I sat in one at the local dealership, the seat was amazing. All the controls were very close and readily accessible, and I could operate the clutch with my boots on. I opened the hood too, the engine is really tiny, its wide as hell, about as wide as my 1UZ, but still tiny. The photos on the computer don’t do it justice on how small and low it really is. I noticed the transmission is tiny too, and seemed like there was lots of room in the trans tunnel, like I could fit my arms around the trans from below. The starter looks like it could be replaced in 5 mins or so from the top!!! All the bolt heads were polished, reminded me of the Supra when they were new, lots of shiny bolt heads and smooth grey aluminum. Doing a tune up (spark plugs) looked like it could be a pain just from where the spark plugs are, but all the front engine covers could be accessed to do a timing chain relatively easily. The oil filter is on top too with a little spill box so oil doesn’t drip down onto the engine.
Although I didn’t drive one yet, I have a feeling the horsepower and torque will make a real fun car and the chassis will give people plenty of room for improvement in the power department. I can bet future maintenance being easier than most others cars too. If things go right for me in the next few months I may place an order for the Scion, and after checking one out, it really doesn’t matter to me what badge is displayed on the thing, its a nice car!
