Top Gear compares Malaysian and Korean cars
More Top Gear! Alot of you are going to be very interested in this video. Jeremy Clarkson and the team tests out a bunch of Malaysian and Korean cars. Some of the ‘victims’ include the Hyundai Getz, the Kia Picanto, the Proton Waja, the Proton Gen2, the Hyundai Accent, the Perodua Kelisa and a Kia Magentis known as the Kia Optima here on Malaysian shores.
Apparently a pogo stick is better than a Kia Rio, and the Hyundai Accent should be renamed the Hyundai Accident. couldn’t blame them actually, they test drove a 3-cylinder 1.5 diesel Hyundai Accent that does the 0-100km/h in 19 seconds.
Top Gear actually liked the Proton Gen2, but I believe their sentiments is exactly like most of ours here in Malaysia – Proton has got their priorities wrong and should have traded in the Lotus sports-tuned handling with some Toyota-developed door trim.
Best car is the Hyundai Getz, but it’s too expensive and defeats the point of buying a Korean. Which might work well for us here in Malaysia, a Hyundai Getz is not much more expensive than other Korean makes so if you want to go Korean, maybe you want to look at the Getz.
Video is after the jump.
February 18, 2006 @ 9:37 am
How to make video stream faster huh? It kills my mood to watch.
February 18, 2006 @ 10:32 am
lol, only getz get their attention, wat a joke
February 18, 2006 @ 10:46 am
if u dowan to watch laggy video…press play then when it starts abit, press pause..then it will start streaming..u can view other websites first or chat first b4 it finishes downloading..then when u view it..smooth lor..better this way.
of course..if not fast enuf..get broadband la..
February 18, 2006 @ 12:43 pm
ya i noticed all the new videos are a pain to download,wonder how come last time was alot faster? sting to do with bandwidth?or changed webhost already?
February 18, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
The videos are hosted by Google Video and Youtube. It just means Streamyx is getting slower and slower.
February 18, 2006 @ 4:21 pm
not for me, very fast to download as soon as the page displayed.
btw, their comparison is relevant.
in UK, brit preferred a Vauxhall, Rover, Ford or any Europe/America cars.
but Getz sales in UK is impressive.
Proton is a pure-profit maker. Proton still produced car with 100% 3rd-world perspective & engineering.
February 18, 2006 @ 4:26 pm
No comment…. apparently comparing between an apple and orange never been fair… it’s different category car altogether!
and i recalled some ppl says cannot compare savvy and myvi… hypocrisy?
February 18, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
Hi. Is there any way to download into our pc for later viewing?
From the video:
1. Korean car except Getz has hopeless engine and not great handling.
2. Kelisa has hopeless handling but WhatCar said it’s as good as Kenari and Savvy. Go figure.
3. Gen2 got no negative on engine & handling but terrible built quality.
Video full of hyperbole so good for entertainment as long as it’s not done by Proton because when Proton did that about Savvy & monster, Proton and got trashed. Who is going to believe that you can build a couple of cars for the price of a set of spark plugs?
JC full of self righteousness and self centered so should only view it mainly as entertainment.
Bottom line: A good laugh and dream about a Roll Royce and a Ferrari in your garage and none of those shown in the video. Welcome back to reality.
February 18, 2006 @ 5:33 pm
Jeremy didn’t use spark plugs as an example, he used injectors as an example. Diesel injectors. Those are expensive.
February 18, 2006 @ 5:34 pm
KingKong,
Which car producer is not pure-profit? Hmm… I can’t seem to think of any that makes car for the sake of charity. As for saying that Proton having 100% 3rd world perspective & engineering, that’s very baseless. There are reasons why certain things are done and priced certain ways.
You need to give more credit to the people at the helm of a company. They are not stupid, and certainly, if they could (financially, logistically & profitability), I am sure they would want to make a great car that can penetrate the worldwide market.
If you viewed the Video, Top Gear’s only problem with Gen.2 was it’s interior and finishing. The CamPro engine and handling is not bad. You also have to note that the CamPro engine is still an “infant” when compared to other car maker’s engines. It does have potential. We just need to see how far it can “mature”. The only qualm I have is, Proton need to move faster technologically to catch up with others. But again that also have to depend on whether they are able to generate sales and profit or not. It’s all a loop if you look at it properly. No sales, no money to invest on R&D, no good car… equals no sales again.
February 18, 2006 @ 10:49 pm
agreed.
February 19, 2006 @ 12:28 am
Well said, vOices.
February 19, 2006 @ 1:05 am
Really enjoyed it…
But the guys who test cannot be trusted …
Or did anybody see the seatbelt break – was that belt developed by Toyota?
Trade in the Gen2’s Lotus developed susupension for a Toyota developed door trim?
