RoadTest/Chevrolet Matiz: Baby cars are back in business, seeking out buyers that hitherto have been thin on the ground. Irish motorists like their cars small - but not that small.
Now there has been a notable bit of kickstarting for the tiny baby or city car segment and it has come from the Japanese and French alliance of Toyota, Citroen and Peugeot with their respective badges of Aygo, C1 and 107. While all are identical in their engineering and roll off the same new joint venture state-of-the-art plant in the Czech Republic, they are very much meant to compete with one another. Here in Ireland, they have identical pricing with 1.0 litre entry-level versions all starting at €11,500.
But other manufacturers have been in this budget end of the market long before the new arrivals. We think particularly of the Ford Ka, the Fiat Panda and the Chevrolet (née Daewoo) Matiz.
We took off in the Matiz for our Christmas shopping spree, believing it to be the perfect antidote for choked streets and of course, being able to park on postage stamp spaces was another incentive. That it did brilliantly: on at least four occasions we squeezed into spots that couldn't even accommodate a Ford Focus or Opel Astra never mind a posh SUV.
The Matiz in a previous generation was around as a Daewoo and although it's still Korean-built, the Chevrolet nomenclature makes it sound incongruously American. You don't get much smaller Chevys than this although with a length of 3,495mm, it's actually 65mm longer than the Czech-built trio. Our test car was the four-cylinder 1.0 litre Sports SE, at €11,595 also a tad more expensive. For those who want the ultimate in budget motoring, there's also an 800cc three-cylinder Matiz. With a price tag of €10,995, it has the distinction of being the cheapest car on the Irish scene. We reckon, however, that the four-cylinder would be the preferred choice of most Matiz customers.
Under the bonnet, the new generation bigger-engined Matiz develops 65bhp from its modest eight-valve power unit. Like all small cars of this ilk, it feels remarkably lusty when dashing around the streets. Out on the open road, it isn't without energy either and when we did a short motorway trip, there was surprising contentment at 110km/h or 68mph. After that, the engine sound became more vocal as if it was feeling the pain or the strain. The official statistics from Chevrolet show the Matiz for what it is, modest in performance and adequate for the constituency it represents. It will get you from zero to 100 km/h in just over 14 seconds while the top speed is 156km/h, a small bit shy of 100 mph in the old parlance.
For what it's worth, the Czech mates offer virtually the same performance figures. The only significant difference is that their mill has three cylinders which does mean a somewhat less refined engine tone. In the Toyota Aygo, it comes across all throbby and vibrant, giving the notion that there's a lot of power to be unleashed. The extra cylinder that's a feature of the Matiz and other competitors like the Panda, ultimately makes for smoother motoring.
A woman acquaintance happens to drive the old generation Matiz and that was an opportunity to put old and new side by side. The new model looks altogether more decorous. The front lamps which were bland round affairs on the old car are now bejewelled, while there's also a bigger air intake grille. At the rear, there are big bold circular lights, making the backside area more distinctive.
Compared with the base 800cc model, the sports SE is embellished with standard goodies like roof rails, a rear spoiler, front fog lights and a height adjustable driver's seat. Getting comfortable in the driver's seat isn't too difficult but we would have preferred a steering wheel that was also adjustable. The driver's immediate environment could do with much improvement. With the facia dials shifted to the centre, the area behind the steering wheel contains a gaping ugly rectangular hole. Further perusal showed that it houses a bank of warning lights but from the aesthetic point of view, it's far from pleasing.
Otherwise the cabin offered a bright and cheery ambience. Two hefty adults in the rear said they had "reasonable" comfort and they had plenty of head room. Rear seat space seems better than that in Aygo/C1/107 and on a par with the Panda. The rear doors facilitate easy entry and exit, being wide opening. We couldn't help noting that the press material for the Matiz optimistically referred to "room for five people" but they would have to be of exceptionally skinny and small dimensions to make the fit. We doubt anyway if people-carrying capacity is a major influence with the sort of customers that will buy Matiz.
Because it's a short wheelbase car, it's unreasonable to expect a sophisticated ride. Poor or irregular surfaces exert a comfort penalty but then that's the downside for the compact dimensions and of course, the Matiz is no different from most of its mini-class competitors in this regard. We hit a partially concealed pothole and the effect on bodies, metal and flesh, was a bit traumatic. A bigger vehicle is clearly more cocooning.
Years ago a car like the Matiz would have been frugal in its specification but not any more: budget doesn't equate with no frills. There are electric front windows, a CD player, central locking and Isofix child seat fixings with three-point seat belts. The safety armoury significantly doesn't include side airbags, just those for the driver and front passenger. ABS brakes are also fitted. It's reasonably flexible in its packaging too with the rear seats splitting 60:40 and folding down to provide extra capacity.
The boot almost predictably is smallish: with 170-litre capacity, two medium sized suitcases would be its limit. In the cabin, there's a useful amount of storage space for cups, bottles, coins and the mobile phone.
Probably the most rewarding thing about driving a very small car is its benevolent lack of thirst. With a lot of around town driving in the Matiz test car, we still managed 63L/100km, or over 44mpg. In an open road environment, that figure no doubt could have been bettered. Filling up at the pumps should never be too painful, considering that the tank holds a modest 35 litres.
Is the Matiz the best in its baby car class? We don't think so: that accolade still belongs to the Fiat Panda which is more commodious and has a bigger car feel about it. That said, the Matiz in its new clothes isn't lacking in most respects and buyers looking for low-cost mobility should certainly give it decent consideration.
Many of us motorists don't make huge demands on our cars and many of us drive cars that are too big for our needs. It's a Utopian thought but just suppose all Irish motorists bought a Matiz (or an Aygo or Panda or something baby-sized).
For a start, CO2 emissions would be cut by 50 per cent, there would be a massive benefit to the environment and we would have more income for other activities.
It won't happen, of course. Models like the Matiz (and the Aygo et al) should represent the future for mass produced, bread-and-butter motoring. Instead they seem destined to maintain a lowly presence alongside the bigger supermini and family car players, and that in spite of the Aygo/C1/107 arrivals. It's just as we said at the beginning, we like our cars small - but not that small.