It is available at all Edar and EON branches nationwide and the booking fee is RM500. Here’s a list of what has changed compared to the M-Line and H-Line:

• Manual transmission only
• Driver airbag only
• Seatbelt pretensioner for driver only
• Passenger airbag replaced with tissue box holder
• No front seat back pockets
• No grocery hook at the front passenger seat
• No aircond outlet for 2nd row, but 3rd row outlets remain
• Fabric flat knitting for the seats (M-Line uses fabric flat woven)
• Only 2 headrests for the second row
• No third row headrests
• No door trim inserts
• No assist grip for the third row
• No inner carpet deck box
• No luggage lamp
• No rear power socket
• Matte black finishing for gear knob, panel shift lever, door inner handle, center panel finishing, side mirror hosing finishing, exterior door handle, rear garnish
• No front grille garnish
• No front fog lamp
• 15 inch steel wheel with cover
• No reverse sensors
• No ABS and EBD

On another note, if you’ve ran out of ideas of a family activity this weekend, you can check out the “Proton 4 You” customer appreciation event held at all Proton Edar and EON outlets throughout Malaysia.

They’ve planned a variety of family-oriented programs at all outlets such as coloring contests, family quizzes and games wih prizes to be won. Proton will also throw in free personal assurance worth RM10,000 for all customers who book a Proton car on that weekend. There will also be Proton iCare teams at almost every outlet to perform free 20-point car inspections.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team’s Satria Neo Super 2000 was making decent progress at the Rally of China last weekend when it had the unfortune of a damaged suspension, forcing the team to retire half-way through the 2nd leg during the 13th stage. They managed to finish 4th overall in the first leg. Interestingly according to Proton over half the field of competitors had to retire due to similiar problems.

With the China Rally over and done with, Alister McRae and the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 will continue on to the McRae homeland of Scotland, which Alister is really looking forward to. Look after the jump for some shots from the rally.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Proton R3 Rally Team is in China this weekend for the Rally of China 2009 in the Longyou countryside. They had their shakedown yesterday and managed to clock the 6th fastest time of the day with their Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car.

6th is a pretty good result considering out of a total of 82 competitors, 50 consisted of turbocharged Mitsubishis and Subarus which have an advantage due to their higher torque in the Longyou countryside’s mountainous terrain. The Satria Neo Super 2000’s 2.0 liter Renault engine is normally aspirated so it has less torque but it makes its 280 horses through high-revving and an aggressive tune instead.

“The main thing is to get a good clean run here, maybe not go as quick as it can go and try and get to the end with no problems,” said driver Alister McRae, who will be racing tomorrow with his navigator Bill Hayes. Leg 1 of the Rally of China 2009 will span a total of 40 kms. Look after the jump for some photos from the shakedown today.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Giugiaro (founded 1968) has designed a lot of vehicles in the past, including the Mk1 Volkswagen Scirocco (not the modern one that’s just launched in Malaysia). It even had a big part in the development of the R56 MINI. Here are some of Giugiaro’s recent work:

Ssangyong C200 Concept and Suzuki SX4

The Business Times report revealed that a clay model of the car already exists at the design house’s headquarters in Turin, Italy. It definitely has to be, considering the new Persona replacement car was previously mentioned to be out by 2012, after the Waja replacement in 2010 and the Perdana replacement in 2011.

The car will be engineered to meet tougher European and North American standards. Proton’s North American entry is still a hazy area at the moment but there was talk earlier this year that Detroit Electric would be helping with getting the cars registered with whatever authorities there are there. Not sure what happened with that whole project.

The Exora introduced new technologies in Protons that were not used before – more sensors for the airbag system and a Body Control Module. Datuk Syed Zainal says the new C-segment Persona replacement will implement these new features and add even more features to bring the new Proton up to international standards. Proton is currently in talks with various vendors on what can be implemented.

It is also in exploratory talks with some parties including a Chinese company (Europestar, SAIC-Roewe?) on collaborating on an SUV, and in talks via Lotus with a South Korean battery company and an electric motor supplier regarding EVs (what happened to Detroit Electric?).

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Here are some key points in the story:

• Chinese automaker Youngman’s Europestar brand is building a new car, engineered by Lotus. It uses components carried over from the GEN2. Lotus is being paid about US$20 million for the work, and Proton also gets licensing for this new car’s platform once it rolls out. This could be the car we saw yesterday.
• Proton’s new model investments will be in core models. Models with lower volumes such as a Perdana replacement will be through collaborations. There is no sense in spending half a million ringgit investing in a Perdana when it will not get the kind of sales the Saga (5.5k to 6k) and Persona (3.5k to 4k) currently gets.
• The Campro’s lifecycle will end in 2014, after of which a new engine will replace it. Proton is currently looking at two different options, but are still looking at other OEMs. They hope to decide where the new engine will come from by next year.
• Proton will be consolidating its plants to Tanjung Malim in 3 years time. The Shah Alam plant’s land can be utilised better than its current use as it is appreciating in price now. A sale to Sime Darby?
• The Waja replacement model will be coming next year. The Perdana will come in 2011. We will get an all-new global model to replace the Persona in 2012. That would mean the Persona will be replaced after a 5 year lifecycle (well, it’s longer actually if you consider the Persona a GEN2). Proton plans to continue a typical Japanese 5 year lifecycle for all its products, but this could go to 7 years (like premium conti lifecycles) at most.
• The new 2012 Persona replacement model will be styled by an Italian company instead of Proton’s design team led by Azlan Othman.

