Base 2dr Coupe
2011 Scion tC

NOTE: Our first drive report of the 2011 Scion tC – Click above for high-res image gallery There's no demographic that's targeted more often than young, affluent males. Though these buyers may not have quite as much expendable income to throw at new car purchases than say older, affluent males, automakers are still very keen to cater to the needs of Generation Y with the hope of earning a customer for life. The tC is Scion's most important product. Toyota is no different than any other automaker in this regard; perhaps even more so as the Japanese giant's customer base is just about as old as that of Buick. To resolve that issue, Toyota created the Scion brand in North America back in 2002 and has been marketing the heck out of its up-and-coming feeder marque ever since. The ploy has mostly been successful. Toyota merrily points out that Scion has the youngest average customer in the industry and that 71 percent of all 800,000 or so Scions have been sold to buyers who are new to the Toyota family. Interestingly enough, with a median age of 26, it's the tC coupe's 310,000 total sales since 2002 (accounting for 41 percent of all Scion production) that manages to attract the youngest customers of all. In other words, while the funky xB may be the most recognizable, it's actually the tC that is the brand's most important product. Therefore, Scion absolutely needs the new 2011 tC to be a runaway hit. Especially since the second-generation of the xB has, by many measures, failed to live up to the success of its straight-ruled predecessor. So does the new tC pass muster? We set out to answer that very question when we grabbed the keys in sunny San Diego. Read on to find out what we learned. %Gallery-98948% Photos copyright ©2010 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL We'll start with the most obvious aspect of the new tC's design: the exterior. While the new car obviously shares a good deal of basic DNA with the first-gen car, in person we found the 2011 model to be significantly more masculine in appearance. From its sharper and more angular fascia to the steeply cut upward slashing C-pillar that dominates the side profile, it's easy to see that Scion wanted a more aggressive shape for its latest youthmobile. You've seen this car's roofline before. Scion debuted the Helmet Visor Theme (their words, not ours... though it's an apt descriptor) with the Fuse concept from the 2006 New York Auto Show. That conceptual styling exercise was the inspiration behind the 2011 tC, and that's especially apparent when comparing the two machine's profiles – note how the blacked-out A- and B-pillars highlight the visor-like shape of the roof and C pillars. Whether or not you approve of Scion's latest styling direction, we're at least pleased to see that the 2011 tC isn't quite as feminine as its forebearer, and company officials assure us that this was purely intentional. Apparently, when …
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