I'm in the market for a Spyder or a WRX. Decided to hit the Toy dealer today since the lady on the phone told me there was only one Spyder left on the lot. Ugh, what a shame. It had the 6-speed SMT (sequential-manual tranny). I didn't quite like the tranny (and the price was all wrong), so I told the dude to call me when they get a used 5-speed in instead. He wouldn't let me go without driving the tC. Now, I'd read a bit on it, and I'm looking for a car I can race, and FWD is almost out of the question. But I went along once I saw the features on the car. Pretty cool product IMO.
2004 MR2 Spyder:
Appearance - Black on black Spyder. Looked gorgeous, but I prefer the green still. Lower to the ground that I realised. Very good thing IMO.
The 03-04 front bumper and rear headlights look lame IMO. The car is definitely small all around, and I didn't even bother popping the front bonnet since I could just tell that the tiny pouch of a trunk wasn't worth looking at. Inside, the car is above average. Leather on this car, but I can imagine the cloth being more practical for the Miami heat. The tach-centric dash is what I want, and I could easily keep an eye on redline as I was gunning it around the backroads. Rear visibility is below average, but I don't plan on being passed much. The stereo seemed a couple notches about crap though. I've been spoiled by my Crystal comps.
Ride - The car is quite a bit of fun. I'll get the bad out of the way. The SMT is an awesome tranny, but it caught me out a bit, and I refuse to get it. For one, it'll take a little time to get the hang of. You've gotta keep track of your gear on the dash, especially on downshifts...which are fast and perfect. After a while you can probably do it by feel. But then, on upshifts, this thing is annoyingly slow. You grab a gear, and what feels like too long later, the computer upshifts to a nice bump. Not smooth, but not fast. The worst of both worlds. Just plain clumsy, and seems to be a safety measure built-in by Toyota, not a limitation. But the downshifts are just so smooth and so quick. Damn you Toyota. The steering wheel has shift buttons. One on the back for upshifts, and the front for downs. I'd prefer to have a left/right setup, but the buttons are fine, and give you that F1 feel. The car handles quite well, as a mid-engine car should. Turn-in was fucking insane. I felt like a pro. I couldn't induce oversteer, but the dealer who rode along with me had never driven in the car before and looked scared. The first thing I did when leaving the lot was floor it. The SMT won't let you spin the wheels unless you abuse it (the tranny that is), so I didn't bother trying burnouts. The car is underpowered, especially at low revs. Once you hit lift though, the pep is there. It's plenty fast, and that low, it feels like a real race car. In corners, there's some body roll, although that will be fixed with coilovers. It's not much though, and this car will corner with the best of them. I did as much as I could for a residential neighborhood. I wish I could have hit the highway and some on/off ramps. The ride was "bumpy", but I don't see any problem with it at all. I expect to be riding around much stiffer than that when I mod it. The brakes...fuggedaboudit. This car stops on a dime. You cannot find better brakes anywhere for less than $40,000. Your eyes will fly out of their sockets...literally. But the car is underpowered.
I'm gonna get this car. I think the test drive today confirmed it for me. If it was a 5-speed, I could have really torn ass around the neighborhood. But much of the time was spent getting used to the SMT, which is a neat device that has been limited by Toyota's lawsuit-warey suits. This car needs a serious kick in the ass though. If it had the Celica engine from the start, people wouldn't even care about the Elise. This car is the shit. Ugh, so tossable. This is what driving's about.
2005 Scion tC:
Appearance - OK...this car is hot. I'm not even gonna pretend. I couldn't hide the grin when the dealer popped the moonroof. This moonroof design will be copied soon, if this isn't a copy already. On a bright day like today, it was awesome to get the feeling of the outdoors while driving. There moonroof is two parts. The read seats have a small one that doesn't open, and the front seats have the sliding one. They stretch the width of the roof. Fucking sweet. and there's a built-in wind deflector that pops up when the roof is open and and is flush when not. The trunk is a hatchback, but I didn't really know it until he popped it. Looked like a normal trunk to be before that. It's got a lot of room in back, and the seats fold down. It's a 2-door 4-seater and the seats in the back have an amazing amount of leg room. More than a Civic and Impreza, but looked like less than my 4-door Corolla. The coolest thing is the back seats recline. And you can fold the front seats flat and sit in the reclined rear seats like a lawnchair. HOT, baby! HOT! The dash looks cool, the seating position is great, and...he could have sold me this car today if it wasn't FWD. Which I kept telling him, but he still insisted on making me drive it.
