Cumon, you know what I mean. If my g/f and I raced 0-60 or 1/4, I would win in both the tC and the AT. I'm just a quick shifter than her, but if you put her in a turbo mr2 against the tC or the all-trac (stock vs stock), I'm sure she would win everytime.
Here's my review of the tC on the scionlife boards for you guys
Well, I've had the chance to drive the car a lot more. Here are my impressions.
Interior
Pro: It's very ergonomic, nicely finished, and I don't have any complaints with the dash. Everything seems so far, up to expectations. There are a lot of neat stuff in there, like the top of the center box pops up, the SSP-> xA, xb, tC, the outside temp, memory driver seat. My family has had over 7 toyota's, and it felt at home while still feeling like I was venturing because of the design. I also LOVE the auto up and down features on both doors. The sunroof is very large and also very welcoming. The sunroof and the panorama moonroof make the car feel very "roomy/airy" inside. The hatch provides a lot of room with the seats down also. Even when it's up, I could fit my hockey bag, and my 33" goalie pads no problem.
Con: The large pillars in front and the back obstruct viewing on certain angles, especially when backing up, it's not bad bad, but it can get annoying. The flip up.down cover for the stereo is at times finicky. I am used to driving a 92 Celica ST, a 90 Celica All-Trac Turbo, and a 91 MR2, the seats in the tC would be incredibly insufficient on cornering, there is not enough lateral support. I would seriously consider changing the drivers seat if I (g/f's tC) bought this car. If you ever get a chance to drive a celica all-trac turbo with power lumbars, you will love it
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Exterior: The body does look a bit pudgy, but still very beautiful. The lines flow very well, there is not a lot of wheel gap, and the wheels really compliment the flint mica. The headlights do look very bimmer-esque. Also, the sunroof looks hot when it's open. I don't really have any complaints about the exterior looks, I really really like it. I know it's not a sports car, but it does cue to a "wilder" side.
Driving Impressions:
This car is fun to drive to a "normal" person who isn't used to "fast" or "agile" cars. The gearbox is placed well, and shifts very smoothly. I beleive it does 0-60 in around 7.5 seconds. The car uses it's torque well, and you can ease into traffic comfortably on the highway in 4th gear, you can use 3rd if you want to fly. The biggest thing I didn't like was the "short" 1st gear, I know it's made for torque but to me, it's very quick and short. I was also surprised by how soft the clutch was. My mom's 2000 v6 camry 5spd (1% made) has a grabbier clutch then the tC even though it has 39,000 miles. It makes the tC a very driveable car. I haven't dropped the clutch yet and have no plans too
. Just yesterday, I was going 27 mph in a 55 and dropped it to 2nd and shifted at around 5600 rpm and hit 75. To be honest, this car is no slouch and actually feels very quick. It would give my n/a mr2 a run for it's money...but only in a straight line.
Like I said, the seats don't offer enough lateral support for the spirited driving occasions. While driving the car in a curvy back road, you can tell it has body roll, but it also doesn't really give in to it badly either. I was quite impressed given the weight of the car and the lack of rollbars. I did get the back end to slide out a bit (and the whole car to slide) while turning a sweeping curve at about 25 mph (I live in a small town with lots of back roads) and but the tires caught and planted the car straight again. The truth is this is no canyon carver, but it does handle quite well for a sporty coupe.
All in all, it's a very perfect car for my g/f. It's good on gas (about 24 mpg city/hw), 87/89 cheap gas too. It's quick and somewhat agile, but also has enough features to blow away any same price competition. And it looks very good while doing it.
If I were to ever get a tC, it would NEED to have a better drivers seat for lat. support, and sway/roll bars. I thought about springs, but I assume the bars would suffice, plus the roadnoise isn't to bad on bumps.
Just for more info, we test drove and looked at a 05 corolla s 5spd. It was a LOT slower and very "boring" compared to the tC's drive. Also, to get a similarly equipped rolla, we would've spent almost 18000, 15000 more. We also looked at a 2005 celica but at almost 19000 base price and not as loaded as the tC, we didn't even test drive it. Plus, insurance and cargo room would've taken a hit. Though the rolla gets 31/37 mpg and the celi 30/35 was the only "bad" side of the tC.
All in all, a great buy and a really nice car. I read another review and the guy asked the other riders how much they thought the car was, the lowest was almost 20G, honestly a great buy! My g/f loves this car, oh she said hi to the board earlier while I was writing the review.