Chevrolet Matiz 0.8 S

Mention the name Chevrolet to any car enthusiast & it will conjure up an image of the huge American V8 saloons & SUVs that dominate the America car scene. Along with Ford, Chevrolet is among the best selling cars in America & famous for producing a number of classics such as the legendary Corvette sports car, the muscle cars of the 1960s & many more.

It’s a true American brand, up there with Coca Cola & McDonalds, yet Louis Chevrolet ...
...vehicles.

The Chevrolet Motor Company was founded & very quickly taken over by what became the huge General Motors Corporation (GM) & Louis died a near penniless man. During the entire 20th century Chevrolet & Ford dominated the domestic car scene in America.

So where does all this leave this review on a little Korean built car with a famous name? Daewoo in Korea was partly owned by GM in America & produced a series ... more

Mention the name Chevrolet to any car enthusiast & it will conjure up an image of the huge American V8 saloons & SUVs that dominate the America car scene. Along with Ford, Chevrolet is among the best selling cars in America & famous for producing a number of classics such as the legendary Corvette sports car, the muscle cars of the 1960s & many more.

It’s a true American brand, up there with Coca Cola & McDonalds, yet Louis Chevrolet who founded the company came from Switzerland.

His family left Switzerland to live in France in the late 19th century & it was there where Louis developed his mechanical skills & interest in motor racing. At the turn of the century he emigrated to Canada to work as a chauffeur & mechanic, later he moved again to New York City where he worked briefly for a fellow Swiss immigrant's engineering company. He had many other jobs in America & even pursued a racing career, however it was when he was working for Buick that he learned the skills of producing his own vehicles.

The Chevrolet Motor Company was founded & very quickly taken over by what became the huge General Motors Corporation (GM) & Louis died a near penniless man. During the entire 20th century Chevrolet & Ford dominated the domestic car scene in America.

So where does all this leave this review on a little Korean built car with a famous name? Daewoo in Korea was partly owned by GM in America & produced a series of vehicles made under license from GM until they were big enough to produce their own designs; many made it to the UK in the 1990s.

However, a few years back when Daewoo when bankrupt, GM took full control of the company & rebranded it models Chevrolet for the America & European market.

THE CHEVROLET MATIZ

Based on the old Daewoo Matiz which has been on sale since the late 1990s, the new Matiz has more modern features including a new interior. The original Matiz was actually designed in Italy & sold to the Korean company saving them a lot of time & money on major development work.

The latest Matiz is priced between £6625.00 & £7465.00 (without the scrappage scheme) & features a three cylinder engine of 796cc; it is available as an automatic or manual. Road tax, thanks to its low Co2 figures is only £35.00 a year & fuel consumption is over 50mpg. The problem with the Matiz is mainly the direct competition from Kia, Hyundai & Citroen. They all produce cars in the same price bracket which are slightly bigger in size with slightly larger engines making the Matiz looking less of a bargain & with similar running costs you would have to be a Matiz enthusiast or desperate for the Chevrolet badge to want one.

DRIVING THE MATIZ

On first acquaintance the Matiz looks small & narrow, its skinny wheels & tires give it a slightly top heavy look. From the outside they are certainly well finished for a cheap ‘value for money’ car & all the panel gaps are even & consistent. Its only when you come to open the doors & see how thin they are that you would question how safe this vehicle would be in an accident of any description as you appear to have little body protection in front, at the rear or from the side despite side protection bars & air bags.

Once inside the general finish is quite acceptable for the money, yes it is plasticky but what isn’t at this price. Equipment levels are very good, the model I tested came with electric front windows, a decent if not dated radio CD with removable front, central locking & air conditioning.

The dash design & general look inside reminds me of a typical Japanese car from the early 1990s, it’s not going to offend anyone but it is hardly 21st century stuff.
The dash features a central mounted dial display with large speedo flanked by a smaller rev counter & fuel gauge; they are not digital displays but conventional looking meters.

In front of the steering wheel is a small display containing all the warning lamps. In the middle of the dash are two circular face vents, a 1990s style radio CD with a handy mute button that doubles up as the on / off switch & the heating controls.

For the life of me I cannot understand why Chevrolet fit the rear fog lamp switch in with the wiper switch, it took me a while to find it & it looks like an afterthought.
Cubby holes are small & in short supply, the interior isn’t as practical as it could be. Space from such a small car is limited, although leg room in the rear is tight, two adults could get comfortable on a short journey but long journeys wouldn’t be advised. There is only room in the back for two people as only two seat belts are fitted, it is worth remembering this in case you plan to buy a Matiz for the school runs.

Leg room up front is better if your less than six feet in height, headroom is decent & shoulder room acceptable. As you would imagine the boot isn’t huge but the rear seats can be folded down to increase space.

Start the car up & the first thing you notice is the throaty roar of a typical three cylinder engine, even the best designed three cylinder engines are like this & the Matiz is no worse than others I have driven.
Getting a decent driving position is easy & all the pedals have a smooth & light feel to them. The gear change is quite good with a positive change, as you move off the Matiz can easily keep up with city traffic despite its small engine.

It’s only when you are out of the city that you begin to notice the lack of power. If you push it to keep up with more powerful traffic the fuel consumption suffers so if you intend to carry out a lot of motorway or country runs bear this in mind. Sometimes a bigger engine car can make more economical sense.

Steering is light making the Matiz so easy to park with its compact dimensions, its narrow size means you get the parking spaces bigger cars can’t get into.
Brakes felt excellent & stopped the car with just the driver in it without any problems, however with four adults inside maybe things wouldn’t be so good. If you intend to carry more people, road test the car first with more people in it to confirm.

The Matiz is not a performance machine to get your adrenalin pumping so the handling won’t be tested to the limit. Handling on country roads at acceptable speeds felt safe enough but it’s not a car I would like to drive round corners in a hurry as its narrow size doesn’t give me enough confidence. Despite all that the suspension ride wasn’t too bad for such a small car but any pot holes in the road (there are plenty in my area) leave the little Matiz crashing over them upsetting the passengers.

Small it maybe & lacking any character, but the Matiz shines in the busy towns or cities which it’s probably designed for. I wouldn’t like to use it for any other type of driving. Having said that running costs would be low & if that is all that is important to you then consider buying one.

I am not anti- small car, I run a small car myself (Toyota Yaris 1.3), although slightly bigger than a Matiz it utilises it’s interior space much more effectively than the Matiz, its more practical, feels so much safer inside & overall running costs are only slightly higher. Faced with a choice of a brand new Matiz or a secondhand Yaris for the same money, the Yaris would be my choice.

 

...less