xB

I'm a fan of the Scion xB. The one thing I can't figure out is why Toyota decided for the 2007 version of the xB to beef up the engine and add 800 pounds. The actual size of the xB has only increased a few inches here and there. The new engine gets 28 hwy and 22 city and the previous 3 years of the xB's engine gets 34 hwy and 31 city.

I took a spin in the new xB and a friend of mine has one of the older versions. Inside both cars feel like the same size and the acceleration is comparable, besides who buys an xB for its 0-60 time.

So, why since in the last couple years, with the biggest gas spike in my lifetime, did Toyota feel like it needed to add 800 pounds and decrease the average mpg from 32.5 to 25. Let's see that's roughly 75 miles for a 10 gallon tank which is roughly an extra $7.00 a fill up, times that by a fill up a week, 52 per year and we have $364 extra. If you decide to have the car for 10 years, very unlikely, but lets just say and that's $3,640.

Why is this eating away at me, yes it's the money and also increases our dependence on foreign oil. But, what would give Toyota the idea that the consumer wants what's basically the same $15,000 car to cost us an extra $364 and rising a year? Somebody please leave me a comment if you have an answer.....