It’s one of the things that makes Malaysia unique – a popular ex-premiere who as the adviser to the national car company, can scoop all of the motoring publications in Malaysia when it comes to test driving and revealing the first details of the upcoming P3-21A!
Our ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir has test driven the new Proton P3-21A at their Shah Alam test track, and he’s revealed the first details of Proton’s new car on his Che Det blog. The following is a list of what we can gather from his post:
- Proton’s new 1.6 liter turbo engine will be used, which allows the P3-21A to produce the power of a 2.0 liter engine with a smaller displacement.
- Hot press steel as opposed to cold press steel
- Vehicle Seek Lamp
- Wiper Auto Speed
- Automatic folding wing mirror
- Push-button Start/Stop function
- Automatic Wiper Sensors
- Automatic Headlamp Sensors
- GPS navigation system
- Impact sensing door lock
- Central Locking
- Alarm with Immobiliser
- CVT gearbox with 7 virtual speed manual mode
- Tiptronic selection on shift lever
- Steering-mounted paddle shifters
- ABS with Brake Assist
We’ve already been made aware of some of these features in the past, for example when we got our first look at the P3-21A’s interior (click to have a refreshed look in case you’ve forgot), we could see the paddle shifters and the push-start button.
Tun Dr Mahathir noted that these features are for the top of the line model, with some low-end and mid-level equipment levels to have less than the above features. He also mentioned that the car would be launched in 3 months time, which would mean sometime in May 2012? Until then, stay tuned for more updates!
In the meanwhile, what’s your wishlist for the new P3-21A? Share in the comments! For me, I would like to see 2 airbags standard on all models, as well as the option for side airbags to be included in the more expensive versions. I also wish ESP stability control would be an option.