Performance - 2.4 VVT-i engine. This shit got some pep. 160hp and 160lb/ft gave it some giddyup. I drove an automatic (meh, first one we saw) and again, put the pedal to the firewall right off the lot. The damn thing could outrun the Spyder SMT. Probably not the 5-speed, but it would be close. I'm almost embarassed to say that. This thing is 800lbs heaver, and a measely 21hp extra felt like heaven and earth. Of course, this might have to do with those 160lb/ft of torque coming in at 4k. I assume the torque curve is fairly flat for this engine. It felt it except at low rpms. The brakes are something else too. I didn't beat on them, but when I called, they answered. Pretty good stoppers, but might be average by today's standards for all I know. My 95 Rolla is almost through a second set of rotors, so anything feels good right now. The car handled well enough. Body roll was more than the Spyder, but great compared to other cars its size. 17" wheels come stock, so that's also got something to do with the ride being more solid. I really just wish I had gotten to drive a 5-speed version now, b/c I think it could have been a lot of fun. But FWD is played out. I need RWD or AWD. If I wanted to race a FWD Toyota, I'd just mod my Corolla.
In any case. At a base price of $17k, you get a car that not only performs well, but also has all sorts of interior room and cool features. And the engine bay is big, so I can imagine dropping a Camry V6 or bigger in there with ease. Toyota/Scion seems to be pushing this as their big sports coupe. Supposedly, a supercharger is coming, or is available, and probably easy to turbocharge this thing. That engine's gotta have some real potential. I was looking at it and while the dealer kept spewing the info he'd learned at the training seminar, all I could do was think about fitting it in the back of the Spyder. Might need a new intake manifold for that...I don't know. It doesn't look much bigger than the 1.8L, so I might just have to read up more on it. Anyone in the market should probably check this car out. Yotas last forever. PEACE.
2004 MR2 Spyder:
Appearance - Black on black Spyder. Looked gorgeous, but I prefer the green still. Lower to the ground that I realised. Very good thing IMO.
The 03-04 front bumper and rear headlights look lame IMO. The car is definitely small all around, and I didn't even bother popping the front bonnet since I could just tell that the tiny pouch of a trunk wasn't worth looking at. Inside, the car is above average. Leather on this car, but I can imagine the cloth being more practical for the Miami heat. The tach-centric dash is what I want, and I could easily keep an eye on redline as I was gunning it around the backroads. Rear visibility is below average, but I don't plan on being passed much. The stereo seemed a couple notches about crap though. I've been spoiled by my Crystal comps. Ride - The car is quite a bit of fun. I'll get the bad out of the way. The SMT is an awesome tranny, but it caught me out a bit, and I refuse to get it. For one, it'll take a little time to get the hang of. You've gotta keep track of your gear on the dash, especially on downshifts...which are fast and perfect.
