Five years later, the car market is crowded with similar vehicles from virtually every brand. The most notable competitors include the Dodge Caliber, Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Rondo, Suzuki SX4, Scion xB, Subaru Impreza, and Volkswagen Golf, to name a few. This segment of vehicles connects particularly with younger buyers interested in mix of style, versatility, performance, and affordability. The Toyota Matrix captures all these attributes in a well-balanced manner.
For 2009, the Matrix arrives as a second-generation redesign. It offers edgier, coupe-like styling, more passenger room, and an increase in performance—while remaining economical in terms of price tag and fuel efficiency. For these reasons, the new version is expected to be an even bigger hit with the Millennials and GenXers.
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The Matrix is available in four models: the base, the S, the all-wheel-drive S, and the uplevel XRS. The XRS trim is the sportiest of the bunch.
Under the hood, the Matrix offers two new engines that boost power over the previous generation. There’s a 1.8-liter inline-four that produces 132 horsepower, and a very capable 2.4-liter four-cylinder outputting 162 horsepower. Both versions grant the Matrix the slight upshot of power it was missing in previous years. They also allow this little crossover to launch off the line more assertively. Power builds quickly and steadily, and engine noise is kept to a minimum.
These powerplants connect to one of three transmissions: a four-speed automatic, a five-speed automatic, or a five-speed manual gearbox. The good news is, whichever combination you select, you are going to end up with an efficient vehicle. Government fuel economy for the Matrix ranges from 20 city/26 highway for the all-wheel drive model, to 26 city/33 highway for the base model with a manual transmission. Expect combined fuel economy in the high 20s for the latter. And that goes for most of the other models and configurations as well. All of the EPA estimates are within a few ticks of each other, except for the all-wheel-drive model.
