Top 10 Fuel-Efficiency Surprises

 

The 2009 Toyota Matrix is the latest take on the quirky, practical Matrix formula. New doesn’t necessarily mean better, but in terms of statistics, the new car delivers. Starting at just over $15,000, it costs the same as many four-door econoboxes, but offers significantly more usable space, and if you opt for the base 1.8-liter engine, it will return an impressive 26 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. The four-cylinder makes use of VVT-i (variable valve timing with intelligence) on both camshafts to produce 132 horsepower. It’s not enough to make the Matrix interesting, but that seems to be the thrust of this once-compelling car anyway. Opt for the more powerful Camry-sourced 2.4-liter, and fuel mileage will suffer accordingly.

 

Although the original Matrix sported novel lines, a then-trend-setting interior, and an optional engine spirited enough to grace the Lotus Elise, the new Matrix trends toward sameness. Most unfortunately, it features swoopy front fenders similar to those on the Shamu-esque Camry Solara coupe and better left to rot on a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.

 

Setting the Matrix apart is available all-wheel drive, which, although it exacts a penalty in fuel consumption, offers a persuasive and far less expensive alternative to mini-utes for those who need improved all-weather capability.

 

 

 

Vee-Dub diesel die-hards, particularly those who live in the states tied to California emissions standards, are dancing an oily polka, because their diesel messiah returns in the form of the 50-state-legal, state-of-the-art Jetta TDI. The rest of us are just excited about a car that should regularly return more than 50 mpg. Official fuel-economy figures aren’t out yet, but we expect to see something like low 30s in the city and high 30s on the highway from normal use, although we’re sure diesel-huffing fanboys (and -girls)—the sort of people who debate the optimal drafting distances for differently shaped “tow vehicles”—will employ their favorite mileage-stretching strategies to crush the Prius’s 45-mpg highway figure.

 

An expected jog to 60 mph in 8.0 to 8.5 seconds, although not embarrassing, does fail to express how well this car will dispatch day-to-day driving duties. With torque available from idle to redline, the stress of sphincter-clenching maneuvers such as country-road passing and sprints across busy intersections is much mitigated.

 

The federal mandate for ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, long available in other parts of the world, facilitates the use of emissions-control technologies developed with Mercedes and others under the BlueTec label, although Volkswagen will continue to use its TDI moniker. Unlike the Mercedes-Benz E320, the Jetta TDI makes do without urea injection, instead employing a storage catalyst that traps nitrogen oxides until enough have built up to be burned off. No word yet on the rumored Grateful Dead–edition TDI equipped with an NOx-to-nitrous-oxide converter with dashboard-mounted balloon inflator.