Photos from Push It To The Limit - May 28th, 2011

Push It To The Limit!

Scion Canada has generously agreed to allow me to take a Scion tC to an autoslalom.  In particular, the Push It To The Limit Autoslalom series.  As it turns out, Scion Canada is one of the sponsors of the series.  

I am looking forward to seeing what the tC can do around the cones.  I'll post my thoughts afterwards.

Fun at the track, and practical too.

Last week I had the xB at the Mosport DDT, this week it is loaded with gardening supplies.  I managed to fit in a new wheelbarrow and 8 bags of wood chips, with room to spare.  I put the back seats down, of course, but that is the advantage of having a smaller hatchback - you can still cram it full of stuff you need to cart around.

Scion Racing Contingency program is here!

Well, Scion Canada posted details of their Racing Contingency Program today, and it is very exciting.  Here's a bit of info from their website:

Racing - It moves you

"Approaching a tight right curve...you're coming in too fast. Sitting hard on the brakes you heel and toe down 2 gears. You wait for the right moment for full throttle and then accelerate out of the curve. You think "Should have nailed it a bit earlier. Oh well, good enough." It's a straightaway now...pedal to the metal."

Sound familiar? Even if it's just you daydreaming as you're stuck in traffic, you now have a chance to take it to the track and get rewarded for your skills. Scion Canada is now offering cash awards to drivers who race and win their Scion vehicles in an accredited series, bearing Scion-supplied decals on their cars and badging on their gear. Autoslalom, road race, time attack, drag racing and more are eligible for consideration.

Register to Win

Find a racing series, register to compete and then connect with Scion Racing. We'll hook you up with decals and swag so you can look the part.

Then, Finish 1st, 2nd, or 3rd and the award is yours—up to $500.

To be eligible, you need to participate in a minimum of two races, and you need to pre-register. Click on the button below for a full list of the rules and regulations and the racing agreement form. Then win with Scion.

That's right, up to $500 for finishing first in your class, or just finish top 3 for other cash rewards.  There are a wide range of qualifying series across Canada.  Check out their website - Scion Racing - for all the details and registration form.  I'm sending mine in tomorrow, what about you?

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 Racing Contingency program is coming to Canada

Scion Canada has confirmed on Facebook that the Scion Racing Contingency Program is coming to Canada.  Details are to follow next week.  Can't wait - should be interesting to see what they are offering!

Ahhh, that's better....

Found some time to put the rims on my new Scion xB.  I think most would agree that they are a major improvement over the steel wheels/hubcap combo the car came with.

Picked up my new Scion xB

So I picked up my new Scion xB on Monday at Wietzes Scion. It is always exciting to get a new car, and this was no exception.

As mentioned in a previous post, I added a number of upgrades including the TRD lowering springs, rear sway bar and front strut tower. After driving it a few days I have to say those upgrades were money well spent. The car's suspension feels firmer than the stock suspension, but not uncomfortably so. Through the corners, though, the car is noticeably flatter, with very little body roll.

Here's a photo that clearly shows the springs and rear sway bar (the red parts in the photo). You can also clearly see the shiny new TRD muffler. It won't stay that shiny for long.

Can't wait to get some rims on it!