The Scion tC has been on the market for quite a while now – but there is a reason!

It is a solid performance platform with chic styling, a two-door profile and a very roomy back seat with fold-down seats for wagon-like space.

2015 Scion tC Review Video

Coming well-equipped with just a few options, the main choice is between a light and snicky six-speed manual and a conventional automatic. The stick is the clear choice for performance drivers, delivering a 7.8-second sprint to 60-mph and a joyful feel to the whole drive. The ultra-light clutch and shift action themselves make it easy to nail heel/toe downshifts and no-lift upshifts.

The seating position is very laid-back and sporty, with a heavy and chunky steering action that is full of road feedback like the best sports cars.

We knew much of this from before spending a few days in the new tC, with its Lexus-like nose, pinched lamp graphics and new LED vertical accents in the lower bumpers. Optional foglamps dress up the nose of the car nicely, but the real action starts with a big gurgle and exhaust thrum on idle.

This test tC featured a huge list of TRD Performance Parts — strut brace in front, sport springs, washable air filter, Brembo brakes and a sport exhaust system. 

We vote whole-heartedly for all these upgrades, even though they bump the tested price up to about $25,000 from around $19,000 before their fitting. The one we might skip would be the Brembo brake kit, which is fairly steep at around $2,000 extra. The brakes do stop well, but the pedal feel is not $2k better than the stock setup. Cross-drilled rotors are a nice style statement, but the Brembo kit overall does not deliver enough performance to justify its cost.

This is in stark contrast to the other upgrades. The front strut brace makes the tC feel completely unshakable over big bumps or potholes, and lets you stay on the throttle harder without any wheel slip. We like the firmer ride and stance of the sport springs, and absolutely love the big TRD exhaust.

A free-flowing setup, the TRD exhaust is beautiful alloy under the body of the car, and adds a deep bellow from the back as you sling through the gears.  The TRD exhaust has pops and snorts under hard driving and on downshifts, yet calms down and is fairly quiet as cruising speeds on the highway.

Gulf States Toyota and Scion fits these accessories to the car from the port, so they are all included in the warranty and can be financed or included in the lease total for the car — which is nice versus having to pay for labor and delivery of the goodies a la cart.

Check out the sprint video below for a bit if driving action behind the wheel of the tC — and enjoy the 130 photos of this affordable, fun and sporty Scion coupe.

Sprint Demo

2015 Scion tC

TRD Performance Parts

2015 Scion tC

2015 Scion tC

Interior