Took a Scion xA for a test drive yesterday. 2005, 5 speed manual. Here are my impressions.
Quality, fit and finish: The overall quality seemed very good. The interior looks nice. Nice seats. I don't mind the center mounted gauge cluster. Rear storage area is very small for a hatchback, smaller than many sedan's trunks I would say. Ergonomics was not a strong point for me. I felt the seating position was much too upright, and the steering wheel seemed too low, like I was reaching down for it rather than holding my arms straight out.
Drivetrain: The shifter has a nice feel and the clutch is easy to use. I haven't driven a stick in a while and had no trouble operating this one. The engine would take some getting used to for me. My Escort's 2 liter has some really good low end grunt for a small engine, compared to that this 1.5 liter VVT-i feels completely gutless, it seems to need to be wound out to get up and go. Winding it out is certainly not an issue however, the gearing is extremely short. I was out of first gear before I could blink, and was turning about 2K RPM at 40 mph.
Handling: This is a biggie for me. I like a car that feels really connected to the road. Good steering feedback, minimal understeer and minimal body roll are crucial. I am more than willing to trade some ride comfort to get these characteristics. Unfortunately the xA was lacking in these areas. The steering feedback was not very good, very little road feel, and a little too much power assist. It was also all too willing to lean into corners, and I felt more understeer than I would like. I had read glowing reviews of the handling and had high hopes, but it really didn't feel much different than a Camry.
Overall the car didn't make as good an impression on me as I was hoping for. I really wanted to like this car, mainly because of the excellent FE and the standard ABS. But the overall package just didn't work for me. Looks like I will be re-
focus-ing my attention to a certain domestic compact car.
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