Read the full interview here.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The sohu source seems quite certain that this is a Proton/Europestar car. One possibility that I can think of is this could be a Chinese market only car that Proton, Lotus and Europestar are working on together.

UPDATE: Thanks to all readers that pointed this out – this is a restyled Proton GEN2 for Europestar. More updates later – Source

A Brazilian automotive website has pointed to a set of photos on leading Chinese auto website auto.sohu.com that claim to feature Proton’s new Perdana-replacement sedan. The sedan is taped up but the design of the headlamp, grille, tail lamps and etc can clearly be seen. The taped up badge on the front kinda looks like Proton’s. It’s definitely not a Roewe badge as their badge is a little square-jawed at the bottom.

Remember a piece of news this blog carried back in January and then April 2009? It was mentioned that Proton was considering a new Perdana replacement based on the Rover 75 platform, amongst others. Proton have been toying with a few ideas for a Perdana replacement actually. A Mitsubishi 380 with Proton badges is a common sight in the Centre of Excellence car park and photos of that have been circulating around the internet for very long now. There was also talk of using an old Passat platform during the Volkswagen courtship days.

It’s very much just speculation for now but the Proton-Rover connection has been around for many many years, even before SAIC came into the picture by buying up the British company. Rover had originally wanted to license the Proton GEN2 to produce a new Rover 45 and in return the 75 would be used by Proton to make a new Perdana. The Rover 45 was always a ‘rebadge’ car for Rover, even before it was called the 45 (it was originally called the 400 series). The 1999 car was based on a Honda Civic and the ones before it were based on Hondas.

As for the engine under the hood of a new Rover-dana, the platform could come with a new redesigned KV6 engine, if Proton does not decide to put its own Campro Turbo engine inside. You may not know it but the KV6 is familiar to many Malaysians already, it is actually the engine used in the 2.5 liter quad cam Naza Ria. It was also used in V6 first generation Freelanders. SAIC has updated the KV6 and now calls it the Roewe KV6. It now makes 188 horses, up from the original 175 horses figure. Roewe also sells the car with a turbocharged 1.8 liter K-Series inline-4.

Source | Translation

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

I’ve managed to obtain photos that show a closer view of the new Proton Turbo engine that our King and Queen previewed at Lotus in the UK just a little more than a week ago. The photo doesn’t really tell us much but I think there are some details that have been revealed just by looking at the engine.

We get to see the top of the engine, the intake, as well as abit of the turbocharger peeking out from behind the block. The top of the engine looks slightly different from the Campro and Campro CPS engines. It looks more similiar to the Campro engine though because of the shape of the spark plug cover, but there are some minor differences in shapes. I’m not sure what the Campro IAFM looks like without the engine cover.

I’ve heard many times before that the new Proton Turbo engine will not have functions such as CPS which mean higher costs. Forced induction that is properly tuned can provide sufficient torque over a wide RPM spread thus you do not have to do funky things to improve airflow such as variable valve lift or timing. The turbocharged Campro engine that we saw in the Proton Exora Prestige earlier this year was also based on a regular Campro and not the Campro CPS.

Finally, I think we gotta also keep an open mind that this might not even be the production Campro Turbo engine in the first place. It may be just a bolt-on prototype similiar to the one in the Exora Prestige Turbo. But it sure is nice getting to see one part of what the Royal Family managed to see. After all, Proton is our national carmaker and whether you love them or hate them, I find that almost everyone wants to know everything about them!

Related Posts:
Proton Exora Turbo based on the Exora Prestige
Royal Family check out the Proton Campro Turbo Engine


Click for enlarged image

Click for enlarged image

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton unveiled a turbocharged 1.6 liter engine to selected press in Norwich, UK earlier today while our King and Queen His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah and Her Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda The Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah were visiting the Lotus headquarters in UK.

The new turbocharged engine is said to have the power capacity of a 2.0 liter engine. No precise figures were given but we can make an educates guess – 2.0 normally aspirated would mean around 140 to 150 horsepower. Usually with a turbocharged engine, a 150 horses figure would probably be accompanied by 220Nm to 240Nm of torque. This should put performance at a similiar level with the turbocharged 1.6 liter in the Peugeot 308 Turbo, which is very nice since the peak torque kicks in at low RPMs.

VIDEO: Bulletin Utama segment on the Proton Turbo engine

Source

70 engineers worked on the engine project. According to Proton, the engine was developed in collaboration between Proton and Lotus Engineering, with active involvement of Malaysian engineers and vendors. I actually so happened to meet a few young Proton engineers at a UK visa application center in KL and they were applying for a UK work visa for a certain project, so this must have been it

Producing the engine took 18 months from approval of engineering proof of concept. The proof of concept could have been that turbocharged engine we saw in the Exora. The engine was designed for high torque applications, which will provide good driveability in larger Proton cars such as the Proton Exora. Proton Director of Engineering Tajul Zahari said the engine is RON95 compatible. Apparently the engine will be ready by 2011, so we should see it in Protons by then.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

It’s confirmed – Karamjit will not be driving the left hand drive Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 at the Rally Indonesia 2009 and the official reason given by Proton is that he is not available. Alister McRae will be joined by navigator Bill Hayes in Indonesia, which will host the 6th round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championships (APRC).

