- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
800i, 3 cyl.
- Engine Power
38kW, 68Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 5.1L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2000 Daewoo Matiz review: Quick drive
Razz Matiz
For: Probably the cheapest car on the road over a three-year ownership period. Well equipped for the price. Spacious by class standards. Stylish metal and well finished cabin.
Against: Insufficient performance for local traffic conditions and speed limits. Noisy and tinny. No power steering. Very poor dynamics, especially on rough roads. No engine immobiliser.
Verdict: The Matiz is designed for a different driving environment. Here, it doesn't work.
Rating: 1 star (out of 5)
Australian car buyers usually regard 1.3 litres as the smallest acceptable capacity for an engine. Drive's experience with most cars powered by a litre or less confirms the wisdom of that.
Acceleration is usually too generous a term to describe their forward motion. Add to this the spooky impression that you're enclosed by tin rather than steel, and you can't help but feel extremely vulnerable, especially on the front row at the lights with a pack of feral four-wheel-drives in the mirrors.
Daewoo's five-door Matiz is no exception. Just 796cc, three cylinders and 37.5kW are at your disposal. You soon learn to be very, very polite in the Matiz. Anybody convicted of road rage should be forced to drive one.
These cars shine in densely populated European and Japanese cities, where traffic moves slowly enough to suit them. Compared with Rome, Frankfurt or Tokyo though, our 60-80km/h suburban speed limits are high. When Sydney's traffic is flowing freely - admittedly once in a blue moon - it does so at a much quicker pace.
Daihatsu's 1.0-litre Sirion, the Matiz's only competitor, has just enough performance to mix it here, thanks to a reasonable 88.3Nm of torque. The Matiz musters just 68.6Nm, so driving becomes a challenging exercise, totally focused on maintaining momentum.
Lots of noisy revs and clutch slipping are required to get properly mobile in first gear, any incline slows progress dramatically. It will reach 100km/h after an interminable run-up and hold it on a flat highway, but there are few overtaking lanes long enough to execute such a manoeuvre.
You can get around suburban streets reasonably efficiently once you learn how to row the light, slightly crunchy gearbox along, but when changing lanes or merging with traffic on arterial roads the lack of performance can be hazardous.
The bright side of the baby car experience is its low cost. Daewoo can rightly tout the Matiz as the cheapest car on the road. It is priced at $12,000, $10 more than the Sirion, but Daewoo's Free Care program means that, apart from fuel and annual registration and insurance charges, you basically drive it for nix for the first three years/100,000 km.
Free Care includes all scheduled servicing, including parts, labour and lubricants, roadside assistance, and access to a courtesy car if yours needs to be at the dealer's overnight for a service or warranty work. The $1,000 car wash (the dealer delivery charge) is also waived.
You won't be spending much on petrol, either. Thrashing the Matiz to get it moving makes it less economical in town than the Sirion, but 6-8 litres/100 km still translates to only $5-$10 per week.
You also get a long standard feature list for your $12,000. Air-conditioning (which works well but noticeably nobbles performance), central locking, dual airbags, front power windows and a four-speaker radio/CD audio system are included, but power steering is not available and no engine immobiliser is fitted.
The lack of power steering makes driving the Matiz hard work. The steering is absolutely dreadful - vague, heavy, indirect and verging on scary at highway speeds. Parking the Matiz requires more effort than a LandCruiser.
When turning into any suburban corner you need to wrench the wheel just to get the car pointed in the right direction and avoid terminal understeer. The thought of having to take quick evasive action in a Matiz is not pleasant, though at least the brakes are reasonably effective.
The Matiz has quite soft suspension. Around town, ride comfort is pretty good until you hit big bumps and potholes. Handling, however, is poor. Skinny tracks and a tall body produce exaggerated roll when cornering and instability in windy conditions. On rough surfaces the Matiz's suspension can't cope and the car can become nervous and unpredictable.
Inside, the Matiz is stylish and spacious, with comfortable, generously padded front seats, a simple, attractive dash and a high seating position. Vision is excellent, and though the wheel has no adjustments the basic layout suits a variety of physiques.
The footwell is tight, though, and the pedals are too close together, while the stereo controls are difficult to operate.
Daewoo claims the Matiz's body has been engineered to exceed current European and local crash test standards.
The back seat is easy to get into and has above-average leg room. Two adults can travel across town in comfort, and three child restraint anchors are provided. A 60/40 split-folding rear seat double-folds flat to extend boot space, which is also large. The seat bases are flimsy, and care is required to avoid bending the release lifters when folding the backrests down. The front seats don't have to be pushed too far forward when you use the extended floor.
The lightweight Matiz feels tinny, but interior fit and finish on the test car was fine. The cabin is brightly trimmed with quality materials.
Though the Matiz is well-equipped and comfortable and looks great, driving it is a different story. The 800 cc triple is out of its league trying to compete in Sydney; its lack of performance, plus poor steering and handling, are such that this writer would not even contemplate a country trip in the car. It is cheap, but no bargain.
Engine:
800cc fuel-injected three-cylinder.
Power:
37.5kW at 5,900rpm (not enough).
Performance:
0-80 km/h in 13.5 seconds (glacial).
Brakes:
Discs/drums (average).
Economy:
6.0-8.0 litres/100 km (economical).
Recommended retail:
$12,000.
Street price:
Ask for a $350 discount.
Main options:
Metallic paint $165
Alternatives:
Daihatsu Sirion 1.0 - $11,990.