Another eye-opener at the recent R3 Street Shootout at Batu Kawan, Penang. Tengku Djan participated in the Drift session and emerged champion in a Proton Waja.
How can a Waja drift? The Waja is a FF car right? This R3 Proton Waja has been specially modified with a Nissan SR20DET engine putting power to the rear wheels. UPDATE: This Waja is actually not a Waja to begin with. It is a tubular frame chassis with a RWD drivetrain, with Waja body panels. It does not use the Waja chassis.
Djan’s Proton Waja RWD beat first runner-up Ser Ming Hui’s Nissan Cefiro by 40 points. I heard the SR20DET in the Waja was putting out over 300 horsepower.
Results for the drift event:
| Points | Driver | Ride | |
| 1 | 260 | Tengku Djan | Proton Waja RWD |
| 2 | 220 | Ser Ming Hui | Nissan Cefiro |
| 3 | 150 | Lim Zee King | Nissan 180SX |
More photos of R3′s Proton Waja RWD.
Still don’t believe me? Check out the videos!
Video credits to Cryogenesis.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
wow!
Holy cow!
I wanna mod my waja …
they should just build a RWD waja with THAT nissan engine!
OMG thats one hell of a Waja!!
converting it into a rear wheel drive must have cost a bomb! it must have undergone extensive chassis strengthening procedure.. check out the massive roll-cage!!
Proton should have gone that route (FR layout) if they were serious about being the Asian BMW dynamically. And Tengku Djan and crew has proven that the potential is there on such a platform
Tengku Djan is Tengku Mahaleel's son right?
tengku djan is TM son..yeah…
one hell of a car
love the waja man !
my salute to Tengku Djan n the R3 people!!!!
Alas, while proton is in misery in both sales n future, at least the R3 boys shows what proton n mysian car modders capable off!!!!
i hoep to see the new waja with FR,n with better interiors!!!
ps: the gen2 R3 edition is very tempting!!!!
First, I wonder who foot the bill, and secondly, what's the benefit?
Yup yup… Proton should really put out some proper FR cars. Maybe do it for the Waja R3 (if they ever make a production model).
goshh!!
is this a dream come true??
welcome to RWD proton……
an excellent result from proton motorsport!
oh my goddess…….
i can't belive it……..that is initial with capital D………
beutifull belive me is not easy to driff …. . Did you see discovery;rides…
i hope Tengku Djan can complete in US driff championship next year……..
salute to Tengku Djan.. Z(`_`)
whose money went into modding the waja? i wonder.. and if its in the name of research does that mean future protons will be rear wheel drive??? ayo….
I know Tengku Djan, He really is a crazy Driver! I like him, Congraturations!
GOOD Works! Malaysia Boleh!!
What the hell… ok, first of all, its a great drifting skill shown there… good skill shown by the driver… as for the car, well mod i would say… BUT, point is:
1. JPJ would NOT approve any FF car mod into FR for road users (used to be ok but not anymore since years ago)… so is this car meant for track purpose only??? there are lotsa people out there i knew who wanted to change wira to AWD with evo engine, but hell no… not approved by JPJ… so, TM's son got his way off with JPJ in this case???
2. With a fully modded engine, any car would have such performance… it would all depend on the skill of the driver, which is superb for this driver in this clip…
AlexC: why not? cars like Perdana can modify to 4WD or FR with JPJ approval because there is space for all the necessary shafts. basically it's plug and play.
Wira cannot because you have to cut the undercarriage here and there, that is why it's not JPJ approved.
I'm not sure if the Waja's chassis has to be cut or not.
Wow!! i want my waja to be better….
i dont think this particular Waja is road-legal.. there are no mountings for plate numbers.
Waja Plantform is similar to Mitsubishi Mirage, therefore maybe no big impact to change to FR. But keep in mind the chassis and reinforcement bracket on Engine room will cost you like Hell.
Waja platform = Volvo S40/Mitsubishi Carisma platform.
Can someone explaints what is the Limits of modifying your car engine size and chassis level?
I means not just the skin or faces change of your car. But Main structure changed where reinforcement and bracket will be added or modified. FF to FR even 4WD level. Paul, did you have any? Let me know Thanks!
