Hyundai Matrix Review

Undercutting the price of more respected mini-MPV's on the market such as the Vauxhall Zafira, Toyota Previa, Ford Galaxy and the Fiat Multipla; Hyundai's Matrix is a worthy contender for those wanting the body style of an MPV without spending top-of-the-line MPV money. We fitted this description and after visiting the friendly dealer and looking over the options for the car, a deposit was placed and three weeks later, the car arrived.

Our model arrived with no problems and the metallic silver paintwork was a good choice, however, the simple black also looks good on the car. Instead of taking a manual gearbox, this Matrix has the optional 4-speed automatic. Other options which would have increased the price included alloy wheels and an in-car DVD system, but in the interest of value for money, these boxes were not ticked. At the time of sale a remote alarm and the first service were included for free.

During the tedious 1000km running in stage, we had the chance to assess the interior of the Matrix. You sit high up and have a good view of the road ahead through the large windscreen and the seats are comfortable, but not overly supportive. The driving position is adequate but it can be difficult to get comfortable, making long distances painful on the back. The centrally mounted instrument binnacle is well placed as it seems to allow more light into the interior, plus all warning lights and gear indicators have sensibly been left in front of the driver.

As with most new Hyundai's, you get electric windows and mirrors, central locking and air conditioning as standard, plus several cup holders, 12v supply ports (including one in the boot) and a few cubby holes aside from the surprisingly small glove compartment. On the rear of the front seats is a fold down table for use by the rear seat passengers.

The interior is a nice enough place to be, even if it is a temple to the Gods of grey plastic, but it's not without its faults. The first is small in that the drivers' door mounted window controls all feel the same and your finger seems to find only the rear button instead of your own. This gets annoying after the tenth time, especially for a sleeping passenger awoken with a shock as their window jerks down unexpectedly! Staying in the back, the rear headrests are a strange shape and need to be raised to their limit to be comfortable, as when they aren't, they force the neck into a crooked position.

The biggest error on Hyundai's part is the design of the rear seats. They are split 60/40 and can be folded down and tilted forward to create more load space, but for some reason they cannot be removed! This would have given a lot more space when transporting things and is a major disadvantage against the type of car. As it is you can fit plenty in, but the suspension turrets are quite intrusive when fitting wide objects in the boot.

Driving the car is simplicity itself. The power steering is strong and thanks to the shape, you can see all the corners when parking and unless you are trying to corner like the Matrix is a Formula One car, you won't experience much understeer or body roll either. Unfortunately, the Matrix does suffer from significant wind noise issues at speed and the A-pillars are gigantic, causing visibility problems on tight corners.

The Matrix is available with a 1.5, 1.6 or 1.8 powerplant, but the 1.6 102bhp unit seemed the best option to us. In manual form it is probably quite a responsive little engine and even in auto form, it isn't concerned with cruising at the speed limit on motorways. Take it beyond that zone though and the note becomes raucous and strained; but otherwise performance and refinement is correct for the target audience of this type of vehicle.

When mated with Hyundai's automatic gearbox, the car becomes a bit of an effort to drive. The autobox has one sole aim in life: to get to its longest ratio in the shortest amount of time. No matter the speed, if you dare to steady your right foot at any other level than flat against the bulkhead, as sure as anything a cog will change and any amount of steam you had built up disappears. This is the ultimate problem with this engine and gearbox combination, the narrow powerband needs the engine to keep up a bit of speed, otherwise it bogs down horribly, but the auto seems to make it its mission to avoid the sweet spot; thus making progress can be a frustrating experience.

In time you learn to drive around this. You try to give as smooth a ride as possible for you passengers, whilst making sure that the ‘box keeps in the right gear for the road. There is another solution to this dilemma and that is to switch of the overdrive via a small button on the side of the selector. However, this lets the engine rev to the red line and removes the final drive until you reach some hitherto unseen velocity, thus you get to listen to the engine on the brink of exploding before every shift and any fuel economy the car had becomes laughable.

Back on the plus side of the Hyundai Matrix is its reliability and the value of service costs. The car has clocked up 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) in two and a half years and has been absolutely faultless. Nothing, not one thing, has caused a problem. The three services during this period have not been more than Ђ250 (160 GBP) even with brake pads and discs and the car has always been ready on the same day, but not washed unfortunately.

The Matrix has been a good companion during the last two years, making both short and long journeys without missing a beat and has been good value for money, regardless of the steep depreciation. Even the styling (complete with Pininfarina badging) has grown on me. Provided you avoid the automatic gearbox in the same way as you would avoid one with 19" alloy wheels and garish graphics down the side, the Matrix makes an excellent ownership prospect.