“I have had the opportunity to test the Satria Neo S2000 in the UK recently and am very pleased with the performance of the car. I will certainly be looking forward to competing in the Proton at the Rally of Indonesia against some of the best drivers in the region.” said Alister Mcrae.

The press release did not say if this was a one time change or something more permanent, but I have a feeling Proton requires better results for the car for its own return on investment targets. They couldn’t switch the car so they switched the driver instead.

Up north in Europe, Team Proton Europe is tackling the current round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge right now (24th to 26th September). Performance of the car piloted by Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh in the previous IRC leg in Spain was described as ‘promising’, scoring as good as joint fourth place on SS15 but ended up crossing the finish line in 19th place out of a grid of 80 entries.

The rally was won by Skoda’s Jan Kopecky, who are trailing Peugeot’s Kris Meeke by one point with only two rounds remaining.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Australian name for the Proton Saga has been announced – Proton’s smallest sedan will be offered down under as the Proton S16. I assume this is supposed to stand for Saga 1.6, not sure what’s wrong with the Saga name. The S16 will go on sale from the 1st of November for under AU$13,000 with a manual transmission, but Australian dealers will get test drive units in October for anyone who is interested in the car.

Under the hood will be the Campro IAFM engine that powers the Persona here in Malaysia, producing 110 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 148Nm of torque. The car’s fuel consumption is rated at 6.3 liters per 100km on the ADR (Australian Design Rules) combined cycle.

This is unconfirmed but according to some Aussie news sites the Australian spec car is expected to have dual SRS airbags for the front driver and passenger, which means it’ll be one of the highest spec versions of the Saga available so far, as the top of the line Sage in Malaysia thus far has only been available with a driver airbag.

What’s even more interesting for Australian buyers is that the price tag could possibly go even lower with the introduction of a 1.3 liter Campro engine option, which will only be available from February 2010 onwards. It’s not sure if the 1.3 liter car will continue to be called the S16, or receive a more apt name like the S13.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Volkswagen have already identified a base in Indonesia for the Touran MPV, but they have also been looking for a way to assembly their passenger cars here in Malaysia. Other than Proton, DRB-HICOM was also a potential partner name that came up in the past.

Datuk Syed Zainal confirmed sometime last week that Proton was indeed in talks with a foreign car company and hoped that something can be agreed upon before the end of the year. He did not mention which company this is, but in a Reuters report a Volkswagen spokesperson managed to be reached for comment and he confirmed that they were in talks with Proton. According to the spokesperson, the confirmed plant in Indonesia was not sufficient to serve the entire ASEAN market – it looks like they’re planning to come to this region in a big way!

These talks with Proton could be the reason why the reviewed NAP announcement has been pushed to the end of next month instead of being announced this month as previously indicated. “It’s a complicated matter. We cannot rush,” said MITI minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. Proton is of course at the center of the Malaysian automotive industry, thus most decisions will actually surround the company.

The foreign car company was referred to by Datuk Syed Zainal as potentially Proton’s “missing link”, which means the talks could extend beyond Proton being a contract assembler for Volkswagen – Proton could be asking to license or collaborate on certain Volkswagen tech such as platforms or engines, especially diesel engines!

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton will be launching a 1.6 liter IAFM variant of the Saga in Australia soon (November 2009 ETA) and has put up a teaser website for it at newsedan.com.au. It won’t be called the Saga in Australia though – a new name will be picked. Prices will begin at under AU$13,000, or under RM37,895 for the 1.6 liter manual, but an automatic option as well as a smaller engine (likely the 1.3) will be available from February 2010 onwards.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton says this is thanks to a better product mix (Exora, Exora, Exora!) even though Proton sales had actually dropped 2% (now at 39,327 units) compared to the same period last year (39,888 units), but this isn’t too bad considering the total industry volume itself had actually dropped by 11% during the same period. There have been a total of 18,000 orders for the Exora since order taking began up to the 15th of August 2009. The Exora managed 1,600 bookings in Indonesia since its launch recently. Proton currently holds 31% market share of the TIV sales as of June 2009.

In the exports area the company said it aimed to export about 20,925 units this year compared to 18,428 units last year. This is still a small percentage of cars compared to the numbers sold in Malaysia but Proton intends to shift to a more export-centric organisation. Proton also wants to sell more CKD export cars instead of the usual CBU cars currently sold, but CKD usually only starts to become viable when volume increases to an amount that can sustain an assembly line for the CKD packs. Proton has started out with CKD models in China and Iran. GEN2 CKD operations in Iran by Zagross Khodro began in April 2009 and CKD pack supply to Youngman in China have also commenced.

What’s coming up for Proton? Some details were revealed at the Q&A session after its latest AGM and others are revealed in their annual report for the last financial year. What should be exciting for you guys is a new car set for introduction in the second half of next year. Proton would not say which car this is but this car is widely rumoured to be a model based on the Mitsubishi Lancer. Manual transmissions will be offered to keep the entry price point low so this should be very good news for those who want to do their own shifting action in a sporty sedan. A page in the annual report also reveals that a facelift for the Persona is targeted to go into production by the end of 2009.