Proton Putra is loosely based on the Mitsubishi Mirage, not the Waja.
"The Waja was built on a platform designed by Proton and developed from the ground up by Malaysian engineers, led by Muhamad Aman, using advanced R&D facilities and rapid proto-typing centre in Shah Alam." -Tengku Mahaleel
the Mirage was an FF car anyway
Can someone explaints what is the Limits of modifying your car engine size and chassis level….?
Sorry missing words add this……"to be approved by JPJ in Malaysia."
hfrshah: that's just proton PR talk. it was modified from the mitsubishi-volvo platform used in the old S40 (not the new one)
oh okay. dang Proton..
dog the wan: what i know is, if you want to go higher than 1.5 liters you need rear discs. and your engine mounting and chassis must not be modified in order to accomodate the new engine. example, no cutting the chassis to fit 4WD shafts, no modifying mounting points (this means no VR4 in Wiras, but Evo can)
Actually Waja wheel based is slightly (about 100mm) long then the original platform Mitsubishi Mirage, I knew it cause told by sceret agent from POTONG. Don't ask Who Okay!
Made by Rapid-prototype is bull shit!
what a BULLSHIT.
that is not a proton Waja…. that is a NISSAN.
I WANT TO GO OUT TO BUY A NISSAN.
shame on you proton , have to use NISSAN engine to power that car, if it is a campro engine win the race, that is a different issue….. shame shame
Paul, Does it means Nissan or Honda engine will never allow to fit in Waja cause the mouting and drive-shaft are not the same. Need further confirmation and explanation.
yup. to be road legal, it must be fit without modifications to the original chassis structure of the car.
point is………. who is footing the bill for modding in this case and whats the benefit for us average car buyers??? sure its cool and all but who is the one who benefits? looks like tdj is the one having all the fun. just doesn't seem quite fair to the normal folk who pay taxes and all.
Hei anon-san ar,
Why think so negatively, when motor sports even occurred more people will have interest to joint Auto industrial. How the hero created? F1 race, Rally……and so on. If Malaysian wanna to be Developed Country we should be good in many espect not just Making money. Playing well also needs skills. Please correct me if I am wrong.
*lol* Anon, u r one crazy kid asking strange and naieve questions. All major car manufacturers do this kind of super expensive performance stuff. Those that can afford will spend billions on getting their name into the major performance race called F1.
It's called BRANDING lah! The benefit to customers is simply prestiege. Thats y ppl rather buy a BMW or a Ferarri. And y do u think Nike got so popular? Bcos they can boast winning performance… there is even a shoe called Air Jordan!!!!
But of course there is also some benefit to customer in the end… bcos to make "Performance" u need to do research to improve, so in the long run, the research improves the technology that filters down to us isn't it?
i would love to see FR Protons being produced, but then again after all its worth, they'll get bad comments about inadequate space in the back. even with FF cars Proton seems to be strugling to get a satisfactory room in the back. BMW made the rear wheel drive 1-Series, true its hailed as the the handling king in its class, but space-wise it received a LOT of flame from reviewers.
after some time, feedback from involvement in motorsports or irregular mods such as this will filter trough to the mainstream models. so stunts such as this will undoubtedly bring benefits to the car manufacturer. even if it the effect seems trivial at the start, in the long run it might help improve Proton cars
just one more interesting fact, the mercedes mclaren F1 team doesn't even use mercedes engines.
having fun on their own eh? how can one use a sr20 in a proton chasis!? if JPJ approve we dont need r3 also la… everyone can do it…
huh?? the MP4-20 uses Mercedes-Benz FO 110R
gary,
if they don't use merc engines, then.. errr.. why is the merc logo on the car??? mclaren sure as hell doesn't make engines… even their Roadcar from '94/'95 is using a BMW engine. hmm…
the mclaren f1 team DOES use a merc engine, its the mclaren f1 road car that uses a bmw m engine.
well stingray, i'm sure if proton branding is handling by lotus AND powered by nissan then it would be accurate right??! why dont they do up a campro engine for fr, then at least its protons very own powerplant then can take some pride in it but as it is now its like one of those waja-lutions/wira-lutions. sure it looks like a proton but underneath the skin its not really one. whats the big deal?
