Here's the difference between Canada and the USA: Americans are the only ones to get the Chevy SS, which is basically a four-door Corvette; Canadians are the only folks to get one last go at a 132hp four-cylinder hatchback.
Where they salute the flag to red rockets in air and revolutionary cannon fire, we retire early to bed with the dulcet tones of Peter Mansbridge ringing in our ears, and thoughts of a nice cuppa of Red Rose tea in the morning.
Yes, occasionally we Canadians unleash Beast Mode when handed a length of timber and told the other guys have the puck, but mostly we're laid-back, reserved, and conservative.
The Toyota Matrix is a very Canadian sort of car, and a decade or so after its introduction, the Yankees have decided they don't want it any more. We, on the other hand, apparently can't get enough of the thing, so it's back again for 2014 like one last Rush reunion tour.
Design: The Matrix is built in Cambridge, Ontario, and is sort of the Canadian tuxedo of cars. If ever a machine were to wear all denim attire, this would be it.
A vast amount of puffy sheet metal seems to dwarf the 16" steel wheels (17" alloys are available as an option), and the greenhouse of the car clusters atop the vehicle like the conning tower on the eabus. Where newer machines find their ad campaigns crammed
with words like "aggressive," "dynamic," and "emotional," the Matrix is none of those things.
The Matrix isn't stylish, it's simply there. The optional S package does add a tiny bit of pizzazz, with the aforementioned 17" alloys, front and rear aero-kit and a rear hatch spoiler, but it's still a tad hum-drum. This is not a flashy car. That wouldn't be very Canadian.
Environment: The Matrix carries a Toyota badge up front, but judging from the insides, a Rubbermaid one would be far more appropriate. While the Corolla now looks reasonably upscale inside, to the point of including a stitched-look dash, the Matrix is from the old school Toyota line, and is festooned inside with plastic-not-sofantastic.
The driver's seat fabric does look pretty durable, but the armrests are unyielding. Rear seat room is surprisingly good, and while taller folks might not find the little Toyota to be especially comfortable, everybody else will.
What's more, the rear cargo area remains exemplary. It's all plastic too, but that just means it's highly durable and capable of handling bags of soil for the home gardener, or wet dogs, or lumberjack equipment.
Performance: Underneath the Matrix's truncated hood, one will find a 1.8L, 132hp four-cylinder engine mated to either a five-speed manual gearbox, or a four-speed automatic.
In today's world of CVTs, direct-injection, and small-displacement turbochargers, this sort of hardware is the motoring equivalent of Fred Flinstone's feet.