Further down the launch schedule will be a new car that will be the fruits of a project called the Global Small Car Programme. Proton has revealed that this will be a small and trendy hatchback with a small capacity engine that meets international emission standards. When this is launched, its goodbye time for the Savvy. Proton’s next generation of powertrains (Campro replacement?) are also being developed together with Lotus as part of a program called the Phoenix Project.

In the alternative fuels department, Proton will be skipping hybrid cars and fuel cell cars and will be focusing on electric cars. There was a hybrid system installed in a GEN2 called the Lotus EVE Hybrid Concept that combined the 1.6 liter Campro engine with a 40hp electric motor. From the looks of it, this will probably remain a technology showcase by Lotus to promote its engineering decision.

Proton currently has two prototype electric vehicles – one based on the Saga and another on the Persona. You’ve seen the Saga EV featured here on this blog. It is an EV focused on economy and the 10.1 second 0-100km/h acceleration time (despite 168hp) is a testament of this, but the Persona EV prototype is a totally different animal – it has been developed as a performance EV concept. This likely means larger and higher capacity batteries but a much more powerful electric motor to match!

Look after the jump for a copy of the annual report.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The latest news from the land down under is that Proton will be phasing out the current Wira-based Proton Jumbuck (known as the Proton Arena in Malaysia) over the next few months in preparation for the launch of an all-new Jumbuck.

According to the story, the new Jumbuck/Arena will be based on an existing passenger car platform. It would make sense for Proton to base the new Jumbuck on the Exora’s platform and they’ve actually hinted at this during the Exora’s R&D showcase earlier this year. The rendering you see above was provided by Proton and shows what a new Jumbuck/Arena based on the Exora could look like.

The Exora’s platform was designed to be modular and flexible with even the option of changing the rear torsion beam into a multi-link setup for more versatility in tuning the suspension behaviour for passenger car usage.

Related Posts:
Proton Exora platform to spawn new models

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton officially launched its new Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team yesterday. The team will run one of those new Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally cars and it will be piloted by a team that needs no introduction: Karamjit Singh and Jagdev Singh as driver and navigator respectively. The Neo recently finished 4th place at the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Russia, driven by Guy Wilks.

“It has been quite a while but we’re now ready to return to the rally motorsports arena. With the Neo S2000 and our long time associate Karamjit, we are sure that we will put up a strong challenge in this championship. What the car has achieved thus far while still in the developmental stage has been extraordinary,” said Proton chairman Dato Mohd Nadzmi.

When asked about his thoughts on the race, Karamjit said he was concerned that his left-hand drive Proton Satria Neo S2000 has him at a disadvantage. “If the car was right-hand-drive I would be confident and able to attack. It’s a fabulous car and the tricky Stages I can handle. I just don’t feel comfortable so I’ll be taking it easy to ensure we finish,” Karamjit said after completing the reconnaissance earlier today.

Rallying has done wonders for Subaru and Mitsubishi in their brand building efforts and Proton is also using the rally scene as a platform to showcase their cars, namely the Satria Neo Super 2000. The Neo will race at the Rally of Malaysia this weekend, and will move on to Indonesia on the 3rd to 4th October and then the China Rally on the 14-15 November.

Look after the jump for some photos of the Neo S2000 on test on Malaysian soil before the official launch, and also read up my previous stories on the Neo S2000 to find out more about the rally car.

Related Posts:
Cool facts: The Proton Satria Neo S2000 Racer
MEM Satria Neo S2000 makes first rally debut
Introducing the MEM Satria Neo Super 2000
Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 enters the IRC
Satria Neo S2000 Videos

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

While the Proton Saga EV Green Propulsion Concept stole the lime light in University Putra Malaysia for the “Proton Exora – The Making” seminar, the national car maker also took to the opportunity to showcase the Proton Exora Prestige Turbo Prototype.

It is basically the Proton Exora Prestige Concept which was first previewed at the Exora’s official launch event, but now fitted with a prototype turbo powerplant.

The turbo engine based on the 1.6 liter CamPro powerplant was built in-house, without the input of Lotus. Which means, the engine mostly features aftermarket parts to turn it from a normally aspirated motor to a turbocharged one. It’s useful to test the durability and reliability of a Campro block when force inducted.

The production turbocharged powerplant for the Exora is being co-developed with Lotus, and sources reveal that powertrain engineers will soon leave for the UK to intensify the development.

Notice the aftermarket boost meter and various other extra monitoring gauges

The powerplant featured in the Prestige Concept shown above is said to produce up to 270 horsepower, and with a torque figure that is rated at about 350Nm. (UPDATE: Now that I think about it, this quoted figure seems a little over the top. While no doubt it is possible especially if you strengthen the engine enough, it is not practical for production use so the production car will not likely be tuned to such extents as there is a high possibility for lots of turbo lag and the 4-speed Mitsubishi automatic transmission must be struggling with the torque.)

A source revealed that the turbocharged Proton Exora MPV could most probably hit the market by between end 2010 to mid 2011. Honestly for me despite many customers eagerly waiting for a more powerful Exora, later is better as it means more time for testing, and a turbocharged production engine is something very new for Proton.