Paul: I have quite alot of friends who are actually into this car modding stuffs… i'm not limiting this to wira or any other models, but lately the jpj doesnt really allow such mod anymore… even for perdana that you mentioned, nothing about cutting here and there… i'm not sure if there is any standardization of jpj here in north and u guys there, but its not allowed… on top of that, i heard jpj are making roadblocks to stop cars with accesories such as gt-wings there??? but its not really enforced in north here, so not so sure about transparency in this issue…
About engine mod, in the paperwork you'd see difference of 20% from the original engine in the chasis… so example, if you have 1.3iswara and wanna put a vr4, either forget it or do it under table… it doesnt really sound feasible, like if you got 3L engine like 2JZ, and wanna reduce it (maybe to save on tax, for example), you wont be able to reduce it as much as 20%… lotsa transparency issue here in JPJ… usually under table… this kenot, that kenot… with some 'understanding', then ok…
Why talk about Engine? The drift skills does not related to engine rights? Engine is only create spining motion on rear wheels. The most challenging part is the balancing of force and body control (steering and break). Weight and center of gravity of the vehicles. Do you all agreed?
Dog the wan,
"Why talk about Engine? The drift skills does not related to engine rights?"
You sir, apparently have not driven a car aggressively with a shitty engine with unpredictable throttle response and a super narrow but high torque band.
to provoke a drift, the engine must have a fat torque curve, to make the behaviour of the engine linear and predictable. in drifting, perfect balance and control is everything. choosing an engine that is predictable and controllable during both on and off the throttle is vital.
usually the choice is a rear drive car with a well tied down rear end and of course, a turbo engine. such engines provide enough 'kick' to the real wheels to overcome the grip and thus provoking a drift. a long wheelbase and an aggressive two-way limited differentials aid in making the drift more controllable
^^ …..‘kick’ to the reaR wheels…..
Proves the point that Proton cars are crap… U need another car manufacturer's engine, drive train and trans. The WAJA has potential I'll give u that but come on untill when is "potential" gonna be the real thing? WAJA is asian BMW? As if!! I own a BMW and driving a WAJA is NOT like driving a BMW. He must have shit for Brains to think a Proton can even compare with any Japanese cars. Just what of any of proton cars is uniquely Proton? just put an 80's engine in a car rename it and u have a proton…
PROTON….. Same old shit …. just better wrapping
nice….
MG built a Rover 75 V8 rearwheel drive from the original FF platform… doesnt really need to cut if the floor has space for the driveshaft and rear differential.
And guess what.. R-R built Limo Phantom by CUTTING IT IN HALF.. and then extend and add reinforcement to strenghten the car further.. and they are handbuilt with manual tools.. *gasp*
Well if next Perdana is VW PASSAT maybe can get AWD. wahahahaha…
When i was working at a turbo company some time back, I saw a 1990 A31 Cefiro (RWD+inline 6, remember those? 3projector headlights aside, that car was ahead of it's time!) but modified and fitted with a RB26DETT from a skyline R32!!! the turbo were changed to bigger ones, and intercooler was modified too, i think that car makes in excess of 500bhp at the flywheel, SCARY.. but amazing.
E for the MA,
of course driving a WAJA is NOT like driving a BMW, look at the price… don't make a fool of yourself…
Chen, It seems you know much about Engine and drift skills. Did you try it before. please let us know more. I would like to try it if possible, how lei?
adoi.. ramai pulak orang sakit jiwa tengok waja boleh drift..
ppl can put evo engine in their satria, but will their satria perform better than r3 satria? (without any headache sumore!).
so does waja, ppl can put what ever engine they want in their waja (JPJ thingy aside ok!), but can their waja perform better that r3 waja?
that is what r3 is all about!
the mclaren mercedes f1 team did not start out using merc engines, because mercedes didnt have F1 engines built competitively at the time. The engines were sourced from an independent specialist builder in the UK. DAimler chrysler owns a stake in the company. So they're not even built by mercedes engine builders or developed by the mercedes factory. So will everyone now say "shame on mercedes for not using their own engines?"
from what i know, being an independent division, R3 builds and develops its own limited edition cars, the satria being the first and is practically sold out by now i think. They also sell performance parts, merchandise, build customer race cars, and build special one of cars like the waja FR to showcase their engineering abilities.
the last time i checked, they're a corporate entity, and not a government dept running on tax money, unless somebody here has some proof of the fact..?
im agreed wit dog…… if you have an old clunker but your driving skill is superb,then that is good …….rather than you have a powerful 3.0l twin turbo car but lack of driving skill that is SHITTY ………my two cent….
