When it comes to mass market cars, especially models from national carmakers, there’s plenty of interest from the general public (not just car enthusiasts), and no short of opinion too. Proton recently gave five lucky persons a test drive experience beyond the normal showroom sampling – they got to experience the new Proton Persona at the carmaker’s Shah Alam test facility.
The oval, which is Proton’s proving (and play) ground, regularly hosts media preview sessions, and the selected ones were clearly happy to be there. To make things better, instead of a sales advisor as company, they were chaperoned by the very people who developed the car. I recognise some faces in the video – they are the men responsible for the good ride and handling of the new Persona.
The video shows Proton staff taking the five – Chu Jian Yang, Abdul Muhaimin, Mohd Nazri, Mohd Khairul and Balqis Md Salleh – on a high-speed ride on the banked oval, as well as slalom and ESC tests. All were interviewed later and offered their opinion on the B-segment “Iriz Sedan”.
“It feels very different, I don’t get the scary feeling from the other cars in the same segment. This car feels very stable, as well as quiet and comfortable, Chu said. Mohd Nazri praised the handling and comfort of the Persona, while Balqis liked the car’s comfort and stability. Both Abdul Muhaimin and Mohd Khairul were impressed by the good NVH – “kita orang borak je,” the latter quipped.
Having just driven the new Persona, we concur. Good ride and handling, high-speed stability and improved refinement are points in our notebook as well, along with a more responsive and cultured CVT gearbox. More of our findings – from both the driver’s seat and rear seat – in the full review here.
Launched last month, the Persona has gathered over 8,000 bookings to date. Available solely with a 1.6L engine with a five-speed manual (Standard only) or CVT automatic (Standard, Exec, Premium), it is priced from RM46,350 to RM59,350.
GALLERY: Proton Persona 1.6 Premium CVT
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u come here just to post negative comment. bodo
nothing less for a negative product. History speaks for itself
A negative product is one that doesnt change. Just like ur dinosar vios
Usual proton marketing strategy: this is a sport car with cheap price tag. All proton models are sport car compatible. This is so misleading that’s why people driving proton like they are driving lotus end up accident here and there. Proton drivers die the most in Malaysian accidents.
Then explain why you beli saga untuk anak you if you are so proud of your sushi
I agree..
Tengok boleh, beli jangan.
Once bitten twice shy.
Wait till this guy to come here to tell all fake and boring story lah
Yep, your name speaks for itself.
Proton tried to convince people the persona is a cheaper 86? Lol I bet none of these tester sat in a 86 before. Why 86 so expensive in Malaysia? Thanks to proton! You think so easy to save RM 1.5bil soft loan for their pocket money?
hahaha..actually they did announced through one of the auto media if anyone interested to have a test drive the all new proton persona with proton team. so they are the lucky 5 participant that volunteered to join the action..
You got hate management issues man.
Sape namer awek tu? @@
As usual ,lets give P1 a fair evaluation.
This Persona has done FAIRLY STEADY till now.Not bad.BUT…BUT…BUT Still lots of catching up to do with P2.
At the end of the day,I reckon the sales by Christmas may not exceed 75000 units.
So,unless u r a ghost…u need to believe the FACTS.
Come April 1,2017….another hefty loss again rm 500 Juta.
Why ? The persona,Hondana,Ertiqa development cost easily reach rm1 Billion.
P1 needs to sell at least 150000 units annually to break even by the fifth year.
So next year,folks….another soft loan again.Rm 1 Billion , Facts or myth ?
I hope your accountants are not from Mars.
inb4 bashers says enuff with Matt Damon & Mars jokes.
Oh, but I fully intend to shoved it back at them until they regret even spouting this nonsense in the 1st place.
Sooooo many but.. sigh.. its not facts either a myth.. just ur own anticipation base on ur last nite dream.. sleep well brader..
Nice 1. Times tell’s the product quality.
When Leona test it?
You think Leona want to be affiliated with this lousy brand meh?
The driver trying to copy jeremy clarkson “even the car manueverable.. Look, my hands off the wheels!!”
Unless your are plainly joking then I am fine with it, but if you are not then please take some time to read about such maneuverability test since you have the time comment here. Should be fun for you as well.
Then again, I might be a developing a butthurt symptoms which in that case I am sorry in advanced.
That “Sorry in advance” made my day.
You want to comment ppl but already said sorry in advance. why afraid? your name already anonymous la. see this boy no balls. shame2 xmalu.
You… didn’t quite understand what he was trying to pull, did ya?
these are the 2 areas proton persona exterior sucks:
1) roofline too high
2) tyres and rims too small
This is the reason why. 1. To make sure there are enough o plenty legroom, car maker decided to increase the high of the seat. 2. Tyres and rims too small to achieve the desired fuel efficiency. Bigger wheels put more load to rotate.
As result, persona has the smallest leg room in b segment sedan and it is also still very fuel consuming. Lol
The FC in real world cond is near bezza, trumped vios and city
Sounds just like Bezza! Wrong post ka?
They should bring T badge TRD B segment car and compare it head to head. Ada beran?
Toyota vios trd sportivo errr xperlah mak tak berani kalo dibuat test2 mcm nih hehe
Get Prius c then this Persona lose in all aspect. Seat comfort, quietness, handling, fuel saving, reliability everything! A used prius c us now same as persona. So why waste your money on junk?
Wow.. now you admit that toyo rv not so high is it?
Prius C is sampan car lor.
“Seat comfort?” Please. I get backache sitting in that cheap seats of those.
“Quiet”. Yea right. When it rains, that tin roof of yours only amplifies the sound making it impossible to have a conversation in the car.
Before you compare your cheaply done, inferior products. Test this new Persona and see for yourself before bashing.
P.S. I brought one. =)
What? Toyota racing department with standard spec? R u kidding me?
toyota ada berani lawan ESC test ke? Oh wait, vios manada ESC!
The T brand will spin out at the first cone lol
You really think a Vios can drift like in that ad? Those Vios used in the ad didn’t have standard springs and dampers. The standard Vios will understeer like a boat on choppy water.
hype and marketing stunt. Kudos for trying
Honda City handling even better.
Yeah.. why dont you just say kancil handling is a ton better? Need to get your brain checked sir..
the ford fiesta id the best handlin in segment B
Still lost to p1
Got special tuning on the test car? my standard cvt nvh are good but after the speed 90km/h above the wind noise will covered the volume of the radio and the music cant hardly been heard unless u turn the volume up to 25++.
Lain kali xyah bawak laju2 klau isap rokok….
Obviously not a real owner
Done by professional drivers so it looks so easy
Take a closer look and you will see that the tyres are screeching & bodyroll struggling to correct itself.
Wanna real test drive on the track then switch off the VSC and see how the actual car behaves?
Ada berani ?
Sounds like why don’t we just cut off the brakes and see how the actual car behaves? VSC is part of the car so that’s how the actual car behaves. Ada berani?
Stupid comment.
Who on earth would wanna cut off the brakes?
And why always divert attention to Vios & Almera rather than face the truth.
Ada berani ?
Its call sarcasm. You know sarcasm?
What’s the purpose of turning off the VSC? Most people drive car to reach from point A to B, not simply wanna do public stunts on the road..
U comment like this car should behaves like a GTR35 bro. You know this is a family car right?
And thanks for mentioning that this car at least has a VSC button to switch off, your vios/almera/myvi ade butang ni x?
Are you Mamat or Mat Rempit? Ashik pikir rempit saja? I wonder why Malaysia accident rate is so high now.
I bet the vios “drift” video is considered a real test drive for u, huh?
Ahem.. if you noticed in one of the manouvres earlier in the clip.. the red car ‘dances’ a bit left to right and whatnot.. that was WITHOUT VSC.. it is impossible to do that with ESC ON as the system will kill off the oversteer/understeer rather quickly.. nontheless.. the rnh tuning make it easier to do those kind of things and actually take control of it.. so.. yeah.. mmg ade berani.. btw.. tyre screeching? Kete da sideway cmtu if tyre still quiet then it must be godlike tyre..
Actually they did already during media test drive to Kuantan recently. You can check the video through internet shows Persona driven with ESC off.
But amazingly the car still not too overspin and still can be controlled. That’s what Proton mean good ride and handling car is safer car.
Why do they should switch off the VSC? The test drive are all about to show how all the system works. It is not a racing car. Ya.. I’m sure they berani to compare it with Vios and Almera. For sure both will fail for the VSC testing because they dont have one.
Let’s hope we will not have groups of over confident persona driver to perform the stunt on the road…
Haha just like the increase in Vios involved in accidents after the ‘Drift’ ad came out. At least, the Proton have ESC and can save you from being too intimatr with a tree.
Bro LOL, FYI, ESC by itself does Not save U from accident. Don’t be over confident/paranoia with ESC. Good tires & defensive driving are safer than negligent driver with ESC. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Most proton models has got great handling and a very confident ride, most likely learn from Lotus.
Only if they can get the styling right, both inside and out.. I’ll get one !
Come on lar… look at that body roll, and the struggle for grip.
These are not comments from real people. They’re all actors hired for this ad.
This is so misleading. Ignorant buyers would think they can pull through corners like rally drivers, and end up hitting a tree.
What struggle for grip? Are you high? Cannot differentiate intentional manouvre and the unintentional ones meh?
Drive like a rally driver? Dude.. malaysians are all rally driver.. all got balls of steel.. see at highway la.. myvi drive up to 170 with a car that handles like crap!! still bwk laju.. bg ape2 kereta pn sama.. its not misleading if the mentality of the masses yg f*ed-up..
Go google and see for you self other car ESC/VSC test video and then tell why do the car behave like that ok?
Enough with Proton. They best car from them is the car they didn’t make – Inspira. Not because it handles well, but because it is somewhat reliable.
People driving in the city do not care about ride & handling and to be frank, all Proton has is good handling at the expense of a good ride. What’s the point of a stiff setup when the city is riddled with potholes, uneven manholes and badly patched roads? In cases like this you need a suspension setup that can absorb and separate jolts from the cabin.
