Thoughts on MATRIX we might be getting one.

[DJgerry]

Hi i came here during the ls1 wars hehe j/k.
One the real i thought id ask you guys about the car since it shares the same driveline as the celica gts.

Heres the lowdown, my wife was fighting cancer last year & now thats things are better she's ready to go back to work.
But she thought she would rather go back to school than the 9-5 health care biz.

This means we have to save some money, one thing we can do is sell her car & save us about $100-150 a month.
Her brother & law is the g/m of a toyota dealership down here & said we could save a ton of cash by getting a matrix

Right now our other car is a 2000 monte ss loaded, leather sun roof the whole 9, she loves that car but it's expensive.
BTW her brother & law used to sell gm's hence the ls1 & monte.

So how good is this funny but kinda cool looking thing, shes used to the good low-mid end power in the monte plus the space.
I told here this would be a car she would have to rev for power if she wanted it.

Im just asking your thought on the car & it's driveline, thanks.

Gerry

[larryd]

i dont think we have anything to really say much about the matrix since its not out yet.. and no one has tested it.. only thing we can go off is skepticism.. personally from the article I read it seems like a decent car.. all depends what your looking for

[Kit99bar]

if you love the low end torque and power don't get our engine :)

[t2000gts]

a guy at www.matrixvibe.net and TRD Liquid Silver from right here both drove Matrix(s) and yeah, it's kinda sluggish off the line. :) no torque...but it can still be quick if you aren't afraid of winding out the engine to 8200rpm.

[PapiChuu]

i saw one at the dealer by my house, pretty nice, espeially in red :)
i also noticed on the toyota website that the matrix AWD is only in automatic, that blows!

[racinjason]

I don't know if your wife is going to be happy with it's low torque off the line compared to the SS. Personally. If I didn't have my GT-S I'd probably get it. Power is all above 6k. And it's about a second slower than the GT-S. But I don't think your wife will be drag racing it any how. Very cool layout on the inside and suposed to handle very well also. For the money you would be saving I'd sugest getting it.

[DJgerry]

We have owned a few imports in the past so i don't think reving out the power band will be that much of a deal for her.
We used to have a 96 acura teg 5spd & ive had a few nissans in the past.
She likes to shift "wich is good" so the six spd will be cool.

Her car now is front drive so shes used to that, the monte is a sleek coupe & the matrix a tall wagon suv'ish sporty thing, so that might take some getting used to.
But it should have better cargo space than the monte, i hope it rides as smooth as her car, but if it's a bit more harsh for better handeling, than thats a decent trade off.

In the srait line both cars are really close

MATRIX
0-60mph 7.3
1/4 15.7 at 91mph

MONTE SS
0-60mph 7.3
1/4 15.5 at 89mph

All & all i think the toyota is a pretty cool car, so well see what the test drive brings out.

BTW heres some monte info to stack up against matrix info.

http://www.motortrend.com/nov99/montess/montess_f.html

[TRD Liquid Silver]

my best advice to you if your getting the matrix. don't get the xrs and get the xr if it's for your wife. the torque is spread out better than the xrs.. the 1.8l vvti is better suited for the car than 1.8l vvtl-i. driving both cars the xr feels stronger from 2-5k than the xrs which is where most drivers will use it..

[2kgtx]

I went to my toyota dealer for a oil change yesturday and they had one, it looked really good, but their not letting anyone test it until the actually realse I think thats the 9th not sure

[Omni]

Saw one at the dealer today while getting my car serviced.. looks pretty good, the rims on it were nice.. but the interior is a bit lacking, though the dash looks pretty cool. but for $17k I think its a pretty good deal...

[DJgerry]

Thanks for the posts guys, keep them comming:cool: