Proton R3 will be fielding a three-pronged attack on this year’s edition of the Sepang 1000KM endurance race which takes place at the Sepang International Circuit this weekend, where the #82 Proton Saga and #83 Proton Iriz will compete along with the firm’s newly-liveried Saga courtesy of Design For Speed contest winner Azham Bin Zainol.
This weekend, the Saga with the new livery design will be driven by Admi Shahrul and Syafiq Ali, regular winners of the Sepang 1000KM, along with Faye Kusairi, Nurul Husna Nasharuddin and Leona Chin in the #82 Saga, joined by Farique Hairuman and Mitchell Cheah in the #83 Iriz.
The repeated success enjoyed by the Proton factory team certainly comes from the detailed work which will rarely be seen by the general public, who will usually see racing as the more commonly broadcast action on-circuit, as well as trackside. The tip of the iceberg, as it may be.
As for the cars themselves, these originate from the main production line, after which R3 goes to work on the cars, stripping them back to the basics and applying the necessities for a life at the racetrack; check out the Iriz, Saga and Suprima S R3 race cars in further detail, here.
The Saga and Iriz R3 race cars are powered by the same S4PH 1.6 litre, naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, albeit suitably built for the rigours of racing. This is in accordance with the Malaysian Touring Car (MTC) regulations which stipulate the use of a naturally-aspirated engine displacing between 1,401 cc and 1,600 cc.
This will produce peak outputs in the region of 180 hp to 190 hp, said Proton R3 team principal Gary Lee. These engines are slated for a service life of over 1,000 km before rebuilds, though they have previously taken ex-Sepang 1000KM engines and run them for a further 800 km. These powerplants can therefore, in practice, handle almost 2,000 km before requiring rebuilds, he added. The engine and transmission remain the most expensive parts of the car, and cost around RM60,000 each or RM120,000 collectively.
Proton R3 is one of two factory-backed teams currently competing in the Malaysia Championship Series, which the Sepang 1000KM is a part of. Personnel in Proton R3 work exclusively on the team’s racing programmes and its cars, and not staff who are multi-tasked from the automaker’s mass-production operations.
The team is keen to dispel the myth that Proton R3 outsources its machining to external contractors – for example, the rumour that the crankshaft for the S4PH engine is sourced externally is just that; a rumour, and that component is in fact a factory-stock item, team principal Lee said. Even with components which R3 does not necessarily manufacture themselves, the involvement runs deep.
Perhaps more widely known in superbike circles, suspension components manufacturer Ohlins is the supplier to Proton R3, who regards the Swedish company to be the best at what it does. Proton R3 is one of only two organisations in Malaysia to conduct the full range of testing, servicing, rebuilding and calibration of Ohlins automotive components – the other being the principal importer of Ohlins products themselves, according to the national automaker’s motorsport division.
An endurance race such as the Sepang 1000KM which takes place this weekend is the most involving one on the national racing calendar for the team; before the feature race starts on Saturday, Proton R3 will have arrived at the circuit today to commence setup for practice and final tests before qualifying and then ultimately, the race.
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Carmakers go into racing to sell more cars. Ferrari F1 champ, Toyota Le mans & Audi rally …
Enter any race but in the end of the year game changing Perodua sales is always 5X more than Proton. So it is better for Proton to race with Perodua sales instead of wasting money to join race events
I am about to buy an iriz MT soon, and in a sudden I remembered R3 does sell rims, exhaust and gearknob what not in COE and it does ignite my inner teenager.
Only then I found out they’re not doing it anymore. =( They don’t sell accessories anymore. =(
R3 is back to focus on racing and not bodykit/ accessory blings unlike other in-house “racing outfits”.
In Perodua/Toyota’s case, its just simply slapping Ah Beng stickers on roadgoing cars.
I wish the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team can compete against the Proton R3 Team. This will be a hotseller for Toyota and Proton fans!
Toyota team is deathly scared to compete with other makes, which is why they shunned open races like MMR or Sepang 1000km. GRT are fully aware their “race Vios” does not have the performance nor endurance, and they will look rather foolish for coming in last, if they had competed. So they came out with their syiok sendiri racing series.
@Jeremy Pity, here I am thinking that Gazoo Racing is an actual racing team. Wonder what our local “Tribe Toyota” will say to this?
You can see one tribal caveman above expounding that 5X sales figures is better than technical prowess as if sales has anything to do with engineering capabilities.
Latest Saga with 1.6 engine. Vroom vroom.
Wonder what is the IAFM modules doing in R3 workshop
180hp.. no wonder sure win.
Is it just a norm NA campro 1.6? Surely. Something else is there.. it can be high cam plus ndifferent ECU. But maybe a CPS head (already 125hp) and tuned for extra 60-70hp
IINM, showroom specced CPS R3 Stage 3 tuned makes 150-160HP. With freeflow exhaust, racing ECU mapping, and high cams like you said, 180HP in race trim is doable.
You have to remember, they also competing against Civic Type Rs which makes more HP.
the racing spec is good but it would be better if the production spec is the same or slightly lower…. not totally different like the one selling now.. its deceiving tau…
Many brands are doing the same lah. Do you think you could get your hands on a production Polo WRC or Marquez’s MotoGP winning Honda bike? Racing config is always meant for maximum performance and you won’t get the same reliability or fuel economy nor roadgoing comfort of a normal passenger car. It is not deceiving anyone as it is pointless to demand for such cars to be used on a daily basis.
What benefit did R3 actually provides to proton customer apart from stickers and after market accessories?
Stage 3 tuned cars as Jeremy above mentioned.
Chassis Suspension tuning. This is how the current Persona and Iriz body doesn’t require an OEM Rear Anti Roll bar like the current Myvi did and it can out-handle the OEM rear Anti Roll bar equipped Myvi. If you do not know, Motorsport contributes data on vehicle performance characteristics. This is how Renault, VW and etc car manufacturers run their works team on touring car championship where data is collected for future vehicle development. There are cases that even a special track version like Renault Megane RS Trophy R is homologated for road use. Toyota’s German Gazoo Racing had a go with European Yaris and turned it into a GRMN Hot Hatch. Proton’s future is secured by Geely, there are reports that Geely wants Proton input on Ride and Handling on their cars in the future, if Proton is ready again, they might make cars like the Satria GTi or Satria Neo R3 again.