Track Day with the Scion xB

On Friday, May 13th, Wietzes Toyota Scion hosted their first track day at the Mosport Driver Development Centre. If you have never been to the Mosport DDT it is a road course with a wide variety of turns and a couple of straights. The rolling topography adds to the interest as there is a fairly significant change in elevation through a full lap. It is quite a bit of fun, even if it does not offer top speed thrills like some larger tracks - the Mosport big track would offer this.

For an autocrosser like me this track provides plenty of thrills. At an autocross it is very rare to get into third gear, but the DDT had a couple of spots where you were full throttle in third, before braking hard for a corner. Top speed, when it was possible to glance at the speedo, was around 125 km/h. The digital speedo in the xB was actually helpful here, because it was easy to read quickly.

The day turned out to be very nice, weather-wise, if not a little hot. The weatherman had been calling for thunderstorms all week, but the track stayed dry all day long. There was quite a wide assortment of cars at the track. Everything from the top dog 911 GT3 RS to a Scion xD, with a number of other Porsches, an Audi A3, BMW 6 Series, a couple of Camrys and several Scion tCs.


Speaking of the Scion xD, it was there courtesy of Scion Canada. Nice to see Scion out enjoying the day with some of their customers. Special thanks to them for the bit of swag they sent my way.


This was obviously my first opportunity to drive my xB hard. I had only had it for about a week and a half. Not really knowing how it would handle, nor wanting to learn the track on my good tires, I started the day on the stock tires that came with the car. I quickly got comfortable with the xB on the track, and soon was wishing for the extra grip the Falken FK452s would provide. I'm glad I started out on the stock tires as it allowed me to get up to speed without any real danger of over-driving my skills, not to mention the noticeable wear the tires showed when I took them off.

Once I put on the Falkens there was a significant increase in grip. Proof that spending money on better tires was worthwhile. Overall, I was very pleased with the handling on the xB. The TRD springs, rear sway bar and front strut tower proved themselves to be very important upgrades. The lack of understeer was actually a little surprising to me - I only had understeer when I really over-cooked a corner.


Overall the day was well organized and safely run, with a good group of guys ( and a lady or two).  Having a couple of instructors on hand was invaluable, and certainly made my day better after listening to some advice.  A nice lunch was provided, and given the heat, lots of drinks were available. Hopefully Wietzes Toyota Scion will make this an annual event.

Scion to debut concept car

Looks like Scion will debut a new car at the New York Autoshow on April 20th. They have released a teaser video and the car in the video certainly looks like a Toyota FT-86. This suggests that the rumors about Scion getting the FT-86 are true. All that remains to be seen is whether Toyota and Scion both get a version (which is my hope), or whether Scion will be the brand selling the FT-86 in North America.

Teaser video, and the live reveal on April 20th, can be found here: www.sciondimension.com

Toyota Zelas

Here's an interesting bit of information - the Scion tC is going to be sold in China in 2011 as the Toyota Zelas.  No information on whether or not there will be any significant changes to the tC for the Chinese market.

[Source: autoevolution.com]

Toyota Introduces Entune

With the Consumer Electronic Show coming later this week, Toyota is introducing it's version of Ford's Sync in-car multimedia system.  According to the press release (read the full release here) it comes with the largest number of mobile apps.  The system links with your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection and uses your phone's data plan to access the internet.


Most intriguing to me are the music apps - Pandora & iheartradio.  This may very well herald the end of terrestrial radio as we have known it.  The ability to integrate internet radio easily into your vehicle's entertainment system opens up a whole new world of music sources.  While satellite radio has been available for a number of years, internet radio seems to be the future.  Even Howard Stern has said that SiriusXm, the only sat radio company, will be moving towards more of an internet radio service.


Hopefully Entune will be embraced by the various app developers so that new apps are quickly developed.  The apps must be easily installed by the average user for Entune to be successfull.


While Toyota has indicated limited initial availability, I fully expect it will make it's way to Scion.  This type of development is squarely aimed at a younger audience - the audience Scion is targetting.  I just hope the cost of adding the Entune option is kept reasonable.


Some of the other features include:

• Bing
• MovieTickets.com
• OpenTable.com
• Location-based services, such as personalized traffic, gas prices, weather and sports
• Also includes read-back and replay of text messages

Autoblog.com has a video that shows off some of the features.  Have a look at it:

[Sources: Autoblog.com, Toyota]

Toyota FT-86 Logo

Car and Driver claims to have uncovered the logo for the upcoming Toyota FT-86.  The logo shows off an "86" in the centre.  The "86" is a nod to the Toyota AE86 from the 80's, which now has a bit of a cult following in the drifting world.   It is also suggested that the opposing pistons is a reference to the boxer style of engine.  The FT-86 has been co-developed with Subaru (Toyota owns a chunk of Subaru) and is expected to be delivered with a Subaru boxer engine.

Source: Car and Driver

So why is a story about a Toyota on a Scion blog? Some have suggested that the FT-86 may actually arrive to market as a Scion.  The Wall Street Journal, via Autoblog.com, reports that:

"...Toyota management told dealers in Las Vegas there will be a production version of the FT-86 badged as a Scion model. The move would help bolster the struggling brand, which has been a bit product-starved of late. There are also rumors of a new price point – as high as $25,000 – and the possibility that the Subaru version will only be available in Europe."

I think if this logo is accurate, that it puts to rest the idea of the FT-86 being badged as a Scion.  The AE86 is something of an iconic car for Toyota and has no ties to Scion.  Why include the "86" in th logo if it isn't a Toyota?

Of course they could sell it as a Toyota in most markets and as a Scion in North America. Seems to me it would compete with the tC, to a certain extent, so far as being a small 2-door coupe.  I'd rather see it as a Toyota to bring a bit of sportiness back to that brand!


[Sources: Car and Driver, Autoblog.com]

Nice example of an AE86
Source: http://ae86levinandtrueno.blogspot.com/

Toyota FT-86 Concept

Toyota FT-86 Concept
Source: Autoblog.com