Toyota-Subaru sports coupe will launch in late 2011 - report

Heavy Industries announced Subaru will launch their new sport coupe in lat= e 2011.

I hope that they'd buckle the trend of the inferior overbored 2.0 liter for the american market: it;d be interesting to see how they'd sell side to side if toyota sells scion with 2.5 RWD and subaru with 2.0 AWD

visibility on that concept seems to be worse than on the outgoing scion front wheel driver 3door hatch

I don't have a problem with my '05 tC, visiblility is good. I'm not often looking out the back, anyway. The seats are unconfortable. (Actually, they are quite comfortable, but I'm used to sitting lower in the car and not like I'm at a Thansgiving dinner...solved by installing Celica seats...)

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tC seats are better than the torture chairs in 2005 outback sport were. No cutting into thighs on the cushion, enough lateral support in the upper portion of the seat where lateral support is actually needed. the cushion is more about the grip and lack of static electricity discharges upon egress

So how is your overall satisfaction with the tC experience, as compared to a Subaru ...handling, power, etc. (you had an Impreza before if I am not mistaken (?).

I cling on to my old 2.2L 2000 Impreza Coupe because there just isn't a decent value coupe around. The Golf is a nice and economical, car but lacking in reliability, the BMW1 is just to expensive for me, the Altima Coupe seems OK, but is underpowered with base engine, while the V6 version is overpriced. VolvoC30 is a mixed bag. Not as bad reliability as Golf, not as expensive as BMW, but still a bit too much $$$ ...and risk for me. I missed the Solara sale at Toyota during the sticky brake pedal debacle- that was a nice car, and could be gotten for very decent money, though it looked a bit weird. Civic? Well, ...I hate the futuristic dashboard and lack of torque.

The Scion TC seems like an excellent value, if one ignores the 'boyishness.' Would you recommend it overall?

Basia

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Change your underwear !

Get rid of Nylon clothing as that is the biggest cause of producing static electricity.

LOL! I wish! I never got the Imprezza Sport wagon. I have an '89 GL Hatchback that I REALLY like, but it's rusting into the ground, like my Hachiroki....

As far as the tC, the only thing that could make it better (other than a lower, more laid back seating position) is RWD. Actually, this is obtainable, because the car is based on the Caldera(? IIRC) which is AWD, so there are rear ends and driveshafts to fit. It is fast, responsive, economical and a BLAST to drive. I wrote a review for Edmunds entitled "Inspires confidence, rewards experience", because it DOES!

The metal is too thin...

I actually put a deposit on a used Solara (2001?) before I bought the Scion, the Solara had 30,000 miles on it. MUCH better seating position, like the Celicas or the older Corollas.

If they made them seat like other Toyota sports cars, like my Celica, Supra and Corolla GTS. The only thing I HATE about the car. In the other cars, you sit down and back, and the throttle, brake and clutch are 'extensions' of you feet and legs. The scion, you're sitting on top of them. The seating position makes you want to mash the gas to the floor. I have the Celica seat in; it took some getting used to after the totally upright position of the Scion seat, but it's getting second nature now. I have it bolted in with three bolts, but I'm going to have a friend cut/weld custom mounts, because I need to go back about 1-2" further to be comfortable (I'm 5'11") If you LIKE the upright seating position, you'll love the car. However, before I put in the Celica seat, I was stalling it a lot with the clutch!!! Now, I have no problems at all with the clutch.

Also, it seems for 2005-2006 or so there is a problem with the head bolts backing out in the rear (hmmm...sounds familiar...Supra?). I don't know if there's a recall; I never received anything.

I haven't driven a 2.2 or 2.5 Soob enough to compare. I will say one thing: even though my '89 isn't as laid back as my other Toyotas, it is one of the MOST comfortable cars I have ever driven!

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I dunno. I covered them with seat covers that produce quite a noticable, and VISIBLE spark!!! :)

Hang on to the door frame at the filling station!

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LOL! I wear nothing but cotton! Well, except me jacket. I don't have the strength to wear an all-cotton jacket!

Thanks for your reply Hachiroku.

You coming from the Celica, Supra and Corolla GTS$B%O%A%m%/(B, I think I know what your talking about when you complain about the seating, and I think I understand overall why you were attracted to the tc. It is a nice and relatively strong small value oriented coupe, FWD, only, but still.

I looked at an SR5 in the late 80s, 1989 or so. Kind of miss the days of relatively inexpensive and sporty coupes. The Ford Probe was one of them. The XT, and later Impreza RS, where the wonderful cars, that made Subaru. I cherish my base 2000 Impreza coupe, as it reminds me of these earlier great cars, and is sort of one of the last of that breed. Mine is just like this one.

Here is the new Impreza, 2012, ...if it is something that they put into production and sell for a decent price, I would love to own one. It is not a coupe, but the rear doors are kinda small. Surely they plan to offer a bigger engine than the 2.0 liter, or a turbo version, so it may be something really nice. It looks very good to me.

Basia

one.http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2803/661/7005330021_larg...

I forgot to add that I absolutely loved the great visibility that these older cars had, ...thanks to large panoramic windows. Nowadays its just the Europeans (Golf VolvoC30) who still subscribe to the idea.

The Japanese are emulating the American armoured car look, e.i. extremely narrow glass, etc. High doors, I hate it, makes you feel like you are seated to low. Maybe its good for safety to be wrapped in metal up to your ears, especially when there are so many aging SUV's on the roads, but good visibility is a great preventative, that can help avoid collision in the first place.

Maybe I am just old fashioned. Anyway, i'll give that Volvo c30 another look.

Basia

That is NEAT!

The '89 Corolla was IIRC still a 1.6L car. The difference, at least at the onset, was the GTS came with twin cams and EFI. The SR5 at that time was still a carb and a SOHC. The difference was about 20 HP. Even though mine only had 112 HP (rated byt the governemtn, I believe) it still ran like it had more. The twin cam was a free-revving engine, and while acceleration was not neck snapping, it was still good.

This is what it looks like today: