2013 New York Auto Show: Scion refreshes the tC
Scion kicked off the second day of the 2013 New York International Auto Show by unveiling a refreshed version of its tC coupe.
The two-door compact car is Scion’s biggest seller, so the 2014 model is a relatively minor upgrade from the version Toyota’s youth-oriented brand started selling in 2010.
“The sustained success of the tC, which accounts for 40 percent of all Scions ever sold, challenged designers to enhance the 2014 sports coupe in ways that keep it exciting to today’s drivers without losing its core appeal,” Scion Vice President Doug Murtha said.
Photos: 2014 Scion tC debuts in New York
The exterior styling gets a push in a slightly more aggressive direction, with redesigned headlights, grille and a front bumper with a bit of a chin to it. LED accent lights in the front and taillights in the back give the car a more contemporary slant.
PHOTOS: Highlights of the 2013 N.Y. Auto Show
Scion fitted the 2014 tC with new 18-inch alloy wheels and add new colors to the paint pallette.
Scion said it made key improvements to the interior construction, which Highway 1 found to be one of the car’s biggest faults when we tested it in 2010. Also new is a 6.1-inch LCD touch-screen audio system, which Scion said will be standard on all 2014 models. The system comes with Bluetooth connectivity, HD radio and steering-wheel mounted controls.
The tC’s powertrain remains largely unchanged. A 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine puts out 179 horsepower and pushes this power to the front wheels through either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic.
Scion said the automatic transmission has been updated to change gears nearly twice as fast as its predecessor, and it will now rev the engine as it downshifts through the gears.
The tC’s handling gets some love too, with Scion modifying the stabilizer bar hardware, updating the shocks, and adding to the car’s rigidity with additional welds. The electric power steering has also been tweaked for better feedback from the road.
Pricing wasn’t disclosed Thursday; the current tC start at $19,480. Scion said the 2014 tC will begin arriving at dealerships in June.
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