Penske scion

Calling all snowboarders: here is the car for you! Just in time for the winter season, 686 has designed the world’s first snowboarding concept car. Taking inspiration from various snowboarding equipment, the car is waterproof and meets every need that a snowboarder might have.

The vehicle is a 686/Scion Numeric and is a collaboration project between 686, Scion, Spin Imaging, and twenty other brands. 686 developed the car to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. The Numeric is also part of the SEMA Tuner Challenge. 686 started with the xB model and developed it with the goal to “create a winter story around snowboarding,” according to Mike West, Creative Director at 686.

Beginning with the unique exterior, you can immediately see how the car draws from the snowboarding experience. The exterior is made of handcrafted, hand-stitched waterproofed material, similar to what a snowboarder would wear. The roof is made of carbon fiber composite materials and designed to mimic the Bern helmet. Inspired by Dragon’s APX frameless goggles, the windshield is also frameless and provides a full peripheral view inside the car.

If the outside has the look, the inside meets the needs. The interior has racks for snowboarders, to keep them from rattling around in the trunk, and two large speakers that resemble Aviator headphones from SkullCandy. Drivers and passengers can relax in Union Binding bucket seats.

With the Numeric, 686 wanted to go all the way, and anyone can see that they did. According to Mike West, the goal wasn’t just to paint the car and add snow tires. They wanted to create a winter story around the car, and took painstaking attention to detail. Their collaboration with twenty brands certainly allowed them to do so.

The Numeric first debuted on October 26, at the 2011 Scion SEMA Media Preview at Kim Sing Theater in Los Angeles. As a concept car, it isn’t street legal, and there won’t be any others made, but it is pretty cool to look at.

Last week, Scion announced the winner of the Scion Tuner Challenge at SEMA: Jon Sibal. Known for his renderings, Sibal took home a cash prize, trophy for his iQ-RX design, and the dream prize package from Snap-On, Alpinstars and Meguiar’s.

Sibal’s iQ-RX sported a matte metallic grey exterior with bronze pearl paint and Veilside iQR panels and bumpers. Notable features of Sibal’s design include a 32” flat screen that pops up in the trunk, an Orion audio system, an XBOX 360 game console and an iPad 2 enclosure. The judges particularly liked the flat screen and how it folded down to create more trunk space.

You have to admit – Sibal’s entry does look pretty sleek. The dark theme seems like a perfect fit for the city, which is appropriate considering the iQ is a microcar designed for urban driving.

The Scion Tuner Challenge has been held annually since 2005. Applicants mail in their proposals, and three are selected to tune actual vehicles. The model changes each year; this year, Scion chose the 2012 Scion iQ as their platform of choice. The three models are then judged at SEMA.

To choose a winner, judges examined a number of aspects of each of the tuners, including the paint and bodywork, audio/visual and overall execution. In second place, Michael Chang took home $7,000 and prizes from Snap-On, Alpinstars and Meguiar’s for his EVS iQ-RS design. Tatsunori Tsuchida’s iQ-MR won third prize, which included $5,000 and a selection of products from Snap-On, Alpinstars and Meguiar’s.

Sibal is a designer and artist, and produces a lot of work both in and out of the automotive field. In addition to designing aftermarket autos, he works for DC Comics and is currently working on Batman: Earth One.

Although the iQ won’t be available in the Midwest until early next spring, reviews already rolling in speak positively over Scion’s new micro-subcompact car.  The iQ has been compared favorably to the Smart car, suggesting it may see more success than its microcar competitor.

 

Reviewers have called the iQ surprisingly charming and cited that the front seats are comfortable and provide a decent amount of space.  As a micro-subcompact, of course it will be small, and it’s not intended for those requiring a vast amount of cargo space.  Rather, it’s marketed towards urban buyers, and for that market, the iQ ought to hit the spot.

 

The iQ is ten feet long, which might sound pretty sizable.  However, compared to the Toyota Camry, which is six feet longer, the iQ starts to look like what it is.  It is one foot longer than the Smart Fortwo.

 

In general, reviewers are saying the iQ has everything on the Smart Fortwo.  Although intended mainly for city driving, the iQ performs better than the Smart Fortwo on the highway and feels more stable than its competitor.

 

It’s important to remember, though, that the iQ is still a small car, and will feel more in its element in the city than on the highway.  City drivers will find it nimble and comfortable, and that it handles a little like a sports car.

 

In case you’ve missed the stats in the past, here’s a quick run down: the iQ has a 1.3L, four-cylinder engine that gets 94hp and 89 lb-ft of torque.  It gets 36mpg in the city and 37mpg on the highway, making its combined fuel efficiency 37mpg, which, according to Scion, is the highest for all non-hybrid cars.