What you see before you is a third generation Toyota Echo. Don't get us wrong - it's totally a Scion xD... which is a twin of the second-generation "ist", as its called in Japan; the first generation of which is a twin of our xA. Tweak the ist/xA's headlights and exterior a little, and you have Japan's Toyota Vitz, and the rest of the world's Yaris, or Echo Hatchback, as it was called in Canada, Hong Kong, and points down under, which was a three door variant of the Toyota Belta, the successor of the company's Echo that was sold on our shores in either a coupe or sedan variant, and in Japan as the Platz, in China as the Vios, and in Indonesia as a stripped-down taxicab known as the Limo. Confused? Read on...
Long before the days of Scion, a couple of Toyota USA big-wigs thought up a bold new strategy for breathing life into the dwindling sales fire of select Toyota cars: re-market them to youth buyers. Dubbed "Project Genesis", the plan called for Toyota's Celica, MR2 Spyder, and Echo to be the guinea pigs. Long story short, while sales of the Celica and Echo did begin to climb (sorry, MR2), Toyota decided an even more aggressive identity and marketing campaign was needed for each vehicle, and scrapped Project Genesis to pave the way for the launch of Scion... where the Celica was re-badged as the tC, and the Toyota ist (remember the Vitz /Yaris with tweaked headlights deal?) - was dubbed the xA and added to the line-up. A few years later, when it became clear that sales of the xA weren't on par with those of the tC or xB, the little guy was replaced with the xD; the silver bullet gracing the pixels in front of you.
The '08 xD, xA, ist, or whatever you want to call it, is similar to its predeceasing xA in many ways, the first of which: its engine. Gone are the days of the xA's 35-40 mpg, 103hp, 1.5L DOHC inline-four. The '08 xD gets a bump in displacement with a 1.8L DOHC 2ZR-FE inline-four, complete with dual VVT-I, good for 25 more horses and nearly as much torque... but at the cost of six fewer miles per gallon of fuel.
The '08 xD's exterior styling has also been changed since its days as the xA - for the better. The obtrusive headlights and vented grille of the xA have been scrapped in favor of more subtle replacements in the xD, along with a slight chop-top appeal shared by the new xB, thanks in part to the "higher beltline" of both vehicles; something designed to make the car ride less like a bread truck. The xD measures only an inch or so larger in every direction than the xA, but manages to weigh in at nearly 300 lbs more, thanks to a more reinforced chassis, increased sound deadening material, and an updated audio system, with optional (pictured) Pioneer head unit. No complaints here; ours rode great, sounded great, docked with our iPod, and its steering wheel-mounted controls just might have saved a few possums' lives. It was quieter, felt more solid, and drove slightly less like a bread truck than the previous model.