Matrix, Vibe provide a bit of everything for 2003 car-buyers
Vibe, Matrix twins are crossover vehicles from every angle
BY JOHN GILBERT
The battle to attract consumers has caused automakers to strive to fill all sorts of niches in the marketplace. Buyers can go for a van, an SUV, a pickup, an extended-cab pickup, a full crew cab, or they might swing to the car side and select a station wagon, a sporty sedan or a sports car. A niche for almost every taste.
Beyond niches, manufacturers now are creating vehicles that fall in between some of those niches, mostly called “crossover†vehicles.
But what should a car-buyer do if the idea of crossing over is so tempting that one of each niche looks appealing?
There is an answer, for 2003. The ultimate crossover vehicle – or, more accurately vehicles – are the unlikely twins named Pontiac Vibe and the Toyota Matrix.
ItÂ’s not as though General Motors canÂ’t create and produce enough vehicles, but every once in awhile it makes sense to work a joint-venture with someone else to get precisely the right vehicle for a certain situation. A few years ago, GM worked out an arrangement with Toyota on a new plant in Fremont, Calif., called the NUMMI plant. Toyota built Corolla compact sedans there, and General Motors got a version of that car, called the Geo Prizm.
At that same NUMMI plant, another joint venture is not only a vehicle for the times, but possibly a vehicle that is one jump ahead of its time. It is the Toyota Matrix, or, if it wears the Pontiac shield, it is the Pontiac Vibe.
Toyota starts with the basic Corolla chassis, and mounts it with a unique body, which is a little tall and a bit boxy, as if trying to compete with ChryslerÂ’s PT Cruiser. But the boxiness goes away when the neatly sculptured roofline slopes down to a sporty rear hatch. It is a four door wagon of some sort, but the sporty flair continues with the sculpted lines carved into the sides, which come to the front and to a pointy nose.
From the sides and the rear, the Matrix and Vibe might appear to be identical twins. And even from the inside, where the vehicle has a couple of the neatest features ever devised on a vehicle.
Back outside, though, the noses are distinctly different, with the Matrix having an aggressively styled façade with a lower screened grille flanked by low-slung outer foglights. The Vibe is no less aggressive, but in a Pontiac sort of way, which is to say the nose is a pointy, slanted-toward-the-middle look that can be traced to the Firebird, Grand Prix, Grand Am, and even – you should pardon the expression – the much criticized Aztek.
Favoring one over the other is purely subjective, but the Matrix and Vibe have a lot more to offer than just pretty faces and a sporty flair to the exterior.
To start with, you get three choices of powertrains, perhaps the most well-diversified choices ever offered in a first-year vehicle.
The secret is that all three choices come down to one engine, the strong little 1.8-liter Toyota four-cylinder. It is definitely on the high-tech side, with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and variable valve-timing. From there, the choices vary considerably, although they remain identical in both vehicles.
The base front-wheel-drive Vibe and Matrix both have the 130-horsepower version of the engine. In 130-horse form, it offers front-wheel-drive, and either a 5-speed stick or 4-speed automatic.
Next up, a buyer can get all-wheel-drive, but the pull of the engine through all four wheels lowers its power output to 123 horsepower. I tested both the Vibe and the Matrix with that AWD arrangement, and with the automatic. Although the vehicle weighs only 2,750 pounds, it was gasping for air when we tried to drive it briskly up steep hills. The all-wheel-drive system kicks in only when slippage orders it to, but 123 horses still isnÂ’t a lot of power.
Flat-landers, though, would find acceleration fully adequate, and the Matrix/Vibe both hold the road at cruising speed very well, while delivering EPA estimates of 26 miles per gallon in city and 31 in highway driving. That sort of eliminates the worst liability of most SUVs.
The Matrix/Vibe would be a viable choice with those two variations, coming as they do with sticker prices of right around $20,000. The Matrix was $20,416, and the Vibe – armed with a $1,600 DVD based navigation system – at $23,025.
But wait, as they say, thereÂ’s more!
Sure enough, there is a third variation. Buyers also can choose a Matrix XRS or Vibe GT model. Yes, not only does the Vibe or Matrix fit the role of all-weather people hauler and niche-blurring crossover, thereÂ’s also a hot-rod version.
I was able to spend a week with the Vibe GT, and while it begins life with the same 1.8-liter engine, the GT version sees that Corolla engine after Yamaha has played around with it. The Yamaha version is the same 1.8 that powers the Toyota Celica, a high-revving sports-coupe screamer. In GT or XRS form, the horsepower goes from 123 to 180, and nobody will complain about it running out of steam on any hill, or any high-performance challenge. Yet the hot version still has EPA mileage figures of 25 city and 30 highway.
As equipped, the test Vibe GT came with a 6-speed manual transmission, with the shift lever jutting out from the center dash panel just like the docile automatics in the basic models. It also has 4-wheel disc brakes with antilock, and a sport-tuned suspension that keeps the wider tires planted firmly on the road. But with the trick engine and options like power locks with remote, a moonroof, and a 200-watt premium audio system, the Vibe GT sticker was only $21,000. ThatÂ’s even less expensive than either of the AWD versions, without the performance equipment.
Some of the best features about the Matrix and Vibe are inside. The bucket seats are firm and supportive, and the silver-ringed instruments are all well laid out, with bright orange numbers and indicators on a dark charcoal background. Very Pontiac-like, although common to both vehicles.
Clearly, such an unusual vehicle needed to have some special items, some trendy things that can attract younger buyers who want to be able to do more than just drive and ride around. The Matrix/Vibe takes care of that objective.
The front passenger bucket seat, at the flip of a switch, folds forward, and locks in that position, leaving a contoured back exposed as a neat table with a lip all around it. That makes it perfect for inside tailgating, or even for someone who might want to pull out a laptop and check rap out a message, or check for e-mails – or write a column, for that matter. All that is required is to figure out how to reach it conveniently from the other seats.
On a trip, however, it would be easy to imagine a fast-food stop which could be turned into a real indoor picnic. It would be ideal for that, with the possible exception of the person who happened to be sitting in that seat at the time.
However, the absolute best of the new and unusual little contemporary features is located just below the air/heat and audio controls, and just ahead of the shift lever on the lower center dash panel. It is a small powerpoint, which isnÂ’t all that unusual these days, because every car has those adaptor-plug-in outlets for cell-phone or other electrical charging.
Ah, but this one does NOT require an adaptor. Pull down a tiny, hinged trap door and a simple, two-prong electrical outlet, household style, with 115 volts, is revealed. So yes, you can plug in anything you’d like – a computer, a blender, a coffee-maker, a television set, a toaster, a vacuum cleaner – you name it. After all these years of trying to remember to bring along the right adaptor cord to recharge your cell-phone or camcorder, now you don’t need a special cord.
I predict that this household plug-in feature will sweep through the industry, now that logic, and some designer/engineer, has finally caused it to happen. Thanks, Toyota! Or Pontiac. Both vehicles have it, although Pontiac has capitalized on it better than most.
There is one story of a Pontiac dealer in Troy, Mich., which suffered a power failure one day. The manager went out and started up a Vibe, ran an extension cord to it, and ran a lamp, two calculators and two typewriters off it all day. Who needs a portable generator?
The rear seats fold down to enhance stowage room, and those back seat spots have great headroom because of the square-back roofline.
The storage bins and gadgetry make either the Matrix or Vibe fill the requirements most people would have for a van or station wagon or compact SUV. It also handles like a sporty vehicle. And with the hot engine and 6-speed, it can offer every bit as much performance as the closet hot-rodder could dream of.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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