Let's face it, there's no other car manufacturer on the planet quite like Scion. Love it or hate it they are the "it" brand with others trying to follow in their footsteps. We've all seen the knock off commercials but it's going to take a lot more for other brands to catch up. Scion not only understands our scene but actually encourages modification and customization.
In a time full of boring cars, tough warranty regulations and emphasis on fuel economy it's nice to see at least one company staying true to the ideals that made us car lovers in the first place. I mean what other company would factory back a drift team campaigning a car that they don't really make? Scion has their finger on the pulse and even greater things are on the horizon.
It's with this background knowledge that Scion set forth to update it's best selling car, the tC. When it was time to develop the replacement, Scion started with an all-new platform and made everything bolted to it better. The engine displacement and power went up while actually improving MPG. The brakes and wheels are larger on all corners for the 2011 model. There's really nothing about the second generation that isn't better.
But Scion being Scion wanted to practice what they preach and knew that to really kick off the new chassis they needed to show us, the consumers, its real potential. While the car in stock form is nothing to scoff at, Scion lives to blow minds. They wanted an aggressive, exaggerated and 100% bad ass version of the new coupe and they knew just the man to turn to, Troy Sumitomo of Five Axis.
Five Axis and Scion have a healthy relationship stemming from a small fleet of cars that Troy has put out for the brand in the past. Most notably, the first car Five Axis did for Scion, the orange DJxB, also graced our cover. With Five Axis on board for the new tC it was time to get down to business like only they can.
The second gen tC has a huge emphasis on masculine styling right from the showroom floor, it was Troy's job to blast it with another shot of testosterone. When you look at the car it's safe to say that aggressive is an understatement. It looks like the car is going to shred your face off and burn out on your remains. Ironically that's exactly what it's supposed to look like, sort of.
Five Axis' design draws inspiration from a samurai warrior's armor and headdress. Coincidentally, Scion's original design of the car was created around a driving helmet (note how the black a-pillars complete a visor-esque shape in the glass) so the two ideals blend together almost seamlessly. While making the car profusely wider the kit also looks as though it is in place to protect the car just as the warrior's armor would.
Scion tells me they wanted Troy to take the stock car and make it darker, meaner and more evil. In the Five Axis design you can definitely see these ideas coming to fruition in the form of a balancing act between light and shadow. As a photographer I found this car to be extremely difficult to capture but rewarding when properly lit, the goal behind Five Axis' layering madness.
From the oversized front grills to the multi-tiered rear diffuser the play on texture and layers cover the car. It looks almost as if you could throw a potato through the front grill and end up with chips by the time it came out the other side. But I suppose that's what Scion wants to prove with the tC, this car will eat you up and spit you out the other side without breaking a sweat.
The chest hair-inducing styling doesn't quit on the exterior though. It seems as though the whole theme of the new tC is masculinity and Scion spared no expense to beef up the cockpit. With the exception of the all-glass moon roof they went to town redesigning the inside. For example the entire dash and console is now driver facing, giving the illusion of a fighter jet to anyone who chooses to pilot the beast.