Show me your awesome first gen xB's

I'm thinking of picking up a first gen xB for my business delivery/general purpose frugal runabout. I'll likely wrap it in an as-yet-determined shade of brown with my business logo for visibility and because my logo is awesome (I didn't make it, so I get to say that).

Until recently xB's haven't really been on my radar, but they strike me as perhaps the most economical, efficient and not-entirely soul-sucking little boxes for moving stuff relatively short distances.

So, give me some xB inspiration, mild or wild. I wouldn't mind throwing a little suspension work at the thing, or waking up the motor a little bit. What's the hot setup for these little boxes?

lowered on 15" panasports and the top 2/3rd of the taillamps tinted

Mine is mostly stock. Do what you want with it. Only 87k miles. Come close to KBB and it's yours :)

I'd strongly consider selling mine as well (seen in the link) though I'm fairly certain I'd have seller's remorse at some point, due to the OP's middle paragraph.

My wife has one. She made me take off the 16" Miata wheels and put on the steelies and hubcaps. It's still a great little DD. I briefly considered swapping my MINI for a second xB to play with. Best appliance we own.

TRD supercharger. Doooo eiiiiittt.

In reply to Appleseed:

The never did one for the 1.5L, despite teasing it for years. Blitz and HKS had kits in the aftermarket though.

drummerfromdefleopard wrote: lowered on 15" panasports and the top 2/3rd of the taillamps tinted

Oh snap. Panas look gooood on the box. I wouldn't have thought of that particular combination, but DAMN!

Shoot me a PM and let me know your location and ask, if you would. EvanR, same question. 87k?! Damn...

My old 2006 xB. Sold it about 1.5yrs ago and miss it sometimes still. Super reliable, very little maintenance, and carried E36 M3 like it was a Tardis. Tannabe D210 springs, TRD rear sway bar, 15" Motegi's with Yokohama S-Drive tires. Cold air intake and (forget the name but good) exhaust. I loved that car. (And I saw a 1gen with a supercharger at Boxed in the Smokies once, so it's possible...)

And almost forgot this one:

I nearly bought one when new, but ended up with a Fit instead. I found the lack of power to be near dangerous levels. On ramps were a bit scary since the car barely could get out of it's own way. I liked the shape, the look, the cargo capacity and the economy/price though.

T.J. wrote: I nearly bought one when new, but ended up with a Fit instead. I found the lack of power to be near dangerous levels. On ramps were a bit scary since the car barely could get out of it's own way. I liked the shape, the look, the cargo capacity and the economy/price though.

109 HP for the Fit, "only" 103 for the Scion, not a world of difference.xB was roughly a hundred pounds lighter,IIRC. We drive Michigan freeways in our xB and I've just learned to flog it on on ramps, or use the "Sport" button when I think of it. I'd like to drive one with the manual transmission to see if it accelerates better.

In reply to DeadSkunk:

I hear you on the numbers. Funny thing about forming opinions though, is they don't necessarily have to conform to the facts. Perhaps I just picked the wrong on ramp with a bad traffic situation when I test drove the xB. It was an auto. Only time I ever drove or even rode in one, so my opinion is by no means a well informed one.

In an effort to provide something useful to this thread:

T.J. wrote: I nearly bought one when new, but ended up with a Fit instead. I found the lack of power to be near dangerous levels. On ramps were a bit scary since the car barely could get out of it's own way.

/rant mode ON:

I read this sort of thinking every dang day, all over the Internet. I refuse to believe it.

I DD'd a 67 horse, 3200lb Mercedes 240Diesel for much of the 2000s. Factory-quoted 0-60 time was 28.5 seconds, and mine was old and tired. Not ONCE did I get rear-ended entering a freeway.

I throw down a challenge for anyone, anywhere to show me a single, verified police accident report on a freeway on-ramp because the vehicle was incapable of acceleration. Not because the driver chose not to accelerate, but because the car couldn't do it. Prove me wrong - go ahead.

/rant mode OFF:

No, my xB isn't fast. But I have used it to haul 500 lbs of patio pavers. I have a hitch for my 500 lb. camping trailer. I've had 700 lbs. of humans in it. Yes, you have to wind out the gears when you do stuff like that, but that's what gears are for.

In reply to EvanR:

Oh geesh, really?

T.J. wrote: In reply to EvanR: Oh geesh, really?

Yup, really. When you own a slow car, you just have to think more and plan ahead. But it isn't dangerous.

T.J. wrote: In an effort to provide something useful to this thread: Love it !

In reply to EvanR:

500lb of pavers is weak, I loaded 1,800lb into the back of mine (and only rubbed once during the 14 mile drive).

In reply to T.J.:
...and I've only driven a Fit once.....so we need to meet up and drag race each other and do an autocross. I know...meet at the Challenge !

TJ's points make me wonder what other Toyota engines and transmissions could be swapped in easily. A 2-liter would make it entertaining.

I have never thought twice about these...

Until last week when I saw one in traffic in Chicago. Dirty. White. Lowered hard on some kind of tuner wheel with blue chrome centers and a deep machined lip. Back bumper was torn off and it was running one space saver spare.

And I suddenly thought, what a cool little vehicle.

I think I'm broken.

So...can you stand a road bike up in the back of one?

I demand you rally it out like Jerry.

In reply to ultraclyde:

I think you can. Or with a mild tilt.

ultraclyde wrote: So...can you stand a road bike up in the back of one?

I think the problem would be length

In reply to edizzle89: