Scion cars

2011 New York Auto Show Preview

We’ve been around the industry for quite some time now and for the most part, we know better than to expect the world from the New York Auto Show.

Make no mistake, the event has always generated great attendance, especially since it’s being held at one of the world’s most important cities. But to peg the New York Auto Show in the same level as its counterparts in Geneva and Frankfurt is getting a little too ahead of oneself.

Having said that, this year’s installment of the New York Auto Show is still something that’s worth keeping close eyes on, especially the number of concept cars that are scheduled to be unveiled to the world for the very first time.

Here at Topspeed, we make it a point to give you guys a heads-up on what to expect for these type of shows - call it a preview, if you will - and this year figures to be no different.

There are a number of cars scheduled to be unveiled when the doors of the New York Auto Show are opened on April 22, 2011. It may not be the number we come to expect from Geneva, but as far as quality is concerned, this year’s event figures to have plenty waiting to have their covers pulled off.

Details after the jump.

2010 Scion Tuner Challenge tC by John Pangilinan

John Pangilinan came to the 2010 SEMA Show with his own version of the Scion tC sports car, but the competition for this customized ride may have been too much to handle as there were five customized tCs at SEMA ready to strut their stuff. The most intimidating for this version was the tC customized by James Lin. Lin threw everything he had at the sports car and the result was a car that we would even take out and about. That being said, Pangilinan was a tough competitor as well as he tweaked the engine of this bad boy enough to tickle our fancies.

Pangilinan piqued our interest with a new turbocharger kit, a stainless steel turbo manifold, a new intake system, and RC 750cc injectors fitted right under the hood of the tC. We don’t know exactly what these changes have resulted in, since no official numbers were given, but we can’t imagine a tuner would strap on 18" race wheels and a new Brembo Gran Turismo Big brake kit for a minor boost.

The exterior of the Scion tC features a new exterior package that includes a Jon Sibal Custom Designed Seibon TC GT Carbon Fiber widebody kit, a Seibon carbon fiber hood Aerocatch hood latch, Seibon custom carbon fiber trunk, an APR carbon custom rear wing, APR carbon fiber side mirrors, and a carbon fiber wrapped roof. Exterior PPG paint was applied by Kelly & Son. For the interior, the tuner is offering new Recaro seats, a custom wrapped personal steering wheel, and embroidery by Top Stitch.

This exterior of this tC may look the part of a delectable racer, but the proof is in the pudding, which is why we can’t wait to see the new performance numbers for this tasty little treat when we hit the SEMA floor.

UPDATE 03/09/2011: Import tuner has reviewed John Pangilinan’s racing tC and - good news! - they have provided specifications for the racer. Thanks to all of the modifications made to the engine, the tC GT delivers an impressive 333 whp and 303 lb-ft of torque at only 8 psi of boost. Want more? Check out the new images of the car in the gallery provided.

2011 Chicago Auto Show Preview

Fresh off of the 2011 North American International Auto Show, the next major auto event is ready to kick off in a little over a week’s time at the Windy City in Chicago. From February 9th-20th, the Chicago Auto Show will be the center of the automotive universe - in the US, at least - and is expected to draw a sizable number of manufacturers from all over the world.

Here at Topspeed, we make sure that you’re on top of everything as it pertains to these type of shows and just like Detroit, we’re here to give you a low-down on what cars to expect at the Chicago Auto Show.

We’ve compiled a list of cars that are scheduled to make their production debuts in Chicago, and to give you a better idea of what models to expect, we have the full low-down on all attending brands and the respective models that they’re expected to unveil next week.

Details after the jump.

2011 Scion xD Tarmac by 0-60 Magazine

The Rally America National Championship has long been a series dominated by the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The Impreza’s run was unceremoniously stopped last year by the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, setting the stage for a highly competitive 2011 season. One car that’s looking to gate crash the proceedings made its debut at the 2010 SEMA Auto Show courtesy of 0-60 Magazine.

The popular auto mag unveiled the Scion xD Tarmac rally car that’s expected to make its rally debut at the 2011 RANC. This isn’t the first time 0-60 went to SEMA with their own custom-built Scion rally prototype, having done the same thing last year. This time around, the car will be driven by Christopher Duplessis, who, incidentally, is the brother of Forest Duplessis, DirtFish Rally School’s chief instructor.

Judging from the looks and specs of the xD Tarmac, it looks like 0-60 Magazine did a splendid job turning this car into a full-fledged rally contender that’s poised to get down and dirty with the Imprezas and Evolution X’s of the Rally America National Championshp. Whether it’s overall build will translate to success on the dirt road remains to be seen. That’s something that we’re going to have to stick around and pay close attention to when the season officially opens later this year.

Nintendo Scion xB

Every true-to-heart 80’s kid will remember the time when video games were constrained to 8-bit technology, where tiny pixelated cartoons of Mario and Luigi running around and eating mushrooms dominated the landscape. Those were the days, right?

For those lucky enough to grow up in that era, this creation by Erik Nakamura will be considered nothing short of genius. It looks like a car at first glance - as matter of fact, it is actually a car – but this Scion xB isn’t the ordinary Sunday afternoon version.

Inspired by the old Nintendo Family Computer, Nakamura went out and turned this Scion xB into a moving video game console, complete with door buttons that produce a variety of video game sound when opened, an actual video game cartridge that works as the key starter, a power button that is - if you can believe it - an old Nintendo button, two controllers on the front seats, and two projectors – one on the front and one on the rear – that can be used to play all of the old games.

On top of all that, this car can actually be driven out on the streets, that is, if you’re not too busy playing Contra in your garage. Talk about the ultimate geek car.

