Toyota bB

[ToyotaFreak]

While taking pics of the Corolla Altis, I also found my dream car, the Toyota bB (Not the Lime Green one though, I love that color!).

Pictured below is the 1.5Z "Q Version" (Top-spec).

Front (With the optional gloss black grille. Has blue LEDs in them.)

Rear (Love that JDM Privacy Glass!)

The Optitron gauges & illumination rings light up the moment I open the door (Car came equipped with Smart Entry & Keyless Start.).

Edited February 16, 2008 by ToyotaFreak

[ToyotaFreak]

My favorite feature of this car, the illumination rings (With three selectable settings.).

Coincidentally, the bB was reviewed by Bangkok Post!

http://www.bangkokpost.com/080208_Motoring...08_motor005.php

Just in case if the link to the article expires, here's the whole article;

TOYOTA / bB

RAP IT

If hip hop is you, don't buy a car - buy a mobile club

Hip hop ride

A 20-year-old hip hop artist who makes it big today probably owns seven Lambos - one for each day of the week - and a chauffeured stretched limo.

But what can a 25-year-old Japanese hip hop fan get to drive out of his office clerk salary?

He could buy an old Cadillac Eldorado convertible should it be road-worthy or he could buy a brand new funky second generation bB - Toyota's answer to those who want to buy a drivable sound machine.

With so many cars positioned in the Japanese market anywhere from A to Z, Toyota can afford to pitch one as a music player and not just a car.

The fun side

To test the bB's ability to draw looks that night was a relatively easy task for I just had to drive around town through well-populated night areas.

The funky two-box design resembling a mutated dwarf hot-rod might have succeeded in turning heads had it not been for the eye-hurting beetle-green paintjob. It stands out in the dark as if it's radioactive.

It was kind of scary when you're static and so many eyes are pointed at your direction - not me, but at all the lights flashing inside the car.

You see, all the speakers and tweeters up front have blue light surrounds which are controlled by a dial on the tip of the foldable front centre armrest.

There are three illumination modes: Static gives constant glow, Relax turns the lights on and off slowly and hypnotically, while Club mode produces disco-like effect.

The lights do not flash according to music levels as in some taxis and passenger vans and to prevent direct interference with driving vision. The lights around the dash-mounted tweeters are set to constant glow instead of flashing while the gear is in drive - night and day.

While I am no audiophile, it's quite easy to perceive the hugely better sound quality than any standard system on a similarly sized car with its 11-speaker DVD-playable system with weird looking horn-like speakers on the C-pillars.

The front occupants get a wide bench that can be fold down almost flat like a sofa-bed. While the standard fabric upholstery is simply too plain, the black leather seat covers here transform them to look and feel more like proper lounge sofa.

Too bad there isn't a moon roof for you to lie down in the car and gaze at the stars at night.

The car side

If you just got back from the US of A, you might think this is the Japanese donor version of the Scion xB. But no, it's not.

In fact, the second generation xB is now a clone of a larger Toyota Corolla Rumion.

This bB is the second generation that debuted in Japan late 2005 and based on a more humble Daihatsu Materia - the first generation bB shared platform with the first generation Vitz or Yaris (the Yaris in Thailand is second generation).

With a 3.8m short and 1.69m narrow body, it is a B-segment car with a tall 1.635m height.

The 109hp 1.5-litre inline-four engine is borrowed from the Toyota Avanza, but is mounted transversely and drives the front wheels via four-speed auto 'box.

The chassis is similar to the Yaris with McPherson struts up front and coil-sprung torsion beam at the back.

But the bB drives similarly to an Avanza with choppy ride on the bumpy stuff albeit with way more suppleness, leans like a minivan (which, in essence, it is) and hates to be pushed fast or else you'd panic to correct its path.

While the engine is adequately muted, the tyre roar is amplified at highway speed. The problem is probably an odd combination of standard softly sprung suspension and stiff ultra low profile 205/40-17 tyres - a result of aiming for form while overlooking function.

Performance-wise - well, there isn't much of that - it tags along traffic without much labour but isn't pleased to be rushed. Rear drum brakes make only for adequate stopping ability.

The steering wheel column-mounted gear lever doesn't require much learning and frees up room between the driver and the front passenger.

But the front bench strangely slopes inward and thus creates an uncomfortable driving position.

The dark side

Not everyone wants to be good and even those who still want to be bad from time to time.

This bB has been modded inside and out with a B200,000 genuine Japanese kit that includes a bespoke grille with exterior blue front illumination, all-around skirts and spoilers in body colour, 17-inch TRD alloys and the faux leather seat covers.

The B1.65m Toyota bB from TSL Auto Corporation looks bad (figuratively) enough even in its standard form as any hip hop boy could want. And you'd love to hang a disco mirror ball from the ceiling, add blue lights underneath and strobes behind the rear bench.

Who needs to go Ratchada Soi 4, when you can ride one? But then again, who goes clubbing everyday?

[saintly]

the bB is the same as a Scion

[ToyotaFreak]

the bB is the same as a Scion

In the case of the 1st gen. model, then yes. The 2nd gen. models aren't related anymore.

The 2008 Scion xB (Larger & with the 2.4 2AZ-FE engine to satisfy the Americans.) is sold as the Corolla Rumion in Japan (With the 1.8 2ZR-FE.).

Rumion

http://toyota.jp/corollarumion/index.html

bB

http://toyota.jp/bb/index.html

Scion xB

http://www.scion.com/#xB

[All Wheel Driver]

This car is also known as the Daihatsu Coo in Japan. It's on the SEVS list as being allowed to be brought into Australia.

I know of a RAW out there that is trying to get these approved for compliance & they should have them online & available to bring in sometime soon. So hopefully we'll start to see them on the road in Australia in the not too distant future.