2007 Toyota Matrix

2007 Toyota Matrix

I’m not 100% certain where the “sport wagon” idea came from, but it certainly was an odd idea. Of all of the things we can classify as “cars” (things that aren’t trucks, minivans, SUVs, etc) the station wagon is definitely the last thing you would expect for a can manufacturer to sell as the sporting model of the lineup. Despite this, Mazda has been able to sell this idea with great success with the Protégé5 and the Mazda3 “Sport Wagon;" then, Toyota decided to pick up on the idea. They took the mundane Corolla, decided to make a sport model of it, but made it in the shape of a wagon for some reason. Sure there is the Corolla XRS sedan, but we all know that Toyota really meant for the Matrix to hold the sporty pretensions.

The real question is “did it work?” Well you can certainly tell Toyota was trying. The Matrix has funky, “sporty” looks, bigger wheels than the Corolla, and the option of the high revving 2ZZ-GE engine out of the Celica GT-S. Things were firmed up and Toyota was really trying hard to advertise it as a “sport wagon” everywhere you looked. That’s all well and good, but in the end the answer to the question is yes, I mean no, definitely no… you’ll see what I mean after you read the rest of the review.

Positives: This car is easily a better, brisker drive than the normal Corolla. The body roll has been greatly reduced in the corners, the steering is sharper, and the pedal response is much better. More importantly, the Corolla tends to have rather twitchy handling but that has been solved here. If you nudge the steering wheel for a small correction, a normal Corolla tends to twitch about for a bit, but the Matrix... doesn’t! Everything about the Matrix is much sharper and more solid than the Corolla which it’s based on and that’s a good thing.

Once you crack open the doors you’ll find that the interior space on the matrix is huge. You can easily fit in bikes, medium sized furniture pieces, and other things inside; so, this is definitely a practical car. What’s more, when you sit down you’ll find the driver’s seat is very comfortable and body hugging like on any proper sports car.

The basic 1.8 liter 126 hp engine under the hood isn’t very powerful but that VVT-I business Toyota stuck on it has made it a decent power plant. The Matrix isn’t hugely fast, but that little engine is definitely gutsy enough to make the car feel reasonably quick. There’s loads of low down power which can make you snap into your seat from take off and that’s rather surprising from an engine with such weak torque figures. It genuinely is a good engine.

Oh dear I fear I ran out of good things to say about the Matrix…



Negatives: Usually when you make a car sporty, you’d want to give it a nice low down driving position to at least make the car feel like a sports car before you even start the engine… how did Toyota get this part so wrong? When you first get into the Toyota Matrix, you’ll notice that you’re sitting higher than people in SUVs. This means that you have to scoot the seat up much closer to the dashboard than most cars in order to reach the pedals, and this winds up giving you the same sort of driving position bus drivers are accustomed to.

Now I know that Pontiac makes a sister car to the Matrix called the Vibe, but that’s no excuse for Toyota to start using low end materials for the interior. You can tell that Pontiac was responsible for designing the interior because those odd shapes and random air vents are textbook Pontiac, but seriously why did Toyota decide to use the same materials? This is the first Toyota I’ve driven that has felt plain cheap on the inside. The dashboard and other bits of the car for that matter are made completely from really hard scratchy plastics. You won’t find any of this cheapness in the normal Corolla, so it’s a bit of a shame that it’s here in the Matrix with huge neon signs pointing at it.

I did say earlier that the Matrix feels shaper to drive than the Corolla, but the steering wheel is completely lifeless and feels like it’s turning the car via remote control. The gas and brake pedals are quite responsive but they’re so light, that you just can’t tell how far you’re pressing down on them. These things instantly kill any fun this car could have been capable of bringing, which honestly wasn’t all that much.

The Matrix just feels way too heavy to be an actual sports car. Even really heavy sports cars like the Nissan GT-R (yes a completely different league but it’s relevant) feel nimble and light despite the weight; however, the Matrix feels heavier than it actually is which is quite a difficult feat to pull off! The driving dynamics are on paper more composed than the Corolla but you always feel that extra weight through the corners and when you’re accelerating. Something about that weight really upsets the feel of the car and makes it feel “wonky.” If you go through a corner at speed you almost get the feeling the car is saying “okay, I can do that but I don’t want to do it again.” This sounds counter intuitive, but it’s seriously how I feel… the less sharp less sporty Corolla drives better and feels more fun.

Conclusion: Yes the Matrix is a sportier sharper wagon version of the Corolla, but Toyota seriously could have done much better. The real shame is that all the charm that you’d normally find in a Corolla has gone. The normal Corolla isn’t a driver’s car by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a weird essence of fun to it which is completely missing in the Matrix.

The only reason I can think of for getting a Matrix over a standard Corolla is for the extra space, but even then I would be telling people to head over to Pontiac instead. The Vibe is essentially the same car only cheaper and with a longer warranty, which makes it better. Overall though, go with a Mazda3 wagon. It’s roughly the same price, it’s more powerful, it’s better equipped, drives a million times better, and it doesn’t feel cheap on the inside.

Summary:
The Good: Very spacious… and yeah…
The Bad: This is just a wagon… that sport bit is a lie
Verdict: How did Toyota let this happen?

Random Stats:
Engine: 1.8L I4, 126 hp, 122 lb-ft torque
EPA Estimates: 30/36 (old EPA standard)