You were driving a 3s with an auto correct? If so, did you drive it in Drive, or did you put it into manual mode and shift it yourself?
I'll agree that passing power is lacking if you leave it in drive, but in Manual, it's feels faster than a my old Duratec Contour. I have only driven the 3 in Drive one time, its more fun and faster to shift when YOU want, than when the car feels like it.
If you didn't drive it in manual mode, do yourself a favor and try it. When you put the car into drive, pull the shift lever to the left. A "M" will light up on the dash. Now you are in manual mode. From here, accelerate, when the car gets near the redline in each gear, pull the gearshift backwards. This will upshift. If you need to downshift to pass or when you exit a curve, push the gearshift foward. A word of caution: The car will not upshift by itself, you will hit the rev limiter. However, it will automatically downshift into first at a stop, so be prepared to upshift when you need to pull away.
BTW, when I said the Matrix wouldn't be comfortable, I didn't mean on short trips. Drive it for 3 or 4 hours. The realationship between the seat, pedals, and steering wheel gets tiring. Its almost like the steering wheel is too close, and off center.
