We Tested Four Hatchbacks Back-to-Back. This Is the One That Changed the Conversation.
Rolling Coasters: Four compact hatchbacks chased the same formula, but only one delivered the right mix of fun, practicality, and value.
[This story originally appeared in the May 2006 issue of MotorTrend with the headline "Rolling Coasters."] Just look at what’s happened to the five-door hatchback. The once mundane two-box compact hauler has been tweaked into all manner of exterior form, the powertrains refined for greater pep and efficiency, sophisticated technologies introduced into even the least-expensive models, and lists of options enriched to near luxury-car levels. Style and affordability, comfort and utility, all in one package. What could be better?
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Better yet is that this continuous mutation of shape and content hasn’t messed up the hatchback’s basic chemistry: a compact chassis for nimble around-town duty; a tall, extended body with four passenger doors and a big rear hatch to ease the movement of people and things; and a small, economical engine with enough performance for the cut and thrust of city traffic. Our assembled five-doors were built to that winning formula, so it’s not surprising they share many dimensions and physical traits beneath their stylish skins.
Each is a nice compact container ship that can ferry passengers comfortably when it’s not hauling stuff and junk, but we’ll return to the question of utility later. First, let’s sift through their qualities as driving machines, not as mobile storage sheds.
The Testing Lineup: Which Cars Did We Test?
- 2006 Mazda3 S Touring
- 2005 Toyota Matrix XRS
- 2006 Chevrolet HHR 2LT
- 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T
At the Wheel
Before this ride leaves the staging area, however, we’ll save you some letter writing. Due to the limitations of manufacturer press fleets, these four testers aren’t perfectly matched. We have manual transmissions, an automatic, and a CVT; front and all-wheel drive; varying trim levels, base, and as-tested pricing. Before you draw your final conclusions, do your homework, spec out the cars the way you want them, and then compare.
The most fun of the bunch, by a good margin, is the Mazda3 s Touring. Even though its 160-horsepower, 2.3-liter four was the least-powerful engine in this test, it ran the sprints about as quickly as the lighter and more powerful Matrix, and it plain spanked all comers in the slalom, figure eight, and skidpad tests, testament to its balanced chassis and superb handling. Its dynamic balance is underscored by equally excellent ergonomics.
The thick-grip steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach (the only one among the group to do both), the five-speed manual shifter—as slick as an RX-8’s—is precise and quick to find the next gear, the pedals are properly placed for heel-and-toeing, and the seating is supportive and comfortable. The steering precision and feel rivals many expensive sports cars, and the four-wheel disc brakes are strong and superbly tuned for aggressive motoring.
The Mazda3 may be the epitome of a well-tuned sport hatchback, but it’s also a bit like that hyperactive little brother who won’t stop plucking at your sleeve while chattering nonstop. Meaning there’s lots of extraneous data flowing freely into the cockpit along with all the good information from the road and the engine and the wind that an informed driver uses to plot the best course. Some will find the insistent feedback annoying; others will revel in this intimate involvement with the machine.
Those who enjoy a more sedate pace and seek versatility over performance won’t put the Mazda first, nor the Matrix—at least the performance-tuned 164-horsepower XRS model in our test. (A much milder 126-horsepower 1.8 is available in other Matrix models.) In all its forms, this Corolla-based wagon has Toyota goodness throughout, but the XRS’s peaky 8200-rpm 1.8-liter engine transforms the Matrix into a semi-bad boy. The XRS is quick, but the engine’s relatively weak torque and a horsepower curve that peaks way up at 7600 rpm (1100 rpm higher than the Mazda’s) make the driver work harder for that quickness than in the Mazda. This isn’t a wholly unpleasant task, as the six-speed manual transmission’s shifter and the foot pedals are well placed for sporty driving, but it would’ve been better with a steering wheel that adjusts for reach and rake.
The Matrix doesn’t handle as well as the Mazda3; that’s not to say the Matrix’s steering and suspension are anything less than entirely competent, but in contrast to the Mazda’s sport-tuned control systems, and in typical Toyota practice, the calibrations are conservatively tuned and weighted on the side of comfort. This means the Matrix is the more relaxed freeway cruiser, but at the expense of the precise inputs and detailed feedback that make the Mazda so much more rewarding to drive quickly.
Chevrolet’s retro-styled HHR provided one of the surprises of this roundup. Despite its slow-footed gait, the HHR is a pleasure to wheel around L.A.’s congested city streets. It’s simply the easiest to get in, start, and drive, even if it’s not the most thrilling. The suspension is comfortably compliant, and the steering is quick to direct the front wheels. The 172-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec engine is sufficient to the task, though it growls like a big dog on the other end of a rope when pushed hard. Despite the commotion, the revs are always accompanied by a resolute flow of power through the optional four-speed automatic. Even if the HHR seldom leads the pack, it nevertheless has enough power to keep it in the thick of whatever mad dash is at hand.
The tallest of the group, the HHR’s at-the-edge handling is hampered by a good amount of body roll and weight transfer, and its 16-inch running gear, smaller than that worn by the other three, made it slightly less stable through the corners of our test track. Still, around town, when driven with patience and civility, it responds with a gentle mechanical sweetness reminiscent of an earlier, simpler age. Okay, there’s a stink of nostalgia in the air here, but we’ll cop to a feel-good reaction to the HHR’s straight-ahead cockpit controls and down-home styling, homage to the 1949 Chevy Suburban. Its chrome-accented black livery drew plenty of interested stares around westside L.A., where even the latest exotics are often greeted with a yawn.
Newest to the five-door family is the 2007 Dodge Caliber, successor to the Neon line of compact cars. Because it’s so new, it was thrown into the mix at the last minute and with an unfair disadvantage—its weight. The only Caliber available to us was the top R/T model, and with its all-wheel-drive system and larger 18-inch wheels and tires, the compact crossover is as weighty (3368 pounds) as it looks. That’s about 300 pounds more than a front-drive Caliber SXT, almost 200 pounds more than the HHR and 500 pounds heavier than the lightest of the group, the 2872-pound Matrix.
That’s a lot of inertia to overcome with a 2.4-liter, 172-horse four-cylinder engine, so it’s little wonder the Caliber posted the slowest times to 60 mph and the slowest quarter-mile dash. That said, this is the mainstream performance version. The big wheels and tires did help it score better than the HHR in the slalom and figure-eight tests, but they also hurt the Caliber’s ride quality around town. Of these four hatches, the Caliber was the noisiest, primarily from lots of road rumble and suspension-related clatter when the tarmac turned rough. To be fair, this tester was a “preproduction pilot” car, so it’s possible that minor tuning remains and might even the game a bit.
The 2.4-liter engine is the largest of three twin-cam fours developed for the Caliber in conjunction with Hyundai and Mitsubishi, and the only one offered in the R/T, but it still felt underpowered pulling around the heavier vehicle. A 148-horsepower 1.8 is standard on SE and SXT models; both also offer an optional 158-horsepower, 2.0-liter. The 300-horsepower SRT version will undoubtedly solve the power-to-weight issue, but that’s a different game.
The SE and SXT models get a standard five-speed manual or a new, optional, continuously variable transmission, which is standard on the R/T along with an Autostick mode that allows manual access to six programmed gear ratios. Several staffers noted the CVT was the best part of the Caliber, a real joy to use, and the shifting was indeed swift and crisp and felt as though it was getting every bit of power from the engine to the wheels.
