OK, so after almost 17,000 miles with the Fit, and trying all kinds of wackiness with the seats, I still simply could not get comfortable. 35" inseam is a bitch.

Plus my exwife was on the loan for the Fit...

So, I traded it in today. Picked up a brand new Scion tC.

I've liked them for a while, but the '06-'10 models were a little pinched for legroom. Not so in the '11. I just picked up a 2011 Scion tC with a 6 speed manual (Woohoo!!!). I thought I'd be happy with an auto. I tried to convince myself, but you can only fool yourself for so long.

So far, I think I'll enjoy this a lot more. The Fit runs circles around it in overall practicality, fuel economy, parking, and hauling things, but I'm recently divorced, and I needed a nice crazy sort of purchase.

(Not mine, since the sun was down and my iPhone battery drained when I got it, but this is just like it...)


(Mine is a stick)

The mileage is a smidge lower (23/31 vs 27/33) but the extra torque, 6 speed manual, and drastically greater comfort (I like to sit with my feet stretched in front of me) should make it a better fit for me and my life.

It's been swell guys, and I'll probably still poke around as you are a fun bunch. Happy trails!

 

How was your seat positioned?

I have a 34"+ inseam (I can fit in a 34" pants, but only barely).

I notice that my body moves forward depending on how far back the seat is (not) reclined. Meaning the more vertical the seatback is... the more my legs feel "crunched" up. While my seat is reclined to the point where it looks a little like the position you see the "thugs" on tv and whatnot sit at. But even when I'm fully laid back onto the seat, I can reach the (top of the) steering wheel and the shifter.

The Scion has the same spec for leg room as the Fit. So that leaves me to wonder, is that spec the length or the width?!?

Well, have fun with the new car.. adieu.

 

I'm not sure how they measure it. With the seat all the way up, the legroom seemed like it was in the same ballpark, but when you crank it lower, the seat seems to move back. My right leg is extended almost to straight out. I can almost fully extend my left leg to the dead-pedal. The clutch actually requires me to point my toes to push it to the floor, which is a new one for me!

I took it for a test-drive yesterday, and was absolutely amazed. It's different, in quite a few ways, and I'll miss some things about the Fit, but this new ride should serve my purposes just fine.

I'd considered an Accord Coupe, but those have gotten huge, and the Scion had all the options I wanted from an Accord at a much lower price.

Oh, btw, 35" inseam. We're all shaped a bit different and have different comfort preferences. I really missed the low, legs out position of my old Civic and Accord from back in the day, and can tolerate the loss of the massive cargo hold as a price to pay for it. I always had the seats in the Fit leaned WAY back, but it still felt tight to me.

BTW, two things that really stand out -

1. If you like the large windows on the Fit, you'd hate this. It's not as claustrophobic as a Mustang or Camaro, but it's close - it's that classic sitting in a hole, high window-sill, low roof, small window design.

2. The headlights are so bright I squinted when I turned on the brights. Wow.

Nothing against your Fits. It's a cool little car, and more fun than a little hatchback has any right to be, but I really wanted something different. I halfway considered a new Mustang, but I have kids (part of the time at least), and I wanted something that would be able to actually fit them in the back!

 

I've driven a 95 Corvette for a while (was brother-in-law's, then he sold it to my brother)... so I'm used to the "smallish" cabin feeling. But seating was a problem, I had to have the seat positioned in one very specific way for me to be able to drive the car.

 

Almost like dancing at the Waldorf. Good luck with you new future - your seat mod has made me fit my FIT better.

 

Congrats!! Have fun with your TC!!

 

Thanks, I plan to!

Snapped some actual pics of mine once I got to work this morning:

 

Yeah the TC seems to get the vote for awesomeness at work!! (I work at a Toyota Dealer!) Just take a close look at leaky water pumps that are a common problem on every Toyota\Lexus\Scion!! A problem apparently caused by the crappy Toyota Coolant... I would be curious to try to completely flush the Toyota coolant and replace it with some Honda blue Stuff as they doesn't seems to have that problem!

Still, 2 thumbs up!!

Marko!!

 

They were trying to sell up the extended warranty. "You know, these are made as tuner cars, they're not made the same as other Toyotas."

"Really? Last time I checked, it was the chassis from the Avensis, with restyled body panels and the 2.5L straight from the Camry"

"Uhhhh... Cool."

________________

There are a few things that will take me some time to get used to:

- The visibility is nowhere near what it was in the Fit. The Fit has almost no blind spots. The tC, like most two-door coupes, has large C-pillars, limiting over-the-shoulder views. Because of the low seat and high beltline, the view to the right side is trickier in particular.
- Getting used to the new dimensions. It's not a big car; it's slightly larger than a Civic coupe, and not by much. But, It's longer than the Fit and the Element, which were my daily drivers for the past 5 years.
- The mileage seems pretty good so far, if the computer is to be trusted (first tank still). Driving around town, it was right around 25-26. I usually got the advertised 27 in the city with the Fit. On a section of highway, resetting just as I entered, it seemed to hover around 35-36. Decent enough, especially for the extra 60 or so horsepower and liter of displacement.
- Just FYI - At 70 mph, 5th gear had the engine at 3300 RPM, and 6th had it at 2700.
- Reverse is going to take some serious getting used-to: It's to the left and up from 1st gear, and you squeeze the trim-ring toward the knob to allow it into the far left gate.
- I smile every time I stretch my legs out and realize that I don't have to fark around with the seat to try and accomodate my legs comfortably.

