The Daewoo Matiz

A

lthough it’s easy to dismiss it on account of the brand, Daewoo’s Matiz is a surprisingly good car. That’s a sweeping statement, I admit, but compared with the competition, the Matiz has many benefits. It’s cheap, it’s spacious, it’s easy on the wallet, and in some respects, it’s fun to drive.

The Daewoo’s 800cc petrol engine has 50 PS and 69 Nm of torque, with a zesty nature. It goes about its business in an enthusiastic way, and whilst it doesn’t have that much power, it’s entertaining to use it! The book quotes an acceleration time to 60 as being between 17 and 18 seconds with a maximum speed of under 90 mph. As I expected, around cities, the Daewoo feels in its element, but acceleration is rather feeble about around 40 mph or so, with the poor little engine frantically revving away for very little go. It’s always smooth, but on the motorway, it’s a bit noisy.

For taking people about, the Matiz takes some beating. There’s lots of interior space, a soft ride, and it’s generally people friendly. Whilst I wasn’t looking for a four seater, the Matiz has a decent sized rear seat seat, and an acceptable boot. Whilst I would imagine that the car would be very sluggish when heavily laden, at least you have the room to carry four people, if you needed to.

When it came to the twisty stuff, the Matiz has roll. Lots of body roll. That soft ride translates into it rolling about like a pig in the mud, but to an extent that it doesn’t feel fun. That engine might make it fun to accelerate, but you’d be needing to use the brakes a bit in any twisty section of road.

Overall, I like the Matiz. It’s cheap to buy, cheap to run, it’s spacious and has an entertaining engine. Unfortunately, the deficiencies in the handling department are shown up by the Lupo, itself no great shakes in the twisty stuff (the Lupo is shown up by the Ka!). This is a real pity: if Daewoo sorted the handling, they’d be on to a winner. As it stands, the baby of the range is a good enough car, just outshone by its competitors.

I like the Daewoo’s zingy engine, cheap insurance, good fuel economy, equipment, cost and, above all, the interior space. But I dislike the roly-poly handling.