hr which is 68MPH (it was double demerit points at the time). So that figure was over several hours at that speed and not counting the city driving component.

The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney broadsheet newspaper equivalent of the New York Times) drove Sydney to Melbourne on a single tank of fuel. Given that the fuel tank is 40 litres and that distance is just under 1,000km (say 960km or even if 900km - keeps getting shorter with more bypasses and highway improvements) they did even better than me.

I don't know how they come up with the fuel economy figure that has been bantered around for the US but these are the REAL WORLD highway figures. They must of had 4 sumos in the car like the famous A Class merc moose test. If that kind of economy is not good enough then you need to be looking at electric cars and hybrids.

 

Vivid,

I noticed that in 7th in the manual mode the engine revved a little higher than in full automatic mode. You?