The production turbocharged variant will very likely offer less than the 270 hp and 350Nm performance figures mentioned above, but even if it ends up producing anywhere in the region of 170 horses and 240Nm of torque, that would be a big leap already as it would be equivalent to a normally aspirated 2.4 liter engine, but with peak torque coming in at a much lower RPM.

It wipe out one major issue that the current Exora has, which is a lack of go. The 1.6 liter Campro CPS that is currently being offered with the Exora produces 125 horsepower and 150Nm of torque. Proton also revealed that the Exora Prestige Concept is being sold to selected VIPs that have placed orders for the extra-luxury variant.

Look after the jump for more photos of the prototype turbocharged Exora.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton and hitz.fm is organising something pretty cool at the 1 Utama Shopping Centre this Saturday. If you love autocross-styling driving you really gotta check it out if you have time. Basically the event is called the Proton Satria Neo Unleashed with hitz.fm and they will be having a Satria Neo CPS Ride & Handling Challenge.

It’s basically time-attack challenge where you have to drive the Satria Neo CPS through a straight line and obstacle course. It’s pretty much the best way to test drive the Satria Neo CPS in case you’re considering buying one. Showroom test drives won’t give you a course to try out the car’s handling so this is your chance! You can choose either a manual or automatic Neo CPS, and whoever clocks the fastest time will win the prizes! There’s some pretty good money up for grabs.

• 1st place – RM3,000
• 2nd place – RM2,000
• 3rd place – RM1,000
• Consolation 4th to 10th – RM200 each

Better be quick and register at 11:30am at Entrance 1 of One Utama on the day because there are only 48 seats for the competition. Participants need to have a valid driving license. Basically there will be four groups and 12 participants in each group. The top 3 in each group will qualify to the final round. A safety helmet is required and will be provided.

Proton will also be exhibiting the Campro CPS engine and engineers will be there to explain how it works. Various R3 cars will be on show along with the two Satria Neo styling concept cars – the Satria Symphony and the Neo Desire. The Satria Neo S2000 rally car will also be there so you can go check it out. From what I hear some Satria Neo owner clubs will also be there so you can network with some exiting owners before you decide to make your purchase decision.

You can also place bookings there for any Proton car (regular Proton models will also be on display), and customers who place bookings for the Saga and the Savvy on that day will receive a RM500 service voucher.

Related Posts:
New Proton Satria Neo CPS details and specifications
Proton Satria Neo CPS short parking lot test drive review
Cool facts: The Proton Satria Neo S2000 racer

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton previewed an all-electric version of the Proton Saga sedan in University Putra Malaysia, Serdang during the “Proton Exora – The Making” seminar organized by SAE International earlier this week. The “Proton” name would definitely make sense on this particular car!

You might expect this plug-in electric vehicle to have been co-developed with Detroit Electric which have a deal to produce electric cars based on the Proton GEN2 and the Proton Persona for certain overseas markets under the Detroit Electric brand. But on the contrary, what you see above is an in-house project done with the help of unnamed suppliers and partners.

This means that unlike the Detroit Electric e46 (based on the Proton Gen 2) and the Detroit Electric e63 (based on the Proton Persona), the electric Saga (officially called the Proton Saga EV Green Propulsion Concept for now) is probably being considered for the local market, although the auto maker is very tight-lipped about possible launch dates. It could take years.

The emissions-free Proton Saga EV on display features a 125kW (168hp) brushless DC electric motor, mated to a 5 speed manual transmission. It has a 20kWh Lithium Ion Polymer battery pack (12 separate batteries stored in the trunk). Because of the batteries, truckspace is pretty much non-existent but this is quite normal with concept electric cars based on a chassis that was originally designed to take a regular combustion engine and fuel tank. A production car would ideally have neater integration of the batteries.

According to Proton, the Saga EV can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.1 seconds, up to a top speed of 161 km/h, with a driving range of 109 kilometers over a full charge. Both the Detroit Electric e46 and e63 will feature a 150kW Axial Magnetic Flux motor instead.

There is more! The “green-mobil” also features re-generative braking and an electric power steering, apart from a built-in Batter Management System (BCMU), a plug-in charger (with a household power outlet), air conditioning as well as an In-Vehicle display screen that displays various information pertaining to the electric vehicle functions. Sources also revealed that Proton has plans to built an electric Exora MPV, and, is currently working on some hybrid vehicles as well, for research and development.

Since Proton took the trouble to produce a fully functioning Saga EV Concept, I am sure it is a matter of time till we actually see Proton-built electric cars on the road, but it doesn’t end at just producing such emissions-free vehicles. There has to an infrastructure ready to accommodate charging in the outdoors, which is something that will involve the government, apart from the private sector.

Continue reading to view an image gallery.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Did you know that the GEMS computer system in the Proton Satria Neo S2000 tracks and logs over 50 variables and has two settings – stage and road? Stage mode uses the standard race settings but road mode is used when the rally car has to travel on regular roads with traffic between stages.

In road mode, the engine runs on less aggressive tuning so it runs quieter and etc. These are just a few of the interesting bits of info about rally cars like the Proton Satria Neo S2000 that should be quite interesting to the enthusiast. Let’s go into more.

