If you’ve ordered a Proton Satria Neo, as with any car, there are a few things you need to check before you accept delivery of the car. There is a thread on the Satria Neo Club forums that is 9 pages long and provides many useful details on things you should watch out for before signing the acceptance form. Here are a few:
Make sure CAPTOR alarm system is registered
Check rear seat fitment
Check front passenger seat “slide forward” mechanism
Check headlamps
Check if chassis/engine number is same as the one on the registration card
I’ve only listed some as a “teaser”, and there are many more, so head on to this particular Satria Neo Club forums thread to read up. The Satria Neo is an excellent drive, it handles really well, so it would be a pity if your unit has problems. These checks will help you get a car that is as problem-free as possible, so your car can spend more time where it belongs - on the road rather than the service center. With early detection, many problems can be solved more quickly.
Proton’s Satria Neo has been made the official safety car for the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS). It made it’s debut as the safety car at the AMRS opening race in March 2007. This is the third year of the new AMRS race, which began in 2005. There are 13 race categories including the Production Touring Car Championship, The Australian Touring Car Challenge, V8 Giants, OzBoss, and X Challenge.
We really must thank Proton’s design team for the Satria Neo as it has inspired many graphic artists to practice their skills. Above is a new photoshopped image from Theophilus Chin, something that looks abit more realistic thanks to an actual photograph source image.
Below is reader cikdet’s modification of Theophilus Chin’s previous work, turning the 5-door Neo into a 5-door stationwagon called the Satria Neo T. I assume the T means Touring, following BMW’s naming convention. You can click both images in this post for a larger version.
Another photoshop by contributor Theophilus Chin. He’s whipped up a 5-door hatchback version of the Satria Neo called the Satria Neo5, inspired by manufacturers like Chevrolet and Kia who add the 5 suffix to their hatchback cars. I think the way the rear door extends onto the wheel arch is abit weird, but looks okay overall. I wonder if the Golf Mk5 could somehow have Satria Neo inspired body panels slapped onto it and end up looking like this. Click the image above to view an enlarged version.
Proton Singapore Pte Ltd has launched the Proton Satria Neo 3-door hatchback in Singapore, with only the H-Line model being offered at SG$51,488 for the automatic transmission model and SG$48,988 for the manual transmission model.
As a comparison, the Mazda3 5-door hatchback 1.6 Auto sells for SG$60,800, the Chevrolet Optra 5-door hatchback automatic goes for SG$58,488, the Kia Cerato 1.6 Auto 5-door hatchback goes for SG$48,499, while the manual Cerato goes for SG$45,499. The Cerato is actually Kia’s replacement for the Sephia. The Kia Rio 5-door hatchback is even cheaper at SG$43,499 for the manual and SG$46,499 for the automatic. It looks like Proton is pricing the Satria Neo in between the Mazda3 hatch and the Kia Cerato hatch.
More Proton Satria Neo-based photoshops by Theophilus Chin. Above is a sedan car based on the Proton Satria Neo, pretty much the same as before but this time in Iridescent White instead of the usual orange you see on most Satria Neo images. The bling turbine wheels have also been replaced with something similiar to the first wheel design featured on the Proton Waja.
Like the Chevrolet Optra has it’s brother the Optra Estate, Theophilus has given the above sedan a sibling in the form of this estate car. Estate, station wagon, it all means the same thing anyway.
Make the body larger, raise the suspension and you have an SUV! This is what Proton’s possible upcoming SUV could look like, if it carries Satria Neo design cues.
As usual, click on any of these images for an enlarged version.
Graphics designer Theophilus Chin impressed us earlier this week with his take on how a small-sized sedan based on the Proton Savvy would look like. Here’s another piece of his work, a four-door sedan based on the latest car from Proton’s stables - the Proton Satria Neo. Click the image to view a larger version. Enjoy!
Booking figures for the Proton Satria Neo for the past month has reached over 2,000 so far, meeting it’s initial sales target of about 2,000 to 2,500 a month. These are combined booking figures from both Proton Edar and EON. Proton says the most popular colours are twilight blue, iridescent white and metal grey. I personally like the twilight blue and the brilliant red colours the most. How about you?
Proton has already handed over cars to the early buyers at a ceremony on Tuesday, so we can expect Satria Neo owners to be posting their experiences on various forums on the internet soon. My comments are always open to anyone who wants to share their Neo story, good or bad.
These videos demonstrating the handling capabilities of the Proton Satria Neo are thanks to “Wajakuat” who originally hosted them on Youtube. I’ve put them on my server for faster loading speeds. There are three videos, one with the Proton Satria Neo 1.6, one with the Proton Satria Neo 1.3, and the last one is a Proton Waja with a turbocharged Lancer Evolution engine complete with a 4WD drivetrain.
Here are some photos of the Satria Neo on the Sepang International Circuit track. We took the Satria Neo for a few spins around a half-track and it was a pretty enjoyable drive. The photos are taken by Shukor Janis using a Canon EOS-1D Mark II, and photos are courtesy of Proton Corporate Communications.
More photos for your viewing pleasure after the jump.