Proton is similar to Perodua – just an assembler. Sourcing the cheapest components available and putting them all together in a bad jigsaw puzzle, hoping they fit.
So stop pacifying Proton. Persona is not a good car.
Proton ever making a good car is like the opposition winning a GE. It just won’t happen. “Ini kalilah” No. Never.
All the praise about Persona being the best Proton so far and on par with the competition, give it a rest. The same rubbish has been uttered since Satria Neo days up to Preve and it all turned out to be lies. Accept the fact that Proton can never be a global player. It will never come close to the Japanese or Europeans. The Chinese are way ahead of Proton in terms of tech and styling. Take a look at BYD, Geely, Haima, Qoros.
Satria Neo must be so bad that Cusco just had to use it as its race car.
This comment made me sad.. It’s not about what he said… But the way he said it, it sound like he is a man with no dream, a man who is not capable to dream and to achive something bigger, a man with low self esteem that he never believe that sometimes thing wil be better.. I am sorry for you, did your boss mad at you?.. Be strong bro.. Life is hard, but never let it put you down. This is not sarcasm.. I trully wish for your success in life.. Dream big bro… Believe in yourself.. Never look down on yourself.. Cheers..
Butthurt coz cannot afford persona as 2nd car. Inspira loan not yet finished. Lol
Why should we trust a video that is made by Proton
Bro bro that rear drum brakes bite aren’t so strong on those skinny tyres, no need rear head rest bro
FYI, the new Persona needs 3 meter less to stop from 100km/h compared to the old Persona. Brake force distribution, tyre profile, vehicle dynamics come into play more than just rear disc / rear drum factor in vehicles nowadays.
However, the brake padle in the new Persona is not very welll modulated, strong it may be, but it certainly didn’t give the subjective “feeling” to the driver that it is strong, you need to press more than 1/2 the padle travel distant to start having any meaningful stopage power, hope Proton will rectify this.
Balqis such a cutie..
Good job on the promo material. Need to do the same for real-world stuff like vehicle quality and reliability and workforce diversity and competency, among many others. Long road back Proton. Good luck.
Bashers again. Proton has given the public what it wants, a reasonably priced car.
Let’s face the reality, this is economic car, it is never designed to perform stun like that on the road. Remember, never ever try that on proton, you are killing yourself, or worse the others.
Proton is very unethical for promoting their car in such a way.
Yeah.. toyota was being very responsible when they showed the same thing…
Hello, I hail from the Philippines..Very surprised the deep Malaysian hate for their national car. Proton models in the past deserve the hate because of their not so world class build standards. But newer models like the Iriz, Persona, and Perdana seems to be a big improvement despite the limited development money invested. New Protons slide beneath the Japanese and Koreans but better designed..better looking than Chinese and Indian cars. The Proton Iriz and Perdana looks fine..I do agree that Proton needs to add 17″ wheel as standard equipment to offset the weird proportions of the Persona. Remember that Japanese and Korean car success didn’t materialize overnight. They still needed time to improve generation by generation until they reached what they are today. What Proton needs is to invest more in refinement and reliability.. put those Lotus engineers to work and offer left hand drive to export markets(like the Philippines) who needs affordable vehicles slotted beneath the Japanese and Koreans. I think you all should be more proud that your national car is still standing after all these years of mismanagement and sub par offerings. I see the light in these new Protons.
You missed one thing: it has better handling than jepunis and koreans.
Tq
When was the last time anyone here commented about a little known company of a foreign country?
‘Test’ is understatement, they were merely ‘Experiencing’ it.
‘Test’ implies that they were giving the chance to drive it around the track like the professionals do. And of course it would be a favorable impression for staffs to drive it.
Come on, even local car dealers would allow anyone to test drive it on public road, why couldn’t they do it the same for a video on closed circut.
Things would be so different if those Lucky 5 were featured to drive like a maniac to test the Persona’s prowess.
I don’t doubt the handling of proton is good. Just that the finishing, solidness & durability of parts is lacking. The refinement of engine is also poor as after awhile, the engine vibrates.
Havent Test Drive it yet
Most of us who comment here are DRIVER. I will comment when I have driven the car. Still, I like to read comments from fellow M’sian bcos its entertaining & sometime can learn a thing or 2.
Keep commenting bcos any comment is better than no comment especially the “dislike”. It means your taste is different from mine. Cheers …
Hi Balqis.
Nice cool promo video from Proton. They need to convince the average Malaysian that they’ve improved on reliability and quality too. It will be a long road back to black. Good luck Proton.
Proton likes to do all these gimmick thinking people are stupid. Just like how the send their FLX+++ with tether lock for test and remove it from the production car.
Value for money. No money buy potong . Got money buy something else. Last time I use satria n perdana . Endless problem . Overheating n gearbox issues. New persona maybe better . Too late to save sinking boat. Now I drive Nissan …. 7 tahun …. Tukar minyak Saja. No problem . Pay a bit more for jap car . Not bashing but my experience.