Newest little Scion comes up short

Beyond its funky looks, the xD is a rather ordinary little economy car but not much more.

Drive
The xD has plenty of power but the engine is noisy. Steering and handling are fine, but nothing special.
Drive
Base prices: $14.5500 to $15,300
Seating: Four in reasonable comfort, five maximum
Fuel mileage: 29 mpg overall with manual transmission, according to new EPA testing method
Power: 1.8-liter 4-cylinder with 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission

The xD's 128-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine does a fine job of moving the xD. This is no pocket-rocket, but it's plenty fast enough to keep up. The four-speed automatic, likewise, does a decent job and shifts smoothly.

That engine is awfully noisy though. In steady driving, it provides a constant harsh tone. It sounds even harsher, of course, under hard acceleration.

When equipped with the four-speed automatic transmission, a touchy gas pedal presents another major annoyance. Step gently on the gas and the car tends to wait a bit until the engine revs build before it launches itself forward in sudden leap. Stop-and-go traffic becomes a head-tossing lurch-fest.

Add in a jouncy highway ride and the xD is a car you just can't wait to park. Fortunately, with a car this small, parking's a breeze.

The xD's not bad. But small cars have come a long way. Economy cars that feel and sound like economy cars are definitely not cool anymore. Check out the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa before jumping into the xD.


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.