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.
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After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.
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Wow. These are great – most Malaysians won't get to test drive the car. Thanx!
haha.. i think for sure, most malaysians wont get to test drive the waja 4wd rally car. but i think the satria neo is available for test drives…
aiya…pull handbrake only…my old proton saga also could turn like that when i took corners sharply. without handbrake oso..heheheh…not a big deal these handling things…but the pert looks good when doing the donut…
This one driver keng la…try giving the car to a normal person to drive it. I wonder if it could slalom as well as in the video..
Woh..! I can see how much d diff in terms of handling for latest Satria Neo. Sharp U-turn very excellent, can see it is much much better compare to old Waja. Waja slam on Lancer engine gonna buang look like…
Karamjit is the man and that waja turbo goes like a bomb. There were actually people who got to ride in that turbo waja while it was doing the stunts.
Nice spinning! Also if do at off road and see the flying stunt like BMW much more interesting.
The Satria Neo does handle quite nicely but I don't see what's the big deal about those handbrake and J-turns though; most cars could do that, given that the handbrake effect is sharp enough, J-turns can be done without any braking at all. If it's impressive, it's the driver, not the car hehe. What's more impressive is the Waja though, it is indeed different with transmission and engine mods, but in the end it is still not all Proton's work. We Malaysians can feel prouder if the engine and all is designed by Proton, don't you all think?
karheng, i dont know about you but, but my expierience with my old saga sedan model with factory suspension setup was most likely having understeering on doing hard turn. So i reckon if i take it to the slolam test at that speed, i will hit most of the skittle..
very cool video….i hope they bringing in the BTCC waja for demostration..whuahaua
Yes, I was there and Karamjit is the man, solute him! Looks easy for him doing those spinning..
yes for a front wheel car to be able to do sharp u turn like in the vids one need to pull the hand brake.
yes every front wheel drive once lateral force is induce then one initiate the handbrake the car will pivot about front wheel center.
what will make neo stands out the the ability of common driver to feel the yaw rate, the roll rate and feel the steering how far is enough. A saga will spin beyond control for common people because it is not tunr for such kind of behavior. Karamjit probably can handle a saga on that corner. but not you and me.
who drives like that?
a car is tune as a balance between all four corners of you tire contact patch that will generate grip. And this depends on road surfaces. road surfaces/condition can change (beyond our control) rain, trailing lori pasir, material change (tar – cement) etc. this can easily lower the grip that you have. what ride and handling does is balance the grip you will on all fours. thus no matter the condition the ability for you to control will be there. the steering will still talk to you, the car body roll and yaw will tell when enough is enough and when to correct before its too late.
yes nobody drive that fast except on highway. but most forget grip on highway can easily go down 3 folds when it rain even if you slowed down to 90 from 120.
pardon the typo type to fast
Nice demo, but I was shocked at the lax safety procedures!!! I false move and the car could have ploughed into the group of spectators not to mention the Marshall in the black t-shirt! Typical Malaysian mentality.
huhu nice modded 4wd waja.. why la t.djan didn't perform with his waja oso..
why use evo6 engine? takut campro terbakar ke?
karheng,
If it's not a big deal, why oh why did the 1st generation Mercedes A-Class fail the moose test? Not only did it fail, it failed miserably prompting Mercedes to issue a recall and install an active stability control system free of charge. Yes, the test where cars zig-zag between cones is called a moose test. :)
I agree that the sharp U-turns were not as great as it looks but the handling of the Neo was pretty good. I did spot a little bit of understeer though and the cars weight was thrown around because of the ample rear segment. All in all its not bad.
Seems like Karamjits donuts in the Waja were a little off centred don't you think??
anybody can confirm if the nose feels abit heavy?dats how it 'feels' from the video shots…and..does the rear feel abit 'loose' ir lighter than the rest of the car…the old satria felt dat way…
yup the donuts done by the waja were a lil' bit off centred. but anyway, great driving skill by karamjit even though it's raining during the show.
the off centred is maybe because it is a 4WD car. the front wheel also tends to spin too.. the donuts it much better done in RWD.. seen the testing done between audi RS4 and bwm M3 on fifth gear.
Off centered or not, he successfully pulled it off in a narrow parking lot easily.
aiyaa, who will drive like this!?
why dont they do a LIVE crash test demo, let ppl know how safe the new NEO is
Did any reporter/journalist actually interviewed Karamjit on what he personally thinks about the cars? I mean, no offense to anyone who gave comments regarding the driving, but no one actually drove those cars like that except for Karamjit. Especially since he's driven all Proton cars to the limit before, so if he says the Saga can actually do the same thing that Neo did, then I can actually believe him. If (that is a big if) no one interviewed him, then that shows the weakness in car journalism in Malaysia and that is very disapointing. Paul, if you're reading this, try to pull some strings and do an exclusive interview with him. 1st question should be how he feels about Neo's handling. 2nd question should be, how does it compare with other Proton models.
they call this good handling? goyang2 is good handling? my damn old wira drive better than this after fixed up with monroe.no goyang2 after side breaking. kartun la. eeeyukkk
wow.. we have so many amazing drivers here who talk about how great they are and how much they know about car handling..
talk is cheap. why don't you guys enter one of the many grassroots motorsports events around town nowadays? i hear you only need a regular car, or even modified, driving license, any old helmet, RM60-100, and you get to compete with other "part-time" racers for trophies and prizes on a weekend. I'm sure some of you guys here will probably win the event outright.
as for me? can drive to work, mamak, come home, dont get into any incidents along the way, thats good enough for me.
I think Karam showed great skill in the waja rally car. For those who don't know, that car was built in 2002 and is owned by the EON Petronas racing team, the team which Karam won the world rally championship title with. The car and the team has nothing to do with proton. The event was also held at EON's HQ
I think proton edar shoul appoint karamjit as one of their ambassador, not that I hate their move to give free car to Mawi and Daniel who only can sing. This flying sikh really can fly in part of Proton's demo.People will listen to his opinion and thus help decision making in buying the car. Not people who sing and drvive free car can persuade me to buy that car.
at one angle, rear side of neo reminds me 90's VW Golf GTi.
it's only my opinion. :)
excellent handing,,
very suitable for malaysian ahbengs modify!!!!
It may be just the driver but it seems the initial acceleration is a bit slow for the 1.6. Its expected for the 1.3 but one would think there would be difference but there don't seem to be. You do notice the better acceleration of the 1.6 at the higher speed but for a 1.6 not that impressive. Despite all the plastic, the car seems heavy or is it the design to take corners that is making this car look heavy?
Bigjoe: that's the problem with the campro's torque curve. The 1.6 is just nice for the car, the 1.3 is underpowered. But to have a fun drive I think a more powerful engine is needed. Perhaps a 1.8 GSR transplant or an Evo4 (Neolution?) :P
Isamu: Doing the moose test on the A class of the mercedes,, i dont' expect it to do well, simply because it's not made to be agile. It's a bumbling fumbling car which I do not like. And how can you compare the A class with the Neo? It's like comparing a dog and a hippopotamus. and driving around cones are called doing slaloms btw.
Paul, while the engine is revvy, I think the bigger problem is the gear ratio that is not matched with the campro torque curve. Not a surprise because Proton had to reuse the gearbox used with the more torquey (low end) 4G18. Campro should benefit better with shorter ratios. But whatever it is, I think for city driving the Campro engine is not very driveable.
ya i agree , the campro 1.6 is really revvy n smooth..has got the power compared to othr 1.6 class,bt the problem is the gearbox..every gear has the wrong ratio,either the gear too long or too short…i tink if it has a proper 5speed gearbox..it wil really be good…eterna manual can fit??jus curious..if proon can develop its own engine..y not develope ur in house gearbox??surely cant be as expensive as the engine…
Proton can't afford to develop it's own gearbox so it's using Mitsubishi's. Actually many manufacturers find it not economically feasible to develop their own gearboxes so they get them from companies like Magneti Marelli or ZF.
wah…can use this car for drifting on m'sian road now..
is it a satria neo a FR OR RR OR 4WD?
Mm, so, is it feasible if they change the gear ratios? I mean, what's the point of a 180kph max speed or so when the car has difficulty reaching 100kph? People don't really do 180kph all the time, a lower ratio will mean lower top end, but at least the car will accelerate better, drivers will appreciate that more.
karheng : the moose test that the a-class failed is quite relevant actually, as it shows that the car had bad active safety.(you are right that its called a slalom, the moose test is actually the equivalent of the collision avoidance test) The car actually rolled over and landed on the roof. The test was run independently, not by mercedes, and it was the first car tested by this group that failed the test. Even a big tall 4wd truck should be able to pass this test without rolling over.
the controversy started when mercedes actually refused to accept the problem, and claimed the tests were not accurate. but after much pressure from the media, they recalled all a-class cars sold, and factored in a major modification package to prevent that from happening.