After a while you can probably do it by feel. But then, on upshifts, this thing is annoyingly slow. You grab a gear, and what feels like too long later, the computer upshifts to a nice bump. Not smooth, but not fast. The worst of both worlds. Just plain clumsy, and seems to be a safety measure built-in by Toyota, not a limitation. But the downshifts are just so smooth and so quick. Damn you Toyota. The steering wheel has shift buttons. One on the back for upshifts, and the front for downs. I'd prefer to have a left/right setup, but the buttons are fine, and give you that F1 feel. The car handles quite well, as a mid-engine car should. Turn-in was fucking insane. I felt like a pro. I couldn't induce oversteer, but the dealer who rode along with me had never driven in the car before and looked scared. The first thing I did when leaving the lot was floor it. The SMT won't let you spin the wheels unless you abuse it (the tranny that is), so I didn't bother trying burnouts. The car is underpowered, especially at low revs. Once you hit lift though, the pep is there. It's plenty fast, and that low, it feels like a real race car. In corners, there's some body roll, although that will be fixed with coilovers. It's not much though, and this car will corner with the best of them. I did as much as I could for a residential neighborhood. I wish I could have hit the highway and some on/off ramps. The ride was "bumpy", but I don't see any problem with it at all. I expect to be riding around much stiffer than that when I mod it. The brakes...fuggedaboudit. This car stops on a dime. You cannot find better brakes anywhere for less than $40,000. Your eyes will fly out of their sockets...literally. But the car is underpowered.I'm gonna get this car. I think the test drive today confirmed it for me. If it was a 5-speed, I could have really torn ass around the neighborhood. But much of the time was spent getting used to the SMT, which is a neat device that has been limited by Toyota's lawsuit-warey suits. This car needs a serious kick in the ass though. If it had the Celica engine from the start, people wouldn't even care about the Elise. This car is the shit. Ugh, so tossable.
This is what driving's about.2005 Scion tC:
Appearance - OK...this car is hot. I'm not even gonna pretend. I couldn't hide the grin when the dealer popped the moonroof. This moonroof design will be copied soon, if this isn't a copy already. On a bright day like today, it was awesome to get the feeling of the outdoors while driving. There moonroof is two parts. The read seats have a small one that doesn't open, and the front seats have the sliding one. They stretch the width of the roof. Fucking sweet. and there's a built-in wind deflector that pops up when the roof is open and and is flush when not. The trunk is a hatchback, but I didn't really know it until he popped it. Looked like a normal trunk to be before that. It's got a lot of room in back, and the seats fold down. It's a 2-door 4-seater and the seats in the back have an amazing amount of leg room. More than a Civic and Impreza, but looked like less than my 4-door Corolla. The coolest thing is the back seats recline. And you can fold the front seats flat and sit in the reclined rear seats like a lawnchair. HOT, baby! HOT! The dash looks cool, the seating position is great, and...he could have sold me this car today if it wasn't FWD. Which I kept telling him, but he still insisted on making me drive it.
Performance - 2.4 VVT-i engine. This shit got some pep. 160hp and 160lb/ft gave it some giddyup. I drove an automatic (meh, first one we saw) and again, put the pedal to the firewall right off the lot. The damn thing could outrun the Spyder SMT. Probably not the 5-speed, but it would be close. I'm almost embarassed to say that. This thing is 800lbs heaver, and a measely 21hp extra felt like heaven and earth. Of course, this might have to do with those 160lb/ft of torque coming in at 4k. I assume the torque curve is fairly flat for this engine. It felt it except at low rpms. The brakes are something else too. I didn't beat on them, but when I called, they answered. Pretty good stoppers, but might be average by today's standards for all I know. My 95 Rolla is almost through a second set of rotors, so anything feels good right now. The car handled well enough. Body roll was more than the Spyder, but great compared to other cars its size. 17" wheels come stock, so that's also got something to do with the ride being more solid. I really just wish I had gotten to drive a 5-speed version now, b/c I think it could have been a lot of fun. But FWD is played out. I need RWD or AWD. If I wanted to race a FWD Toyota, I'd just mod my Corolla.
In any case. At a base price of $17k, you get a car that not only performs well, but also has all sorts of interior room and cool features. And the engine bay is big, so I can imagine dropping a Camry V6 or bigger in there with ease. Toyota/Scion seems to be pushing this as their big sports coupe. Supposedly, a supercharger is coming, or is available, and probably easy to turbocharge this thing. That engine's gotta have some real potential. I was looking at it and while the dealer kept spewing the info he'd learned at the training seminar, all I could do was think about fitting it in the back of the Spyder.
Might need a new intake manifold for that...I don't know. It doesn't look much bigger than the 1.8L, so I might just have to read up more on it. Anyone in the market should probably check this car out. Yotas last forever. PEACE.
