2003 Toyota Matrix; Toyota branches out with cross-over utility vehicle.(Brief Article)

Hurtling headlong into uncharted territory is not something for which Toyota is known. And yet here it goes, launching this new Matrix onto the market, a vehicle so unconventional that Toyota made up one of those annoyingly precise category names for it aimed at showing unconventionality: Cross-over Utility Vehicle (CUV).

And what is a cross-over utility vehicle? In this case, it's a 2003 Corolla sedan with a wagon/SUV body bolted on top powered by a Celica engine. The idea was to offer the functionality and storage space sought by the active-lifestyle SUV buyer, as well as the sporty pretension of the sport compact customer, and at the same time attract an audience considerably younger and cooler than the Corolla's current 44-year-old geezer demographic. No problem.

To handle all that, the Matrix comes with enough choices to please everybody: Pick among two engines, four transmissions, two drivetrains and three trim levels. Confused? Ha!

Let's start at the bottom. Matrix's 102.4-inch wheelbase is identical to that of the new Corolla, as is the MacPherson strut front suspension and torsion beam rear. The overall length of the Matrix is actually seven inches shorter than the Corolla, but the shorter length is scrunched up into four more inches of height and about an inch or two wider track. Inside, Matrix is headroom city, with 40.6 inches worth, along with an EPA passenger volume of 118 cubic feet.

So from that it sounds like just another one of those passenger car-based SUVs, doesn't it? But no, there's more.

The engine in the front-wheel-drive Matrix and Matrix XR models is a 130-hp, 125-lb-ft version of the ...