I suspect this would be a preview of the Waja R3 minus the nissan and rearwheel drive. But i do hope they can implement the RW idea with a 2litre engine.
conclusion…buy malaysian cars and mod it like hell..hahaha
Using another manufacturer's engine is nothing new in the business, with so many shared platforms nowadays. I don't see why this is a problem at all.
In any case, the SilJa (Sylvia-Waja hybrid) is merely a marketing exercise and an experiment for the R3 boys. A much improved version of the monster is in the works. Keep your eyes peeled.
Besides, it's not really a Waja. For people well-versed in automotive/mechanical engineering, it's really a space-frame. A real custom job. The Waja bodywork is just a shell.
In any case, a top job by R3. You want Dare To Be Different? This is it, people.
yeah..i agree with verne's opinion..see the picture and look closely at the chamber/suspension holder..see?also mention the tube engine frame..same as the gt cars..just the bodyshell mehh..all of us being cheated with beautiful-makeover..hehe..smooth criminal..real slick..
waja i like it so much… any one intrested to join Team Imperials that is a waja racing club.. in kl
I want one !!!
I want TWO!!
But I have only BMW not WAJA can I joint?
People said Waja is ASIAN BMW rights? Should be Okaylah!
holy cow.. that's fierce man.. i salute n bow to them team
Eh this is to the haters… even if its not a Proton engine why must belasah Proton. Should congratulate it right? I mean at least we know Proton has the engineering capabilities to build a advance car and convert it to RWD successfully! Other than u guys just complaining….i dont see you converting any cars… i dont see you drifting…. so why you haters think youre the best when really you havent achieved anything. Cock Talkers who never appreciate.
Damnn ! THis is good drift !!
Congrats !!
I was there, but i fled off early !
So, i missed the DRIFT and the DRAG show !
Dammnn….that "Wavia" was really awesome! Beautiful drift! Btw, im not a hater,i agree wit u there's a lotta cock talk, haahaha. I'm sure a lotta us here own and drive cars. Why complain? Do something la. Better than sitting there reading this blog on ya lazy ass trying to find weaknesses in others.
Chen, I tried drifting in a toyota starlet 1.0 rwd (of course la no LSD!) Wah liao! suicidal man! Hahaha. Damn HARD!
Paul, guys, whatever happen to E01W engine of Petronas? Why didn't Proton use it in the 1st place?
Dont know what happened to the Petronas engine. I heard damn expensive lah and performance wasnt that impressive for such a price.But thinking about it i dont think its easy to simply use whatever engine.Some people were saying why didnt they use a GEn2. First thing first i think to convert a engine, drive train and gearbox meant for FWD damn susah to get parts right? Like damn gila babi complicated i think. Anyway to me im still waiting for Petronas to prove their automotive engineering capabilities.Havent heard much of Petronas engines. Ada power ke anyone?
good job on the engine and assembling it rear-wheel…its damn good…paul tan is good!! can i fix rwd to my toyota corrolla?
power power best best best
HAiyooo.. damm good monster.. congratss..
for people who are not into autosport , syuh syuh..
Go and count all the tiang lampu at putra jaya..
then tell gov thats duit rakyat they re wasting ….
I am proud 4 your Red Waja!!!!!
the waja is tube frame chasis…just like RC cars…u can see it…but superb nice…
there's a 3 Perdana FR…2 of its 6A12TT and 1..4G63T engine…
any Wira FR out there…?
Wow.. crazy… FR Waja! Well.. impossible for us.. coz' that modification would be highly illegal…
But watching the video.. I realize how much faster is the drifting in Japanese drifting races. Well.. good start, but we are still way behind the Japs.
Yeah. Salute the R3 team, and congratulation for winning the MME. I was there till 7pm… was so worried that the Exige will lose to the Civic.
nice try, (RWD waja)
i wish to have car like that as alternatives to the expansive nissan skyline.
