Drivetrain: 2.4-liter, 158 horsepower, 4-cylinder engine with four-speed shiftable automatic or five-speed manual transmission.
Fuel economy: 22 mpg city, 28 highway (Based on revised EPA testing methods)
The xB isn't the most popular of Scion's three models. That would be the tC, the sporty-looking coupe. But the xB is, safe to say, the car most people think of when they think of Scion.
The price is about 12 percent higher than the old version but the xB still manages to seem like a lot of vehicle for the money.
The old xB's ultra-cubic shape distinguished it from anything else on America's roads except, perhaps, for the Honda Element, which was introduced here around the same time.
The basic shape had been around in Japan for a long time. Nissan also sells a box-shaped vehicle there called The Cube, and Nissan designer Shiro Nakamura, once told me that the simple shape appeals to a Japanese fascination with efficiency.
Cars like the xB allow as much as possible to be carried in as little space as possible with a shape that speaks of a concern for practicality over style or speed.
The new xB carries a somewhat more American attitude. It's longer and has a more powerful engine than the old model, and it has a more SUV-like shape.