I get the stereo installed tomorrow - Scion doesn't have the stereo in the car on the lot... they let you pick the included stereo, or an upgrade, and put it in for you. Service dept was closed last night, and today was jam-packed. I'd much rather have my tunes playing than the big hole in the dash!

 

Oh yeah... the surprising part? They are really, really inexpensive.

 

I really want to know how they measure this stuff...

2010 Accord Coupe: 42.2 in
2011 Scion tC: 41.8 in
2010 Civic Coupe: 42.6
2010 Scion tC:41.6
2011 Scion xD: 40.3 in
2011 Honda Fit: 41.3 in

Note that I have ranked these from longest to shortest according to my butt-testing. I want to know how they are actually computed. There is no way the tC has the same space as the Fit, unless they jack the seat all the way up (like most cars with the ratcheting seat-height adjustment, the seat moves forward as you raise it). The Civic, even with the seat at its lowest, comes up less than the tC.

This is the first car I've had since my '92 Accord where I can keep my legs straight, and not have to splay my knees out to the sides. It's one notch away from me having to actually slide it FORWARD, which is completely mind-boggling to me.

 

congrats! that new Tc is pretty cool looking.

 

Its cool that they gave it a 6 spd manny. Interior is hideous to me and im still not decided on the exterior. Maybe it will grow on me.

 

LOL... To each his own. I respect that a bit more coming from someone with a GD, that has what I see as one of the best dashboards Honda has ever designed.

I knew I wanted another two door (I like having window there when I look to the side instead of B-pillar... or back window) and there aren't that many two door coupes left on the market. Even fewer two-door coupes with actual back seats and not Pony-Car 2+2 watermellon holders.

Basically:
Civic Coupe
Forte Koup
Scion tC
Nissan Altima Coupe
Hyundai Genesis Coupe

And of course the pricier Germans.

The Civic... the interior isn't as comfortable as it used to be (I'd been tossing around the thought of another Civic EX 5spd) And it is horrible looking!



I get a 'meh..." sort of feeling from the Kia. Not that I am willing to buy a Kia, good as they may have gotten:


The Altima, SI, and Genesis were more than I wanted to spend.

So, it's down to the Civic vs the tC. And then I sit down in the tC, and I see this:



Wow, I like that... everything in the right place, nice deep almost retro-muscle-car gauges. The whole thing reminds me of 80's sports-cars that I oogled as a little kid - the shape of the dash, even the LED clock, which seemed kind of weird at first, but dammit, I miss having a real clock on the dash that's not in the radio screen!


So... for the same price as a Civic EX manual at invoice, I get a 6 speed, 18" wheels, and what is basically an Accord engine? And NOT a car that I see on every corner? And there's a $1K military rebate? Sign me UP!

 

Reminds me of the GD.

Namely the steering wheel and the layout of the three climate controls.

 

You may laugh, but there's more than a touch of Pony Car influence.




Note the tC's two deep set gauges, with contrasting colored circles at the center of each face, high dash that with almost a beveled edge. Note how the three A/C knobs ape the three gauges on the console.

 

So, funny enough. My buddy checks out the new ride on Saturday, and likes it. I said, "Hey take it for a spin." After a short spin around the local area, he said "Man, I'd just gotten over the urge to trade in the Tundra, and now you've brought it back!"

Monday, he traded in his Tundra for a '08 Civic SI. He said "Can you believe I only piad $38 to fill this thing with premium? Sure beats $90 to go almost 200 miles!"

 

OK... so, I've had this car for a bit over a month, and logged about 1400 miles on it.

My overall assessment driving the Fit 18 or so months and then switching to the tC:

Comfort: 100% better. The fit is simply not laid out for long arms and legs. My knee doesn't rub the console or shifter, or interfere with the steering wheel (or require the steering wheel to be uncomfortably high). The seats are amazing compared to the one I'd been enduring in the Fit - my biggest complaint about the car. Nicely scultped for my frame, firm padding, and I can't feel the seat-frame jutting through the padding like in the Fit. The backrest feels terrific, no pressure in the center of my back. The footwell is also wider (well, the whole car is wider by about 4 inches) so I have a bit more space for my size 12's.

Interior quality: The dash and door panels are made of the same hard plastic as most cars in this class. The carpet is much nicer. Seat fabric feels durable, and they actually padded and properly sculpted the door armrests. Someone went full-retard in the design department: the center armrest is hard plastic. I'd be fine just tossing a towel there on a long road-trip, but geez, way to drop the ball. All the switchgear feels good, and the gas and clutch feel smooth and nicely weighted (yeah, the splurged on a proper return-spring for the accelerator pedal).

