As Shawn (civic_R-tist) and I were driving down Florida looking for CRXs a Matrix pulled out of the Toyota dealership. As I crap my pants I ask him to turn around so we can go drive one. They got them 5 days ago. There is one XRS (celica engine-powered) Matrix in florida and only a handful of other trims. The silver one that pulled out was the XRS so we had to wait for it to return. Heres what I thought of it:
First thing I noticed was the nicely-textured seats and dash-mounted shifter.
The shifter was a bit notchy but nothing unordinary for a cable shifter.
The clutch felt like that of a grandmas car with no definate engagement point prone to mild slipping.
You sit much higher up than any other compact cars which takes some getting used to.
The steering wheel is big and comfortable grips in the right places. Steering is very exact no play in the wheel at all.
While the engine revs freely and a little blip puts you at over 3000rpm with noticable intake noise the ride at WOT to 5500 rpm takes an eternity. Once you reach the 6000rpm cam changeover the car finally starts to move and has a nice sound to it. The needle quadrouples in speed as it instantly hits the 8000rpm redline.
Even with the 6spd shifting at 8000 drops you down below 5000rpm leaving you with 1000 torqueless rpm to overcome. Perhaps that could be compensated for with some sort of VVTI controller but simply wont do as-is.
The interior is big and functional LOTS of storage space.
The one I drove had a navigation system 17 wheels upgraded stereo with a sticker of 22 and change.

Looks: 8
Performance: 6
Fun: 8
Overall: 7

Expect to see more in dealerships over the summer.
Thanks to Shannon C. Smith at Precision Toyota for the test drive.

 

Saw one last night at Shell on Gandy. The kid let me climb all over through it... he had just bought it that day.

 

theyre gonna be a little slower since they are heavier than a celica gt-s.

there was rumors of AWD on either that or the pontiac vibe (same chassis just sharing the platform with GM USA) but i never remember if that ever was made or not.

 

There is an AWD version but has 50 less hp. SCC clocked one at 16.6 That car could drop a second in the quarter just from a vvti controller im sure of it. Cool car though wouldnt mind to have it to cruise around in...

 

i personally dont like it at all.....but thats my opinion.....but good overview of the testdrive......i LOOOVE test drives

 

I wish my scanner was working I just found a matrix xrs dyno chart. There is literally a 50hp jump from 6200-6900rpm. Someone order one of these and a vvti controller. I want to drive one of these that has balls at 4500rpm!

 

v-afcs have been known to work on gt-ss.

not sure if there is enough demand out yet to get a specific vvtl-i controller or if one has been made yet.


and its vvtL-i the 2zz-ge (gt-s 180hp) has variable valve timing and lift control with intelligence.

 

well from the back seat of the matrix <where i was forced to sit by that shannon fellow who insisted on taking shotgun> i can vouch for everything alan said. spacious well laid out and appealing aesthetically and ballsy after 6K... but i kept thinking that he was riding the clutch cause of the lag after each shift. model as tested included 17ers and an 8 bazooka bass tube in the hatch area. good concept all in all but more than id like to spend on something in that category.

* i also found it funny how every time alan asked a tech question that had anything to do with something under the hood we got a whopping i dont know

 

They look like they would be a really cool cruiser during the week. The key to shifting with the Toyota gearing is to actually go into the redline a few 100 rpms. At least that is what you had to do with a Celica GTS to get it to drop in the 2nd cam. I know its not really good for the car...but to get it into higher lift when you hit the second cam....

As far as I ever read (which has been a while) no one had gotten a VVTL-i controller to really work. Toyota wouldnt release the engine code and it is extremely complicated to crack. I havent seen anyone with a V-AFC on one but it would be a cool thing to try out. Why in the world Toyota didnt just lower the change by 500 rpm Ill never know/understand.

Looks like I may have to ride down the the dealership and try one out.