I have no idea how large my crates are, they are relatively large. They carry GSD's with plenty of room to stand and turn around. I can fit one of those in my wife's VIBE and it just squeezes in height wise, but plenty of room on sides and deep when the seats are down. IT's a vari kennel. I never really played around with any configurations to see how or what else I could fit in. I always use a minivan to transport the dogs when i'm taking more than one.
But I can say, i like driving the car and as a commuter its a nice ride and the MPG's are nice too, we average mid to upper 30's with town and hwy miles..
My mom recently got a matrix because she liked my wife's vibe so much.