2005 Scion XA Five-Axis Review

Need for Speed was Never So Realistic

Scion is Toyotas edgiest brand, but now that Hondas future-think Element is old news and Nissan has announced that its even squarer Cube is headed to our shores the once dramatically rectangular xB is hardly the event on wheels it was when spotted on Californias SUV-laden highways a couple of years ago. But the Five Axis new xA Speedster would be.

The Five Axis xA, which was revealed a couple of months ago at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association trade show in Las Vegas, now simply known as SEMA, is truly sensational. To think that somewhere underneath its flashy bodywork sits a run of the mill xA, is hard to imagine, but therein the truth lies.

The concept was conjured up to bring light to Five Axis, a Huntington Beach, California customizer and fabricator of one-off cars, from ¼-scale models to full-size prototypes. Unlike some independent design and fab shops, mind you, Five Axis had full approval of Toyota, Scions parent company.

A decision was quickly made to pull the xA into xB and tC territory by capturing “combine the captivating, audience interface of the Widebody xB DJ with the aggressive styling mods of the Widebody tC” (see gallery for photo), or so Toyotas press release states.

The result is an Xbox gaming center on wheels, with no less than three 360 gaming consoles, with MadCatz MC2 racing steering wheels, MadCatz MicroCON wireless control pads, discretely hidden in their own custom headrest storage tray, and two 19-inch Samsung LCD monitors behind the front seats plus a Casio XJ-560 video projector mounted behind the seats and shooting onto a massive screen that pops up out of the reverse-hinged trunk-lid for the driver, all displaying Forza Motorsport racing software. To do this, the xA needed to be ripped apart, widened overall, had its rear seats removed, doors fixed into place, and put together without the roof and side glass, while see-through body glass was added for overall effect. Five Axis made sure that “strict rules of design, detail, fit and finish were applied”.

Overall, the roadster cum gaming port is six inches wider than a stock xA, which when combined with its Tein Super Street Damper modified suspension, Yokohama AVS Sport 245/35/19 front and 295/35/19 rear performance tires, wrapped around Rays Engineering G-games 99B wheels, 19 x 9.5-inches (+22 offset) up front, and 19 x 10.5-inch rear +22 in the rear fixed via custom wheel adapters, should be a stable little machine at high speed. That said, considering the unfathomable weight brought about by its audio-visual hardware, its slightly over-stock xA engine, featuring an AEM cold air intake, DC Sports header, Five Axis custom engine cover and Five Axis custom exhaust system and finisher, mated to a rather mundane four-speed automatic transmission, wont help it to get anywhere particularly fast, although when it does finally get up to highway speed its TRD 4 Piston, 328 mm x 28 mm custom brake system should bring it back to standstill quickly.

Of course, the Five Axis xA wasnt intended for drag racing or drifting, but rather for those who would rather sit inside a fast looking car while taking on virtual competitors, who incidentally would have to be standing outside of the xA working the rear terminals to take part. The driver is given optimal advantage, mind you, with that Casio XJ-560 screen up front and center, as well as the comfort of a Sparco Fighter seat. The gamer at the helm would also get the near overwhelming experience of Pioneers HTP-2600 5.1 Dolby Digital surround system, enhanced by the same Japanese electronics manufacturers AVIC-D1 with DVD multimedia AV navigation receiver, and all strung together with Monster cables, wires, and connectors.

Adding to the mystique of the race-ready interior is a Sparco Alcantara steering wheel and pedals, those aforementioned Sparco Fighter seats, and Sparco cam lock 4-point harnesses - very nice.

Painted in House of Colors Persimmon Pearl with added graphics by Sticky Fingers Design, the xA concept is a radical interpretation of modern mobility.

Is this all show and hardly go concept a waste of cyberspace? Hardly. While it might not be a sports car aficionados dream vehicle, to those raised on video games its nirvana on wheels. And the expertise Five Axis has shown in putting together what was no doubt a challenging concept to dream up let alone execute is impressive. Altogether it took seven months from concept sketch to SEMA roll-out to complete, the equivalent of about 3,000 man-hours.

Dont look to Scion to produce anything remotely similar, although its xA lineup could certainly use a shot of adrenaline. In reality, gamers can only hope for more integrated hard drives, more LCD or possibly plasma panels, and more external inputs so that outboard players can benefit from in-car audio systems. Then again, when the current crop of top-tier automaker executives and auto segment electronics suppliers get replaced by an all-new up and coming set of suits, some that will no doubt have similar aspirations as Five Axis president Troy Sumitomo, expect the gaming culture to be represented more extensively in the automotive segment in years to come.