The car runs on two different suspension, brake and tyre packs, known as the gravel pack and the tarmac pack. The gravel pack uses smaller wheels of only 15 inches in size. This is so that larger tyres with thicker sidewalls can be used, for the purpose of enduring the tough gravel road conditions. The suspension travel is also longer, and the suspension arms are heavier and stronger. The gravel pack also uses a sumpguard to protect the gearbox and other components from rocks and etc but in both packs, the entire bottom is flat for aerodynamics purposes, and the rear has a diffuser.

The tarmac pack has larger 18 inch wheels, and thinner tyres. The larger wheels are to fit larger 350mm brakes, compared to 300mm on the gravel setup. The tarmac setting requires larger brakes because a tarmac course generally works the brakes harder.

Look into the engine bay and somehow you get the image of some kind of mechanical squid lying in there. I blame the recent Transformers and Terminator madness. This odd image is partly because of the thick ceramic coated (resulting in the white appearance) exhaust manifolds sticking out of the engine and heading towards the rear. The ceramic coating is to keep the exhaust heat in the exhaust and not let it spread to the other components of the car. Keeping the exhaust at a higher temperature also helps with exhaust velocity, allowing the exhaust to escape faster.

The engine bay is a mechanic’s dream, with each component placed in a position for easy access and repair or replacement. The ability to craft such a layout comes with experience and that is what the builders MEM have. The gearbox ratios can be changed in 10 minutes, and the entire gearbox in 12 minutes. It has to be fast because of the 20 minute service interval in rallies, so components are designed to be changeable within those periods of time.

The gearbox is a specced down version of the X-trac gearbox in the Citroen WRC car. The engine should be familiar to you guys now, it is a config that is commonly used whenever a Proton race car needs a 2.0 liter engine. The 1.8 liter Renault engine from the Waja 1.8X is used, and has its displacement increased to 2.0 liters. It produces 278 horsepower at 7,600rpm and and a massive 271Nm of torque at 7000rpm, with a usable powerband of between 5,500 to a screaming 8,500rpm.

Get into the interior and at first you might get confused by the seemingly messy array of exposed raw parts and rollcage bars. It looks that way for the purpose of weight reduction. However the upper dash area itself is more “posh” compared to the standard Neo. It has a black felt covering to reduce dashboard glare on the windscreen, to help the driver see on glaring days.

The handbrake lever is quite interesting. It uses hydraulics, but where are the hydraulics stored? The oil is actually stored in the handbrake lever itself, so you actually unscrew the top of the handbrake lever to access the oil. When you pull the handbrake, the gearbox automatically disengages the rear axle from being driven, as the rear brakes aren’t going to do much when the rear wheels are still being driven by the powerful engine.

Next to the handbrake is the gear change lever. Simply push forward to downshift and pull back to upshift. You don’t have to operate the clutch unless you are rolling off from a stand-still as the gearbox automatically cuts itself off from the engine when you shift. This means you can shift while you have your pedal to the metal, no need to lift-off. This means faster shifts.

Of course in the end you realise that most of the components of the car are third party. What’s left of the Neo is just the chassis and body design itself, which is widened (not just aesthetics, the wheel arches are widened even when you look on the inside). You may wonder what exactly is the benefits of using a Satria Neo chassis? I’m not sure if the chassis is the best but there are a few benefits.

For one, the Neo already has a lower roof height compared to other cars, so this helps with lowering the center of gravity. You cannot take a car with a higher roof and change the roofline for rally car spec because it is against the rules. Secondly. you cannot change the placement of the wheels, and the Neo’s wheels are already at the edges of the car with minimal overhangs so this helps with the car’s agility and balance.

So there you have it, some interesting tidbits about the Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car. Look after the jump for new hi-res photo gallery of a white Satria Neo S2000.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The new Proton Exora with manual transmission is now on the market and it’s only available in the M-Line trim level, which means basics without fancies like DVD players and GPS units, cloth seats, alloy wheels, and some body-coloured parts instead of chrome bits. It’s priced at RM64,998 for the metallic version and RM64,548 for the solid-coloured version. No ultra-basic no frills Exora B-Line in sight yet so far, but the manual transmission version is very welcome for those who want to save abit more fuel with the Exora, and the manual’s 12% transmission losses which is less than the automatic should result in more of the Campro CPS 125 horsepower going to the front wheels, thus improving the Exora’s lethargic acceleration.

Some of us have already had a go at an Exora equipped with a manual transmission during the prototype test drive and other than the fact that there’s more power that actually reaches the wheels, the manual model with more gear ratios also provides a little more flexibility with picking the right gear depending on the load on the engine. With the automatic model you tend to be working the 2nd gear most of the time, which means alot of high revving sometimes. The good news is NVH is significantly better than models like the Satria Neo so it isn’t that bad of a racket.

Next a B-Line model could come out, but the ultimate would be towards the end of next year where the Proton Exora with the Campro 1.6 Turbo will be launched. The Exora will finally get the engine it deserves and then you’ll have a combination of a very competitive price, good interior space, air conditioning all around, and a more relaxed engine that’s easier to drive because of more low end torque.

