You may recall that during the launch event of the Proton Iriz last month, Proton chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad revealed that although the hatchback’s new VVT engines meet Euro 4 emissions regulations, the company is considering acquiring engines from other manufacturers for export markets that require Euro 5 standards and above.
As such, European markets are in focus here, with Euro 6 standards on the brink of coming into force for the approval of new vehicles. Now Proton chief technical officer Abdul Rashid Musa has revealed to us at the Proton Iriz press drive event that the foreign powerplant under consideration for these markets is a diesel engine.
This would make sense, as Europe has an overwhelming preference for oil burners, and if Proton wants its Iriz to stand a fighting chance on the Continent, it absolutely needs to offer a diesel option there. If indeed such an Iriz is conceived, it will be the second diesel-engined Proton after the Wira 2.0D of the 1990s.
Rashid also said that the Iriz’s new VVT engines are in fact designed to Euro 5 standards, but have been tuned and calibrated to Euro 4 for Malaysia, because of our fuel. The differences between the Euro 5 and Euro 4 engines are a catalytic converter and minor calibration, he said.
