IgloONotes

When you first think about 'Matrix' the first thing that comes to my mind is Neo whipping his trench-coat open to reveal the obscene amount of guns stashed away, preceding of course the wall-destroying, police-swiss-cheesing, gunfight. A fitting way then, to introduce our 2005 Toyota Matrix 4WD.

At first thought, it's not the car you'd think of to get things done. For winter driving, I would buy an SUV. For carrying people and the stuff the bring along, I'd buy a Van. For carving up the road, I'd buy a sports car. And for everyday use, I'd just buy a Mercedes.

That's when the Matrix starts showing its guns. I just can't get over how good this car is in the snow. It will never get stuck. Even with 30cm deep snow, it just plows right through like nothing's there...there is no snow...

I had the opportunity to test out the winter abilities of the Matrix to the max on none other than News Years Day. We had celebrated new years in the Pacific Mall in Toronto, looking for something a little different.

This New Years celebration was hosted by the local Chinese Radio station with gobs of humour and live singing performances. It was really great because every so often, they'd pull out a 'tornado booth' filled with coupons that flew around inside. They would invite an audience member to step inside and grab as many coupons as possible. Don't ask me how, but three teenage girls (in the booth at once) couldn't quite grab as many coupons as one older guy with big pockets...

Rather than stay the night, we decided to drive home. The weather actually was quite nice to start. The roads were clear and traffic was moving at a nice clip. An hour or two in, things turned ugly.

The little flurries quickly became fat snow flakes. The traffic started to slow down and visibility steadily decreased to a point where I could only see a few meters in front of the car. The only references I could use to stay on the road were the tracks from an SUV, the reflector markers in the median (which were continuously getting covered) and the rumble strips where the snow had melted a bit faster.

It was seriously tough stuff to drive in. Along the way home, I had seen a few cars off the road and I tell you, never had I been more relieved to see the snow plow's blue flashing light. They were the ones that made the roads drivable. Despite being 4:00 in the morning, I had never felt more awake.

Thanks to the outside temperature gauge in the car I could always judge whether it was cool enough to have ice on the road. Unfortunately, it was consistently hovering around 0 degrees C, perfect weather for black ice.

Creeping along at a sedate 50-60 kph, I managed to avoid any trouble. Nearing Windsor though, things got quite entertaining. The game was to compare the condition of the precipitation with the outside temperature reading. Every time the weather warmed up by one degree, I would increase my speed a little. It was great! It was really nice to be greeted by the sign, "Welcome to Windsor". To top off a successful drive home, I had a three-snowplow train escorting me all the way from the highway exit to my home. I still don't understand how I managed to stay wide awake without even nodding off after 5 hours of driving, at night, without a drop of coffee...

Keeping us on the road was our trusty Toyota Matrix. Although I can't vouch for its winter driving ability in close-call situations, it felt very stable in the high crosswinds and tracked well through deep snow. The 4WD really helped out when merging onto the highway from a snowy on-ramp. This car was so amazing it made me wonder how I ever made it through all our previous winters in our old rear-wheel drive van. I've already raved about 4WD in my previous post, but what use is 4WD if you can't carry anything? Luckily, the Matrix can lug around just about anything, and the kitchen sink.

Starting in the front, there's a cubby for your sunglasses in the console and a separate one for coins and parking passes. The glovebox is decently sized and each door has nice large pockets. In the rear seats, there's a back pocket in the drivers seat but on the passenger side, there's an oddly placed hard plastic table. It would be great if you're out camping and need a table to put something on, but for every other day, give me some cloth. When I'm sitting in the rear seat, my lower shins usually rub up against the plastic which becomes worse over bumps.

Then there's that large space in the back. There's nets which are perfect for placing bags of groceries or DVD's from black friday, preventing them from sliding around. Under the floor where the spare tire is located are three large bins that I can stuff an electric air pump, jumper cables, and a tow rope into. On top, we can fit three large traveling bags with room to spare and we even managed to fit two twin size mattresses in there lying flat (with the seat down and the tailgate slightly open). The only gripe I have about it is the large plastic covering which doesn't prevent things from sliding very well. A rubber coating perhaps? On the flip side, sliding the mattress in and out was a breeze.

I would prefer the driving position to be lower to make it feel more sporty rather than SUV'ish. I usually move the height adjustable seat to its lowest position. A telescoping wheel would be nicely appreciated to bring the wheel closer. I sometimes feel like I'm stretching when turning the wheel. Over the potholes and expansion joints, its not quite as cushy as our old Volvo, but its not hard enough to spill your cup of morning coffee; It gives you a very confident feel.

Seating is comfortable, although my back didn't hurt after my five hour driving stint, my neck did...weird. The back seat is large enough, but seating three adults back there could be a bit of a squeeze..but that means they won't move around during some hard cornering,another one of this car's surprises.

Having a high roof is usually connected with less than stellar handling. Its fortunate then that this car's suspension more than make up for it. Through hard corners, this car will show a hint of understeer. On my way to university, there's one very nice onramp that I have to take. Its a sweeping right hander with a decreasing radius. At full tilt with the pedal mashed, the car pushes, but not so much that a little lift of the throttle won't cure it. There's some body roll which is a far cry from my old van which would lean so much I could almost reach my hand out the window to touch the ground. Its a very well behaved car that will do anything that most people will ask of it.

The power is definitely one thing this car is lacking. Don't get me wrong tough, 90% of the time, its more than enough. Its only on the interstate when you feel like you're missing something. To pass, you have to mash the throttle, let the automatic tranny drop down two gears and then you're moving. Slowly stepping on the go pedal in fourth will get you nowhere. There is one quirk about the powertrain that I fail to understand. Sometimes when I mash the throttle to merge, then lift to avoid rear ending the car in front, the computer will get confused for a moment and jump from fourth, to second, to third, then back to fourth. It's not smooth either as its usually accompanied by a shudder. Nothing seems to be broken and most other times, its perfectly fine, although it could use a check up

The Matrix is really the Neo of cars. After four months of ownership, it has worked beautifully and in the most unexpected of times, its pulled us out and did the most amazing of things. As the little kid said, "There is no spoon."

Tags: Toyota Matrix, UWindsor