The Proton GEN 2
is nice little
car which looks
good (apart from
the silly rear
wing) drives
well is very
well equipped
and is as cheap
as chips.
To stand any
chance at all of
sales an
anonymous brand
like Proton must
have a cast iron
warranty and
the GEN 2 comes
up with the
goods. Theres a
3 year 60000
mile overall
warranty plus a
6 year 100000
mile guarantee
for the engine
and gearbox.
The Proton GEN2 GSX model that I
drove has just
about every
extra you could
hope for
including
leather seats
and a reasonably
powerful 1.6 litre petrol
engine which
retails at
£10595
(€14800). That
includes air
conditioning
four electric
windows central
locking front
fog lamps a
very smart Blaupunkt audio
system and a
smattering of
the alphabet
soup of computerised
aids to driving
safety like ABS
and EBD.
So just who or
what is Proton
and can you
place your faith
in it?
Struggling
ailing
The company is
based in
Malaysia and is
described by
Reuters in its
various news
reports as struggling” and
ailing”. It
seems to be
losing money
but nobody knows
quite how much.
It has been
looking for a
strategic
partner.
Mitsubishi of
Japan owns a
small stake and
VW of Germany
has been
thinking about
buying an
interest too
although it
announced in
November that
the talks had
failed. The
Malaysians were
unwilling to
cede overall
control to VW.
Probably a more
relevant factoid
about Proton is
the fact that it
bought British
engineering
consultancy
Lotus back in
2003.
Proton makes
much of this in
its publicity
material.
The new 1.6
litre CamPro
engine was
developed with
Lotus. Much of
the car was
designed by
Lotus and this
certainly
explains why the
car rides and
handles so well.
The engine even
sounds a bit rorty when you
floor the
accelerator. If
you zoom through
corners the
suspension holds
the car level
and the steering
keeps the car
straight and
true or
wherever you
happen to be
pointing it. The fivespeed
manual gearbox
is a joy to use
giving slick and
fast changes.
Too low down
The leather
seats were a
welcome surprise
and added an
element of class
to the interior
which is bright
and cheerful.
The dials on the
dashboard look
professional and
serious
although the
controls for the
air
conditioning
heating and
demisting were
sited low down
in the centre
and this late middle aged
driver found it
hard to see
exactly what
settings were in
place and how to
change them.
Given that
Protons target
market is people
like me it
ought to sort
that out.
The interior was
a mixture of
class and bling
with the clock
sticking out of
the middle of
the dashboard
not its finest
feature. The
steering wheel
was clad in
second rate
material too.
Headroom was
limited
although this
could have been
because I
couldnt figure
out how to lower
the seat. The
hand brake was a
pistol handle
design. The rear
seats split
60:40.
Heavy boot lid
The boot is
opened only by
using a little
lever close to
the drivers
seat. This was
irritating
because you
cant just walk
up to the boot
and open it (at
least I never
found a way to).
You have to open
the car first.
And perhaps the
most negative
aspect of all
the boot lid
which is in fact
the fastback”
or hatchback and
incorporates a
ludicrous
go fast wing is
very heavy and
needs big
muscles to lift
up. Again the
target market is
unlikely to want
to induce a
heart attack
trying to lift
the boot lid so
reform is needed
here too.
The looks of the
car are top
class with a
delightful front
end very
attractively
designed rear
light clusters
and an overall
pleasing shape.
There are two
engine sizes –
1.3 and 1.6 litre petrol
with two trim
levels and a
choice of the
5speed manual
or a 4speed
automatic
gearbox. Theres
no diesel. That
could be a
killer omission.
Prices start at
£8995€12500.
Proton has three
other products
the Impian the
Savvy and the Safira Neo.
Dont forget
that Nissan has
proven with the Qashqai that
silly names
dont
necessarily
impair sales.
Interloper
When you look at
the competition
in this sector
your first
thought might be
to reject this
Malaysian
interloper. But
if price and
value for money
is important to
you check out
the GEN2. A
similarly
equipped VW Golf
would probably
cost at least
£5000 €7000
more.
Neil
Winton
December 1 2007
Proton Gen 2
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