2016 SCION SHOWS IT HAS GOOD TRACTION
Toyota’s little city runabout not too friendly for those over six feet tall
Scion’s target market is a youthful audience. But that doesn’t mean it excludes any other demographic, and the new- for- 2016 iM model is an example of how inclusive the brand can be. Just don’t expect to fit into the car easily if you are much over six feet tall.
That’s what Heather and Lance Chalmers discovered when they agreed to a seven- day stint in the Scion iM.
“Lance is six- foot- four, and a lot of that height is from the waist up,” Heather Chalmers said. “And I’m five- foot- 10, with long legs. My first impression as I got in the car was, ‘ Where am I going to put my other leg?’ ” she laughed.
She was finally able to adjust the height to her liking, but the driver’s seat wouldn’t push back far enough for her to fit comfortably for a long trip. Around town? No problem, she said.
Scion, under the Toyota umbrella, is a relatively new car company, introduced in the United States in 2002. The vehicles were somewhat quirky, with the icebox on wheels xB the most noticeable. Toyota brought the Scion brand to Canada in 2010, and now sells the secondgeneration xB and tC models, the rear- wheel- drive FR- S and now, the iM.
For the iM, Toyota has essentially taken its Auris hatchback — a vehicle available in other global markets — and added Scion badges, a body kit and 17- inch alloy wheels.
Powering the iM is a 1.8- litre in- line four- cylinder engine, which can be paired with either a six- speed manual gearbox or, for an extra $ 825, a continuously variable transmission ( CVT).
Chalmers began her driving career on the farm, piloting tractors and an old 1959 Chevy pickup around the fields. The day she turned 16 she got her driver’s licence, and has never been without a set of wheels.
Her brother, Dennis, was an autobody mechanic and there was always something around that he was buying or selling, and he’d let Chalmers drive anything he had. Her first vehicle, though, was a $ 600 VW station wagon. There was no heater, and when she washed it, all of the windows leaked. That didn’t matter, she said, because the car served her well as basic transportation. In the years since, Chalmers has owned and driven a 1978 Camaro restored by her brother — her favourite of all — and a brand new 1986 Ford Taurus that she said owed her and Lance absolutely nothing when they donated it to the Kidney Car program.
They’ve since owned four BMWs, and now maintain a 2013 BMW 535i xDrive and a 2010 Nissan Titan.
The car is for city use, and the truck takes them on longer road trips.
When shopping for a new vehicle, Chalmers’ top three considerations are cabin room, build quality and fuel efficiency.
The iM obviously failed her first consideration, but turned up a winner in the other two categories.
“It didn’t look cheap, inside or out,” she said of the $ 23,817 all- in ( including the optional CVT) iM. “The fabric on the seats would be easy to keep clean, but I’m not sure about the shiny black dash — it would show dust quickly.”
Layout of the dash and controls was good, she said, but there was some difficulty getting her phone to pair up via Bluetooth. “It was glitchy,” she said. “I must have tried 12 times to get it to work, and then, out of the blue, it connected. I also found the flash drive system for music didn’t work very well. I’d say the entertainment system simply wasn’t ideal, but I’m not sure if it’s the same in all other iMs or just this car.”
Chalmers thought the car laboured off the line, and found the four- cylinder engine noisy, but not to the point of being obnoxious. This was her first driving experience with a CVT powertrain, and while she wasn’t a confirmed convert, she said the trade- off was in its efficiency. The Chalmers used 32 litres of regular- grade gasoline to cover 360 kilometres of driving in less-than-ideal road conditions.
Slush, snow and ice were in abundance while she tested the iM, and she drove in their rutted suburban cul- de- sac with the traction control on and with it off to see how well the system worked.
“There was a huge difference in how the car handled,” Chalmers said. “The traction control in the iM is amazing, and the vehicle really held the road when conditions were, for example, greasy with slush.”
Ride was rated as firm, and the electric power steering as tight and responsive. Brakes, with their four- wheel discs and ABS, were good and there was no mushy feel at the pedal.
She loved the hatchback for its utility, and found plenty of room in the back for a Costco haul. However, her pet peeve about the iM was how dirty the tiny rear window got in messy conditions.
“The rear window was small, and the wiper area was even smaller,” she said.
“You had to be very good with your mirrors, and the fact you couldn’t keep the rear window clean drove me squirrelly.”
Chalmers approached the road test of the iM by thinking about the car as though it might be intended to be a first vehicle.
“The iM had bells and whistles such as air conditioning, backup camera and cruise control and it handled both the highway and city roads with no problem, although I think it would be better as a city runabout,” Chalmers said.
“I would put anyone in that car, from a kid to a senior, as long as they weren’t our size.”