No big deal… for convertion.. even kancil can be a damn good FR car for drifting..But u must got alots of sponsor or big pocket lah..like Djan son of Mahlel ..lol hehehe… MALAYSIA BOLEHHHHHHH
First of all, nice job by the R3 guys. Was a real eye opener, that SilJa….really hope Proton comes up with a FR car sometime in the future….
On a sidenote, with regards to the Petronas E01 engine, actually it is a very good engine, NA 2.0L and producing 200bhp.It was produced by the technical expertise of Sauber Petronas Engineering AG in Hinwill,Switzerland. However, what I heard was that Proton did not want to use the E01 engine because they wanted to develop their own engines ie the Campro. If they had opted to use the E01 engine, then they would have to pay royalty to Petronas for each engine used, similar to what Proton have inccured when it used the Mitsubishi engines in their cars.
In my opinion its a waste coz the E01 engine seems to have a lot of potential straight out of the box.
Congratz to de R3 team!!! Anyway.. bout those hu camplain n suff, v just hope that 1 day de R3 team relly can bring proton to a higher level after using ALL these money..
WOW………..So facinating about the video……If this continues…..Proton can be the worlds fastest car…..Keep up the good work…..
lol, just a short clip. bored about it. but it's good too. because his waja is FR.
JPJ allow him to modify the car untill like this? the proton company should make some FR, 4WD car so that we can buy a FR or 4WD car without modifying the car or buy other cars from other country.
I can drift too. i using RX-7 now. hehehe…
the waja RS use a nissan engine seems to be a bit shame…
but the driver n the car had help our Malaysia a lot too.
eh, the Nissan SR20DET engine just got 300+ horse power only…
seems like slower a bit. he should put a Rotar2Rotary 1.5 to it.
then the sound and the power of the car is damn nice lol
if he really do this, i really beg him
oohhh gosh…….i've always thought tht my waja's chassis is actually a new design by ahem…..Lotus…Dang~never expected la,MMC carisma based????did they actually tuned it Paul??i mean before using it on the Waja,coz it actually handled really well for a car under 100K lerrr….Gosh~
hmm..i dont think this is on approvel…^o^
haiyo.. ok what.. but still need the same combination.. why use sr20, campro kan ade.. just put it in and lenjan la.. easier what? or is the sr20 is the halfcut one?
Waja is from a new platform with EDAG from Germany as consultant.
Superb Drifting skill……………..but The Sr20????
why not r3 team used campro???
shame on them!!
even i can do it to my waja…just change the engine..its like piece of cake la…..But that damm JpJ would`t approve it….
well its better to sell my waja and buy nissan silvia…because its SR20..no need to cucuk duit di bank for money to buy sr20 engine…but well done to R3 team la…nice triying but not good enough….
okay what….
at least it is a start…
hope more things to come..
at least someone in proton know their car is not perfect…
many complains…
congratulation proton to have the race, rally and research team of their own!!!!
superb car n superb driving skills…respect.
the team at R3 did a fine job in turning that waja to this level…
but the comments posted above just sucks…
some saying why didn't put campro engine?
you guyz cal that an engine ah?… kerete lembu lagi laju tau…
kalau tak tau pasal kerete jangan main hentam aje ape-ape yang korang tau,
why u think the guyz in R3 choose SR20, bcoz they know its capability, n it suits wonderfully to a waja…
dan bagi yang tau bagi komen aje duduk tepi dan tengok diam-diam..faham.
Interesting car! I wish they had done it with a Putra though hehe, it'd look so much better, but maybe the Waja was chosen for it's longer wheelbase. Reading the comments above, I just realised a lot of people don't really get powerband, torque, response and stuff. Not that I know a lot about it, but some comments about Campro and engine not important are just plain ridiculous. Cars are not all just about power, handling, stability, balance is important too.
Congrats to R3, nice modding there and I don't even care what kind of engine they put in that waja. They are engineer, not a cock talkers.
So anyone know about D1 this year, when it is started…last time miss the final leg at Stadium Shah Alam…damn…
hohoho
all the best 2 waja club,speacially 4 team imperials….selangor state..