Look after the jump for a photo gallery of the Exora M/T.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

We now have more details on the new Proton Saga SE, which is positioned as a premium variant of one of Proton’s cheapest cars right now. The Saga SE continues using the 1.3 liter Campro IAFM engine that’s found in the rest of the Saga range except for the taxi model, so what exactly does “SE” mean? Here are the full details:

• Only two colours – brilliant red or solid white with a black finish roof top.
• New front, rear (with faux diffuser design) and side skirts.
• A new front grille with black finish.
• Leather seats, door trim and steering wheel
• Pearl white instrument cluster
• Dark chrome air-conditioning vents
• CD player with MP3 support

As previously mentioned, the Saga SE manual is priced at RM43,000 while the automatic transmission model is priced at RM45,500. It is available for booking now for RM500, but the cars will only be in the showrooms from the 15th of August 2009 onwards.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Saga SE.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

From the info I am getting now, the Saga SE uses a 1.3 liter Campro IAFM engine as before (the sole 1.6 liter model continues in taxi spec), but comes with aesthetic and equipment changes, while the Proton Exora 1.6 M/T like its namesake comes with a manual transmission. The Proton team is having trouble sending full specs and press release over because they are in an area without internet access now but at least we have the prices:

• Proton Saga SE Manual – RM43,000
• Proton Saga SE Auto – RM45,500
• Proton Exora M/T Solid – RM64,548.00
• Proton Exora M/T Metallic – RM64,998.00

More details and photos of the new car to come later.

UPDATE: Look after the jump for an event photo gallery of the Saga SE.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Malaysian cars have only appeared on Top Gear a few times in the past, and they haven’t exactly been portrayed in a very good light most of the time.

We all know what happened to the Kelisa, and the Waja was used as an example of a car with not very good crash safety in comparison to cars like the Avensis. The Proton Savvy did appear on rival show Fifth Gear and did well on the hill climb test they had. The Satria Neo is a regular feature on Top Gear Australia.

If you’ve been following the latest Season 13 of Top Gear, you would have already watched Episode 3 which has two of our cars in it – one from each manufacturer.

The Perodua Myvi (it’s rather odd how British people pronounced Myvi) and the Proton Satria Neo are featured in a segment where the team have to go find the best small “cheap and cheerful” car in the UK. Being priced at the lower end of the various car segments, the Neo and Myvi are natural candidates among other cars like the Chevy Aveo.

Skip to about minute 6:55 of the first video to go straight to the segment, then continue with the second video. The segment is broken over 2 videos. It isn’t pretty, just look at the face Jeremy is making while he is driving the Myvi.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Reader Muaz spotted this Mitsubishi Lancer in the Golden Triangle area. You might not take a second glance at this Lancer, until you see that it there are something wrong with its bumpers – the front is black and the rear is grey.

Once that has captured your attention, you’ll see that it has trade plates. The photo here isn’t really high resolution enough to see what number it is but it looks like some variation of B2XXXA. This could be Proton’s new Waja replacement based on the Mitsubishi Lancer on test.

The base specs seems to be the Lancer GLS, as seen from the lack of a spoiler and the use of the GLS 5-spoke wheels, which are smaller.

Related Posts:
Proton’s Bursa Malaysia announcement on the Mitsubishi Licensed Product
Next-generation Proton Waja to be based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Good news for anyone who plans to buy a Proton in the next two months. Proton Edar is currently having a contest where anyone who buys a Proton from between the 1st of June 2009 to the 31st of August 2009 will be able to be eligible for entry. What you need to do is answer a few pre-determined questions (should be easy) and complete a slogan of less than 20 words beginning with “I prefer a PROTON because…”

Every week, 30 entries will be selected from the entries received during that week. Out of this 30 entries, 17 will be selected as weekly winners for the week, while the remainder will be entered into a monthly pool to win the monthly winner prizes. Out of the 17 weekly winners, 2 will win RM5,000 each, while the rest will win a Proton GPS navigation unit.

Next we go to the monthly pool. There should be about 13 entries every week (30 minus 17), and with roughly 4 weeks a month you should have 52 entries each month. From this monthly pool, a number of entries will be selected. One entry from the monthly selection will win the monthly prize of RM20,000, while the rest goes into a Grand Prize pool, which will be picked at the end of the contest. The Grand Prize is RM50,000 cash.

The prizes will be awarded based on the number of correct answers and the best creative slogan based on Proton Edar Sdn Bhd’s panel of judges.

So as a recap of the prizes:

Weekly selection 2 x RM5000.00
Weekly 15 consolation x GPS System
Monthly selection 1 x RM20,000.00
Grand Prize 1 x RM50,000.00

Click here for more details on the contest.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Proton will be attempting to stave off Perodua’s attack with a smaller but cheaper Perodua D46T MPV combined with a more desirable Toyota-associated brand because of the original model (it will be derived from the Toyota Passo Sette) this coming November.

The D46T is no secret, we’ve already seen the exterior and interior of what the Perodua version will look like, and the Toyota Passo Sette has already been around for quite sometime for all to see. In fact, one of the Passo Sette we’ve seen on Malaysian roads on road tests may in fact be likely to be owned by Proton.

The weapon of choice will be a cheaper version of the Exora. Right now the Exora is only available in M-Line and H-Line variants, with the only differences between them being creature comforts and minor styling differences.

A cheaper Exora will be further downgraded in terms of equipment, and will likely feature a manual gearbox, which actually could be more of a blessing for the Exora, as the auto while capable of taking the vehicle up to cruising speed and keeping it there, is rather sluggy to move around at city speeds.