somehow, from what i've read, most people who post in this blog seem to believe that active safety is not important for a car.
mr.nice guy, the satria is an FF…
most usual cars are design to be user friendly, and seldom got users buy it as performance usage, only some of them, that's why the car is designedto be enough for street use but not tuned as performance, unless u try to modify it. If u get a high powered car with mauals especially, how to drive in a clogged city roads? letting the clutch, and the car will start 'flying' already. and we don't need 8 calipers racing brakes and etc performance parts if the main usage is for city use. Ppl will just be concern about the fuel economy and the QC and price of the car. they won't care if the car got wat wat performance and top speed or 5seconds 0-100km/h… cos most ppl use cars as transportation only and not racing. just some safety features with adequate sound systems and comfortable interior and nice handling and fuel economy wil do…
That's my opinion for cars' markets for usual ppl… and at this forum, most are looking at the car's maximum performance on a street use car, that's why sometimes we are quite disappointed about it. just some of my opinions here…
nothing to shout about.. no doubt the drivers where trashing it but doing all kinda of stunts. just feel that the part might just come off anytime. altough i was impress with the1.3 but i felt it had to push really hard to get those acting skills out of it. i X-wira 1.3 dont think would able to do such stunts. they should have done other moves like inline welee. or some short drag test.or breaking distace test in front of the audience…
jtshin, while I agree with your above statement, most of the people in this blog are car enthusiast. Therefore, most all of us like to have better performance, handling, fuel economy, comfort, safety and etc for street use. It is generally a habit for us human being to seek the best but settled for a compromise instead for everything we do.
The 1.3 does not look that convincing. Is it a true stock car? Why not place the desire out there and make some stunning laps. Or pit against the old staria. That would be better.
looks good but>>>>>>>>>>>>
karheng,
I think you misunderstood my comment. I had wanted to let you know the importance of the Moose Test which is directly relevant to handling because you said "…not a big deal these handling things…"
BTW, the A-Class is a supermini. The main criteria of a supermini is agility.
e-nabilll,
The development cost of a transmission might be more expensive than that of an engine as you need to do so many reliability tests. Personally, I am of the opinion that developing a transmission is more difficult than developing an engine. The gear ratios of can be determined using geometric progession but then how do you set an optimum ratio which can suit so many engine variants? Developing a manual transmission is more straightforward but to develop an automatic transmission, there's software and electronics to look into as well. The transmission works harder than the engine all the time.
PaUl Paul talking about malaysian company vehicle, you sure perodua will launch another two model soon which replace kelisa and kancil…. last two day daihatsu japan just launch one new model called mini sonica no wonder this model will replace which model but i sure not kancil and kelisa right….or is it kenali?….or another new model TQ
that demonstration is kacang putih lah, everybody can do it, just tarik handbrake then swing like hell.
check this video out, i bet Satria Neo canot do this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB4fEbodGs0
0wow…alot of comment…had lefted it for 3 days…im lost…
engtaokia…nice vid frm u…
The biggest challenge of developing a manual transmission box is, in my opinion, in the areas of NVH and durability. And the cost of this alone, in my opinion, can easily match the money Proton spent on developing and testing the Campro engine.
BTW Paul, do you have any clue as to when Proton will release the Campro CPS? Heard that they've improved the torque dip and increased the power a bit with CPS and variable intake manifold. Appreciate any info.
guys, most of the time, gearbox is the most expensive part on any car be it manual or auto.
engtaokia, you are right….Satria can't do it but SAAB driver can! BTW, what car are you driving? Can your car do that as well? Maybe you can lah?
Campro CPS still not confirmed when to be launched.
The Daihatsu Sonica does not really compete with this car. If Produa comes up with something like Toyota Aygo, my prediction, it will take sales from this pretty quickly especially if it comes with a diesel engine too.
Taxi: i dont hav any SAAB to do that stunt lah :( even if i got, i wont use it to make any dangerous stunt to like INITIAL D LONGKAU DRIFT. :O
hey BigJoe, that Daihatsu Sonica seems very nice! new engine from Daihatsu somemore, unlike our god damn perodua engines.
jz check abt daihatsu sonica here
http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/20606…
engtaokia, no offence to you dude. but i just dont get the point of your comments.