But for the Kelisa? Trade in the Toyota developed seats for …. well, maybe some Lotus developed seats?
Moreover: Jeremy Clarkson does handling tests without seat belt on
Conclusion: everything built in the Pacific Rim (whatever that is) is far worse than a VW Polo. And: It’s less embarassing to drive a Malaysian car than a Korean car in the UK…
That washing machine car must be state of the art of British car engineering. Hope that this is not the next Lotus developed by Proton.
February 19, 2006 @ 2:50 am
chris_the_germ
The point of it all was to find a DECENT car for that price point and get the best value for one’s money.
February 19, 2006 @ 8:17 am
JC said” Trade in the Gen2’s Lotus developed suspension for a Toyota developed door trim?”
But at the end of the video, he said those Pacific Rim cars are soulless but to my understanding, a great handling cars has soul. So now JC is saying he is ready to trade a car with “soul” for a soulless but well made door? Can’t he make up his mind what he wanted or is he hypocritical?
As I said, it’s good entertainment and that’s it.
Oh BTW, I still find it hard to believe that you can build a couple of Picanto for the price of several diesel injectors, no matter how expensive those injectors are.
February 19, 2006 @ 8:53 am
Just watched it 8:30am this morning, smooooooth as silk. Got 100kb/s most of the time, no waiting, maybe everybody still asleep huh?
February 19, 2006 @ 11:23 am
wargh! ha ahahahahahahha… ouch! me tummy!cramp!
February 19, 2006 @ 1:50 pm
I don’t think that JC is correct about the cars have no soul.. I think it’s more of ” we malaysians have no soul”. Again after again people in this blog do not make a fair comparison of manufacturers. Patriosm and nationalism aside, Proton is making a quite good progress in the last 5 years. YES: the quality is still below average. Then again, for all the JC and TOP GEAR fanatics, when they modifiy their cars, do they upgrade their plastic interiors or they tune-up their engines? 9 out of 10 would spend their precious money on tuning up the engine and suspension. Well, Gen-2 , as JC pointed out, have good handling and reasonably good engine. We always believe what orang putih wants to say, then hear you go: JC in another words, complimented Proton on their handling and engine. Its time for people to re-think their priorities….
February 19, 2006 @ 2:27 pm
it’s rather hilarious to point our that proton are just “pure profit maker”. mana ada company kat dunia ni buat keta untuk seronok2.. OCC built custom made bikes, but they sold it for a very large profit.. Ferrari, lambo, merc, bmw and even , kunun-kununnya, a real car enthusiast punya marque : mclaren f1, all of them built cars for profit.. if profit is not the main aim in the business, then Gm would have not expand their company/facilities to China, and we all would be able to buy honda accord (even after tax etc) for about 30k.. imagine, ferrari for RM 300,000.. emm pure fantasy in the real world…
February 20, 2006 @ 11:44 am
in short: congratulations PROTON
February 20, 2006 @ 3:57 pm
The only things JC liked are:
Getz but not the price..
Picanto but complaining why it’s so cheap to produce. Is this fellow for real? I never heard any sane consumer complaining a product is too cheap.
Gen2 for good design and handling but poor built.
Forget about the rest.
But don’t be too happy. This JC fellow is part joker.
February 20, 2006 @ 7:14 pm
JC, you rawk…. not
(kesian this dude, kena hentam cukup2 here)
February 20, 2006 @ 10:26 pm
Myvi havent sampai UK mar…. dun worry… next review wouldn’t be that bad.
February 21, 2006 @ 2:52 am
well, at least they did a good job making a functioning ‘car’ out of washing machines… LOLz..
September 20, 2006 @ 3:56 pm
[...] Oh, and this might be of interest to you: Top Gear compares Malaysian and Korean cars [...]
September 21, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
I think these orang putih will say anything even remotely to do with Lotus, must be good. If you take them to Lotus Curry House they will say ’semua bagus’ also.
January 9, 2007 @ 10:49 pm
as far as i know, Lotus do not make fantastic cars. Just because its a sports car “Lotus” in this case, doesnt mean its on equal standing with porsche or ferrari.
If Lotus cars are well built or design, then probably they will not sell it to proton.
In other words, what Top Gear is trying to say proton/lotus/hyundai are just another piece of cheap metal.
In addition to that, since proton bought lotus, it doesnt make proton any classier. Oh get a life ! LOTUS ?????? what crap is that ?
April 10, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
Actually they always drive high quality cars… That’s why they say those cars sucks…
November 28, 2007 @ 10:40 pm
Okay, only 3 cars passed the European hands for Proton – Waja 1.6 Ver. A, Perdana V6 and Savvy. The rest, please dispose them at the proper metal scrap companies…
December 12, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
I use Maxis Broadband 3.6 mbps and it loads the video very fast. I dont even need to wait.