Reader Kenneth spotted this Exora on the Penang bridge. It has light disguises on but we all know it’s an Exora. The LED tail lamps are still there but if this is a version of the production B-Line or manual model, we can see some evidence of downspeccing in the form of steel wheels with a cover instead of proper alloy wheels.

Look after the jump for the rest of the spy photos and a video.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Proton Satria Neo S2000 will be participating in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and Proton officially unveiled its line-up at the 2-day Rally Show festival (6th and 7th June), held at the ground of the Chatsworth House.

The Satria Neo Super 2000 will be pilot by a team consisting of two-times British rally champion Guy Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh. The S2000 car was designed and built by British team Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM).

“We are very excited to have Guy Wilks driving for Proton in the IRC. After his stunning performance in the recent Pirelli Rally, we are positive about our capabilities to put up a strong challenge. MEM has done a great job with the Proton Satria Neo S2000 and we will continue to improve as the year progresses,” said Proton MD Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

“This is fantastic news and a fantastic opportunity. Proton and MEM are highly ambitious but also very realistic as newcomers. We need to make progress in every round and be ready to fight for the championship in 2010,” said Guy Wilks.

The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 uses the Satria Neo’s chassis and a 2.0 liter engine which is derived from a 1.8 liter Renault engine, similiar to the one you will find in the Waja 1.8X. It produces 278 horsepower at 7,600rpm.

The IRC uses the standard FIA points system: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. The best seven scores added together will decide final championship results. There are 7 races remaining this year – Belgium Ypres Rally, Rally Russia, Rali Vingo Madeira, Czech Republic, Spain, Rally Sanremo and finally Scotland. All are Asphalt rallies except Russia and Scotland.

Look after the jump for more pix of the Neo S2000.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Proton Saga 1.6 liter B-Line with manual transmission is now available for public booking on Proton Edar’s website. The B-Line M/T listed at RM39,000 is the sole 1.6 liter model on sale, and is only available in Chilli Red. That’s about roughly a RM3k premium over the 1.3 liter B-Line M/T.

No specs for the B-Line 1.6L M/T have been made known on the site but based on various ads placed on online classifieds: it has power windows for the front, air conditioning, an alarm system and a CD player so it should satisfy the bare requirements of creature comforts, but with no safety features as there is no airbag.

The car comes with steel wheels so if you want to spend some money you can quickly junk them and put something else on to match the more powerful engine.

Interestingly the cheapest and most affordable N-Line which was priced at RM31.5k seems to be completely gone from Proton Edar’s website now.

It is not unusual for car manufacturers to launch a car model with the very baseline model priced without profit or even at a loss to draw customers to showrooms, and then later get the sales staff to try to sell them the more profitable trim levels. This baseline model will then be phased out later.

Also, is it just me or have the prices changed since launch?

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

Chairman Dato’ Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh says the results are primarily due to impairment of property, plant and equipment (PPE) and inventory write-down of certain models impacted by volume contraction, and is reflective of the current global economic condition.

He added that the second half of the financial year was dversely affected by the accelerated amortisation of certain dies and jigs as well as the increased costs of components and raw materials arising from higher foreign currency exchange rates, particularly, the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar.

He noted that despite the loss, revenue had actually improved from RM5.62 billion in FY2007/2008 to RM6.49 billion in FY2008/2009, an increase of RM864.98 million. Proton currently has a cash balance of RM899.5 million, down from RM1,173.9 million in FY2007/2008. They also expect to receive a RM81 million R&D grant through the National Automotive Policy for the financial year.

“As a fully fledged automotive company, we spent a substantial amount on the development of new models such as the Proton Exora and Lotus Evora during the year. While this had affected our cash reserves, we will be able to recover when the cars are sold,” said the group’s managing director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin.

Dato Haji also adds that Proton intends to double their total sales volume by 2010, with the bulk of improvement coming from improvements in export market sales. The Proton Exora will be launched in Indonesia in July 2009. Proton sold 156,845 cars in FY2008/2009, up from 139,942 in FY2008/2007. Out of that amount, 16,746 or just over 10% were export cars and 2,280 were Lotus cars.

In other Proton related news, the Proton Exora is now eligible for the Proton Xchange programme effective immediately, where customers will be able to trade in their old cars with minimum lifespan of 10 years for a RM5,000 discount.

Look after the jump for the full Q4 results announcement by Proton.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.

The Proton Saga will be entering the Australian market in early 2010. Proton will sell the Saga with a 1.6 liter Campro engine, an engine size up from the 1.3 liter consumer version we get here.

Proton Cars Australia says the Proton Saga will be Australia’s cheapest sedan, which won’t necessarily mean it will be Australia’s cheapest car as most cheap cars are 5-door hatches, which would not lay claim to the cheapest sedan title.

According to Proton Cars Australia, there are currently 25,000 Protons on the road down under right now and hopefully the new Saga will increase those numbers.

While a 1.6 liter version of the Proton Saga isn’t officially on sale in Malaysia yet, there have been classifieds ads appearing all over (such as this) advertising limited units of a Saga 1.6 for sale. The specs include a 1.6 Campro IAFM engine with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The ads also say it is only available in solid red which leads me to believe these are the taxi cars being sold to consumers who want it.

Prices range from between RM39k to RM43k from what I’ve seen and the equipment is minimal, with steel wheels and no airbags, but there are front power windows.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 08:02:05 +0800.