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A closer view at the new Proton Turbo engine

October 15, 2009 at 1:59 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Proton Turbo Engine
Click for enlarged image

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.

Proton Campro Engine

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
[Read more...]

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Rulers check out the new Proton Turbo engine

October 3, 2009 at 12:08 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Campro Turbo
A turbocharged Campro engine in an Exora Prestige we saw back in July…

Proton unveiled a turbocharged 1.6 litre 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 litre 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 litre 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.

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McRae and Hayes to pilot Neo S2000 in Indonesia

September 25, 2009 at 4:27 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo

Proton Satria Neo Super 2000

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.

Proton Satria Neo Super 2000

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.
[Read more...]

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Saga to be sold as the Proton S16 in Australia

September 14, 2009 at 4:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Proton

Proton S16

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 litres 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 litre Campro engine option, which will only be available from February 2010 onwards. It’s not sure if the 1.3 litre car will continue to be called the S16, or receive a more apt name like the S13.

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Volkswagen CKD deal: Proton in talks with Volkswagen for ASEAN alliance again?

September 14, 2009 at 9:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Volkswagen

ProtonTalks of some kind of business deal between Proton and Volkswagen have surfaced in the papers again, this time on a car assembly deal for passenger cars without taking up stake.

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!

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Saga 1.6 set for Aussie launch in November

September 2, 2009 at 1:15 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, New Proton Saga, Proton

Proton will be launching a 1.6 litre 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 litre manual, but an automatic option as well as a smaller engine (likely the 1.3) will be available from February 2010 onwards.

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Proton posts RM64 million Q1 profit before tax

August 23, 2009 at 3:56 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

ProtonProton hopes to be profitable in this 2009/2010 financial year and so far things look good with a profit before tax of RM64 million for Q1 of the current financial year. Revenue grew by 8% to RM1.85 billion compared to RM1.71 billion in the same period last year. These improved results caused Proton shares to rise about 2.45% to RM2.93 per share.

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 litre 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.
[Read more...]

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Current model Jumbuck to be phased out to make way for all-new Proton Jumbuck (Arena)

August 15, 2009 at 1:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Exora Pickup
Click for enlarged image

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

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Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team with Neo S2000 and Karamjit/Jagdev officially launched!

August 13, 2009 at 12:01 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton Satria Neo

Proton Satria Neo Super 2000
Click for enlarged image

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.

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Introducing the MEM Satria Neo Super 2000
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[Read more...]

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Proton Exora Turbo based on the Exora Prestige

July 16, 2009 at 5:37 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Proton, Proton Exora - Proton MPV 2009

Proton Exora Turbo

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.

Proton Exora Turbo

The turbo engine based on the 1.6 litre 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.

Proton Exora Turbo
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 litre engine, but with peak torque coming in at a much lower RPM.

Proton Exora Turbo

It wipe out one major issue that the current Exora has, which is a lack of go. The 1.6 litre 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.
[Read more...]

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