1.what is so special about what those Saabs did that no other car with 4 wheels and handbrake can't do? The drivers make it happen, not the car.
in all fairness, those guys are fulltime specialist precision drivers. kudos to them. but in fairness to Karam, he is not. he is a rally driver. do you think if you put those saab guys in a rally car, they can win the world rally championship? most probably not.
a wreck test drive satria neo
http://marjan.blogsome.com/2006/06/22/test-drive-…
cool, but if i do the drifting on the road, i think my tyre will ends up in smoke… damn , if i'm rich, won't be using satria neo instead…. Evo VIII already..haahaha :)
Can't help but notice that the Satria Neo is somehow based on the Mazda 323 series. Especially the name, NEO… which got me to check it out and I noticed that there are design resemblance between the Satria and my friend's Mazda 323c, or Mazda NEO 94-95 model… hence the name NEO. I haveta hand the congrats for Proton to try something 'NEW'. The Mazda Neo came out around 94' and the Satria Neo – 2006! 12 years later… Hmmms. Why can't we come out with less copied or original designs? Are our Proton designers so 'terrible' in their designs or does the problem lie with the people on top?! I'm just disappointed. And a special mention for the superbly plastic-coated interior! A Gen-2 look-alike! Alamak! Tsk Tsk Tsk!
funny thing is, doesnt seem to look like a mazda neo aka ford tx3 at all. proton chose the name neo, coz its from the thousand + year old greek word "new", which is basically, new satria. its not an original name invented by mazda, so i dont think its fair to say proton copied mazda.
if ford built the GT first, and then porsche built their GT, does it mean porsche copied ford?
Woh..! I can see how much d diff in terms of handling for latest Satria Neo. Sharp U-turn very excellent, can see it is much much better compare to old Waja. Waja slam on Lancer engine gonna buang look like…
u totally wrong
that Waja is complete wif 4WD and LSD the New satria look nice turn bcoz is hatchback my self drive kelisa and i also can make a nice turn …. go to do more research before say anything
xxxxavier,
good Day mate
care to elaborate which part yg u cakap similar/identical to 323..for me it's totally different..i dont know either i or u yg blind????
Well, I went to the showroom today for a look at this Neo. It impressed me actually when i sit into the car. I think the materials used this time is really better than before. But I think the glove box got some problems as its seems not practical enough… big hands can't get things deep inside. and have to press it to open… not practical enough… and the door lock… built it shorter then it won't break easily… others I just hv nothing to say… see if I got chance to test drive or not next week… and hope the car won't hv any quality problems in the future…
Y was my previous post here deleted?
Maybe there's some problem with my eyes xxxxavier, but I can't see any resemblance the Satria Neo has to the 323 other than it's got 4 wheels. And it's just your speculation that the designers at Proton copied from the Mazda. "Neo" means "a new form", it's not a special name, any car can use that name, maybe we will get Waja Neo next, depending on Proton, and they still won't get any lawsuits for copying, cause they didn't.
hhmmm…yup xxxxavier…which part u said it???
Yo guys,
Neo handling memang bestla… I tested oredi.. memang mantap.. everything felt so solid during my test drive.. suspension oso very good.. the best test drive for proton car so far… memang value for money.. solidness & performance cant compare to myvi… I goin to wait for the 4 doors version…
ps: Neo tuned for "GARANG" driving & high speed long distance… A tiger indeed…
5 frens went to a showroom looking for a new desire…
Guy 1: hey look its a new Proton! its called Neo.
Guy 2: watevaaaaa dude, cut the crap n i rather mind my own business!
Guy 3: looks nice though, wonder hows the quality this time
Guy 5: Still, its a proton wat… wat'd u expect?
meanwhile, Guy 4 comes back from a test drive, ok, lets forget bout this n we're all outta here, a'ight?
toda6866,,
i dont get your message..what are you trying to say actually..
i'll not do that to my car.. love my wira.:-)
OK, another Karamjit promo drive. It looks crazy fun but actually not diffcult to do. Its just a slalom with two U-turns. Handbrake is required of course but more important is the getting back on power(i.e. 1st gear) when coming out of the U-turn pivot. Making the manuver smooth is another matter(U need to have Karamjit's world rally experience to do it smoothly).
As you can see, it is probably easier for Karamjit to do it on the hybrid rally car because it's got better traction(4WD and active differentials) and faster steering rack. The donut is also a piece of cake with that much power…
IF ONLY THY MAKE NEO A RWD CAR IT WILL BE A GOOD DRIFT CAR SOB..
karamjit who?
oh, malaysia rally driver who alot of competition but didnt managed to secure sponsorship from government.
yet G launched sukan bermotor…
an insult to the man himself.