The new Scion C-HR Concept, unveiled last week as the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show, looks like it drove off the set of a Sci-Fi flick. The C-HR stands for “compact size with high ride height,” said Andrew Gilleland, Scion vice-president, at the unveiling. “Much to our delight, it’s kind of weird.”
These are weird times indeed, but in the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Welcome Scion’s first crossover—in truly funky form.
The C-HR’s exterior was designed at Toyota’s Calty Design Research center in Newport Beach, Calif. It’s built on Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform—which also underpins the 2016 Prius. TNGA aims for better ride and handling via a double-wishbone rear suspension, along with an increased level of body rigidity and lower center of gravity. That’s an interesting mix, considering the C-HR’s stance.
“Even though the C-HR has a high ride height, our focus was on creating a fantastic urban driving car,” said Hiro Koba, the C-HR’s chief engineer. “My favorite place to be on a weekend is at a race track, and I wanted to build a car that I would have just as much fun driving in the city during the week with refined driving comfort and responsive, precise steering.”
Specifications and release date information have not been released, although we can expect to see a production version at some point in 2016. Questions abound. All-wheel-drive is a given, but will the C-HR be available with a manual transmission? What are the chances that Toyota will borrow the Subaru WRX STi’s legendary drivetrain? If not a turbocharged Boxer four, which engine will find its way under the hood?
The C-HR offers yet another beacon of hope for the Scion brand, which had been fading prior this fall’s introduction of the iA, the brand’s first sedan, and iM, considered a hot hatch. September marked Scion’s best sales months in three years. With Scion’s strong performance in the 2015 Formula Drift Championship, the brand is on a tear.
And now, with the C-HR, Scion will have an audacious high-riding crossover to offer.