Visibility: Not as good as the Fit by any means. it took a few weeks to get used to the 'sitting in a hole' feeling. In particular, it's harder to see to the right front corner, say, when turning around a raised curb in a parking lot and not wanting to scrape my wheels up! To the rear is OK, though the C-pillars block the view to the corners.

Acceleration: I had a 5AT Fit... and swapped it for a 180hp car with a stick shift... so yeah, this is quite a bit better. More importantly, there is plenty of grunt on tap throughout the rev-range. The variable valve timing on the intake and exhaust valves of this DOHC engine, together with the variable length intake gives it a very wide power-band.

Ride: It's about as firm as the Fit Sport, perhaps a bit moreso, but the wider track and longer wheelbase make it a bit less choppy feeling, especially on expansion joints.

Handling: There's not as much road-feel through the wheel as in the Fit. The tires on this thing hold onto the road like a rock climber that's downed about 15 Monster Energy drinks, but it's a bit less engaging for the driver while doing so. Case in point - there's a nice offramp near me that's one of those ~270 degree loop dealies: In the Fit, I could feel the tires scrambling to hold on, and it was exciting. I could push it to the limit until I felt the front wheels start to slip a bit. The tC will easily go around that curve faster, and with extra torque on hand, it can roar out of it, but it feels less emotionally involved.

You can tell that it was built on the chassis of a midsized sedan (the Avensis, which if you aren't familiar with it, is the Euro Camry in the same sense that the TSX is the Euro Accord). Great fun, no doubt, but it won't give you the same grins at lower speeds that the Fit's skimpy little 185mm-wide tires will. On the highway, the steering assistance is basically off, and the car tracks really well - it feels very at home rolling along on the highway, likely due to it's longer wheelbase and lower center of gravity.

Noise: Road noise is high, but having driven Honda's for so long, that's nothing new to me. Most of the road noise seems to echo from the rear hatch area, so I imagine a cargo-cover would deaden it quite a bit, especially if I lined the underside with extra material. It's pretty loud with the sunroof open - the squared off roof and glass that extends outside aren't the best for smooth airflow.

Stereo: Dayum! I got the base stereo (incl. with the car), rather than the Alpine upgrade. 300 watts of power, with a separate, external amp for 2 of the 8 speakers (the woofers in the front doors)... yeah, it sounds good. The iPod interface is much better - jump to letters of the alphabet when skimming through artists, load podcasts, and generally I can jump to the music I want very quickly. I never missed the wheel-mounted controls in the Fit, because you sit so close to the dash in there. It's nice in here where it's a longer reach. The upper glovebox to store the stereo was a nice touch though.

Cupholders: There aren't enough! Seriously, there are two in the back (molded into the sides). The front center console has two (one of which has a pop out iPod/change holder), and there are bottle holders in the doors. Realistically, this means I have to remember to toss out whatever cup/can/bottle I had in there before, rather than simply shuffling the empty container to another cup-holder. Also, unlike the ones in the Fit, the center console ones are functional and deep.

Cargo: Less space. I don't tend to haul a lot of stuff, so this isn't a big deal for me. The seats are easy to fold down if I need to move something bulky, and go flat, but nothing like the Fit's magic seats. It's a shallow space under a lift-back - think Insight.

Fuel Economy: I was typically getting 26-27 around town, 37-40 on the highway (with a few rare cases of 40+ on the highway). My area has a lot of hills and the 5AT was constantly downshifting for extra hill-climbing torque. The tC is getting 25-26 around town, so I can't complain. It's rated at 23/31... on the highway, I took it on a short trip and it showed 34. Given the extra comfort and overall fun, I can't complain.

Safety: It certainly feels safer, though I never took the opportunity to crash the Fit and find out how it would hold up. Between the stability control, extra mass, heavier doors, extra distance between me and the dash, longer hood, extra airbags (front passenger knee airbags) and more secure handling, it certainly feels safer. Again, I really don't want to test it out!

Insurance: my bum hurts and I don't wanna talk about it.

Also: I felt like it needed a little somethin' on the side - the white seems so plain.
So...

 

How many speakers does that thing have?! It looks like 3 in each of the front doors, Im assuming there is at least one in each side of the back and then most scion's have a subwoofer in the spare tire. So that's what? 9 speakers total? I wouldn't mind a nice coupe with a 6 speed, but I really don't like the interior design of most toyota's, Lexus aside. But to each their own. Nice car, hope it keeps you happy!

 

Nice honest comparison, I almost bought a Corolla S before the fit. But It was that sorta' numb feedback from the steering in Toyota's that I leaned toward the fit. Toyota's are smooth but I like feeling involved in the driving just my preference. Biggest gripe on FIT "seating comfort", especially since my last car's front seats were leather and power. Nice TC Congrats!!