2011 Scion xB Release Series 8.0

Not one, not two, but eight special limited edition models later and here’s the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show with Scion’s newest xB called the Release Series 8.0. We don’t know what it is about the xB that simply fascinates Scion, but we’re starting to take bets to see how many more special editions Toyota’s child is going to roll out.

Until the day when Scion stops creating these silly little editions, we’ll just have to bite the bullet and keep on providing information about them. The xB RS 8.0 comes fitted with a four-piece body kit designed by Kenstyle that includes an aggressive front and rear lower lips, and side skirts. The exterior will be painted in Voodoo Blue, a color that is not currently available on any other Scion model.

The interior will be freshened up with seats and door panel trim that have been covered in an exclusive black fabric with blue accents. The floor mats also feature the same color blue in the form of the "xB RS 8.0" logo.

So basically, what you are looking at is the Release Series 7.0 minus the TRD sport muffler and leather-wrapped RAZO GT Formula Spec shift knob. Oh, and you get that "nifty" blue color instead of the purple given to last year’s model.

The Scion xB Release Series 8.0 is limited to 2000 units and goes on sale later this month. Prices will begin at $18,405 for a manual transmission and $19,355 for an automatic transmission, which is slightly lower than the Series 7.0. For an extra $320 customers will also get a color-matched rear spoiler.

2010 Scion Tuner Challenge tC by Shawn Baker

The fifth and last customized Scion tC to be displayed at the SEMA Show comes from Shawn Baker. The inspiration behind this tC is that form follows function. Shawn Baker believes that it’s not really about how much you add to a customized car - could he be talking to James Lin? - it’s about how well you execute the aspect that you choose to customize.

Loving a clean look, Baker decided to turn the paint over to R Miller Autobody who added a beautiful matte black to the exterior. They followed that up with matte black features such as the A-pillars, mirrors, wiper deleted rain tray, smoothed engine bay, and rear duckbill spoiler. A racing solution RS2 Lip Kit - retro-fit and modified for tC2 fitment - was also added to the sleek vehicle. Then there’s the obligatory set of 19" 3-piece forged race SJC wheels.

For the interior, Shawn Baker went with a custom leather interior with baseball glove style rawhide stitching. The rear seat was stripped of its headrests while additional padding was added to the armrests. Up front, the tuner installed a NArdi Classic 360 mm steering wheel and a new Pioneer audio system. Under the hood there is a new turbo system, a new aluminum intercooler, and a racing SS turbo manifold.

You know the old saying where you "save the best for last?" That’s about where we stand with this Scion tC. It may have been the last customized Scion on the list of customized tCs, but its clean look and low key additions were just what we wanted to see.

2010 Scion tC by GReddy

Scion marks its return to the 2010 SEMA Show with an exciting selection of custom-built cars. One of the firsts is a tC Coupe customized by GReddy. Compared to a standard tC powered by a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine that develops 180 HP, GReddy tuned their model to an impressive 340 HP and 325 lb-ft of peak torque. In order to obtain this impressive output, the tuner is offering a new turbo kit, a front-mounted intercooler, a new exhaust system and of course ECU update.

Next to the engine upgrade, GReddy is also offering coilovers, Five-Axis Aero package, Scion optimized rear wing, a big brake upgrade, new 18" racing wheels painted in silver with an S and A design, and some GReddy graphics. Nothing has been said on what interior changes have been made, but we don’t see any of the Scion tCs getting too much of an interior upgrade this year. We do know, however, that there will be a nice set of Sparco Chrono seats covered in black leather.

Stay tuned as we head to SEMA for more details on this and many other vehicles attending the show!

2010 Scion tC by Crawford Performance

Scion was pretty busy preparing this year’s SEMA Show. The five customized tC stand as proof of this statement. And the next one featured on our pages comes from Crawford Performance. The tuner made changes for both the exterior and the interior, but they also did some impressive work under the hood.

The exterior package includes an ATI carbon fiber hood, Vinyl Graphics by Spin Imaging, window tint, and a Scion spoiler. There are also Tein Super Racing Coilovers and a TRD big brake kit. The exterior package is finished by 18" Advan RG-D RAcing Wheels with custom paint wrapped in Toyo Tires Proxes R1R Tires 265/35ZR18. Oh, and there’s also the racing livery that is swallowing the car whole. For the interior the tuner is only offering a new Alpine Stereo system.

Under the hood, Crawford added Motul fluids, NGK Spark Plugs, K&N High Flow Air Cleaner, and power by Crawford Performance. No specific numbers were given as to the enhancement of power, but we imagine everything will get a little clearer in the next few days as the SEMA show’s doors open and the cars come flowing out.

2010 Scion tC by James Lin

One of the many Scion tC coupes to be making an appearance at the 2010 SEMA show is one tuned by James Lin. It seems this tuner took out a book on what tuners could do to a car and then proceeded to do anything and everything imaginable, leaving us with this highly modified and super rad ride.

Starting with the exterior of the vehicle, the tuner added a carbon fiber hood and trunk, custom door handles, and a carbon fiber rear wing. More carbon fiber came in thr shape of an AIT racing carbon fiber front and rear bumper splitter. Splitter rods and front bumper carbon fiber canards by APR were also thrown in for good measure. Then Lin went ahead and shaved off the windshield wipers and door handles because, well, he could. The interior saw a new Sparco Steering Wheel, a Fast R Shift Knob, and the lovely sounds coming out of the new Sony 7-inch Double XNV-770BT audio system.

Under the hood of the Scion there is a new turbo charger, a front mount intercooler, custom chrome manifold and down pipe, carbon fiber dampers, and a DC Sport Air Filter. No specific numbers were given as to the performance of this bad boy, so we’re hoping more specs will be reviewed when the car rolls onto the show floor.