The 2016 Proton Saga is here, with the nameplate first making its debut in 1985. 31 years later, the latest Saga is available in four variants at launch: Standard (MT), Standard (AT), Executive (AT) and Premium (AT).
All variants here are powered by the 1.3 litre VVT engine which also powers the Iriz hatchback – 94 hp at 5,750 rpm and 120 Nm at 4,000 rpm is transmitted to the front wheels via either a five-speed manual gearbox (Standard only) or a continuously variable transmission (all variants).
The 2016 Saga manages improved performance and fuel economy figures, despite similar outputs as before; the manual variant does the 0-100 km/h acceleration benchmark in 12.2 seconds (previously 13.0 seconds), with fuel consumption rated at 5.4 l/100 km at 90 km/h (improved from 6.0l/100 km).
The CVT variant gets to 100 km/h in 13.1 seconds (from 14.5 seconds previously), with fuel economy of 5.6l/100 km at 90 km/h (improved from 6.3l/100 km). Powertrain improvements on the Persona are present here too, including a three-point engine mount for better NVH, and a revised ECU for better response.
The new car shares its 2,465 mm wheelbase with the outgoing car, while with different exterior dimensions – the 2016 Saga is 74 mm longer, 9 mm wider and 11 mm lower than the previous model. Improvements to the structures include a chassis that is stiffer by 20%, a quicker, still hydraulically assisted steering rack, lighter door closing effort as well as improved ride and handling.
Equipment-wise, we start with the Saga Standard, which rolls on 13-inch steel wheels with plastic covers, rear fog lamps, front and rear parking sensors, dual airbags, a Bluetooth-capable, single-DIN head unit, USB charging ports and Isofix child seat anchors. The Standard is distinguished by unpainted door mirrors, door handles and rear garnish, plain black fabric seats, as well as a black-themed interior.
Onwards to the CVT-only Saga Executive, power-adjustable, body-coloured wing mirrors, door handles and rear garnish, black-painted B-pillars, front fog lamps and a rear bootlid spoiler are added. 14-inch alloy wheels, added gloss grey accents to the interior (outer air-con vents and steering wheel trim) and fabric seats with a mesh pattern are also added to the Saga Executive.
Sitting atop the line-up at launch is the Saga Premium, which introduces Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with hill-hold assist, along with fancier 15-inch alloy wheels and a rear garnish finished in chrome. Also added is a reverse camera with a rearview mirror which integrates the camera’s video feed into the mirror, as on the top Exora variants, a double-DIN head unit with steering audio controls, fabric seats with a wavy pattern and more gloss grey trim on the gear lever.
All Saga models get reflector halogen headlamps (with Proton lettering), a chrome front grille, and folding rear bench seats. There will be a total of six colours offered for the new Saga: white, silver, black, red, blue (new) and grey (new). Additionally, each purchase will include a 3+2 year warranty or 150,000 km, whichever comes first (up from three-year/100,000 km coverage).
All models get these improvements:
- 1.3 VVT engine (replaces IAFM+)
- Manual performance – 0-100 km/h in 12.2 seconds (from 13.0 secs)
- Manual economy – 5.4 l/100 km at 90 km/h (from 6.0 l/100 km)
- CVT performance – 0-100 km/h in 13.1 seconds (from 14.5 secs)
- CVT economy – 5.6 l/100 km at 90 km/h (from 6.3 l/100 km)
- Three-point engine mounts for better refinement
- Retuned ECU for better CVT throttle response
- Improved ride and handling package
- Tyres with lower rolling resistance, better wet grip (quieter by 2 dB)
- Four-star ASEAN NCAP crash safety rating (from three-star)
- Quicker, more direct steering rack (16:1 ratio, from 20:1)
- Tighter turning radius (5.1 m, from 5.3 m)
- Lighter door closing effort (15 kgf, from 25 kgf)
- Lighter steering effort (2.75 kgf, from 3.0 kgf)
- Improved torsional stiffness (12,000 Nm/deg, from 10,000 Nm/deg)
Here are the confirmed variants, each in detail (prices OTR without insurance):
Proton Saga 1.3L Standard – RM35,568.24 (manual)/RM38,507.61 (CVT)
- 1.3 litre VVT engine
- 94 hp at 5,750 rpm, 120 Nm at 4,000 rpm
- ECO Drive Assist
- Reflector halogen headlamps
- Rear fog lamp
- Front and rear parking sensors
- 13-inch steel wheels (with 175/70R13 Silverstone Synergy M3 tyres)
- Unpainted side mirrors, door handles and rear garnish
- Manually-adjustable side mirrors
- Body-coloured B-pillars
- Black interior
- Tilt-adjustable steering wheel
- Single-DIN headunit with Bluetooth, USB and AUX input
- USB charging ports
- Fabric seats – plain black upholstery
- Height-adjustable driver’s seat
- 420-litre boot with space saver spare tyre
- Folding rear bench seat
- ISOFIX child seat anchors with top tether
- Two airbags
- Front disc brakes, rear drums
Proton Saga 1.3L Executive CVT – RM41,124.93
- Adds on:
- Front fog lamps
- 14-inch snowflake Y-spoke alloy wheels (with 185/60R14 Silverstone Kruizer1 NS800 tyres)
- Body-coloured side mirrors, door handles and rear garnish
- Power-adjustable side mirrors
- Black B-pillars
- Rear bootlid spoiler
- Gloss grey trim on outer air-con vents and steering wheel
- Fabric seats – mesh pattern upholstery
- Front seat back pockets
- ABS with EBD and BA
2016 Proton Saga 1.3L Premium CVT – RM44,342.25
- Adds on:
- 15-inch turbine split-spoke alloy wheels (with 185/55R15 Silverstone Kruizer1 NS800 tyres)
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
- Hill-hold assist
- Double-DIN headunit with Bluetooth, USB and AUX input
- Reverse camera (with integrated rear-view mirror display)
- Steering wheel audio controls
- Gloss grey trim on gear lever and surrounds
- Fabric seats – wavy pattern upholstery
GALLERY: 2016 Proton Saga 1.3L Premium
GALLERY: 2016 Proton Saga 1.3L Executive
GALLERY: 2016 Proton Saga 1.3L Standard
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Could anybody confirm whether handling is tuned by Lotus?
Don’t think so. Last tuned by lotus car is Suprima R. But Proton’s in house handling tuning capability is quite respectable.
This Saga looks cheap and lacking class. Horrible 80s interior dashboard. Let’s not buy it!
IMO that dashboard is better looking than the one in the Bezza.
Handling maybe great but basic model has no ABS, VSC and even EBD. I rather have safety features than good handling.
Handling is, but comes to reliability, good luck. Everyone suffered proton frequent repair in Malaysia.
@Sama L00 Everyday posting the same thing. Your Perodua showroom no customers? My sister has owned an Iriz for 1 year and only ever takes the car to the service center according to the maintenance schedule. Meanwhile my aunt just received the callback letter from Honda to change her airbags. I thought this airbag issue has existed for 1-2 years? Now only receive the letter? Pay a much more premium price for supposed Japanese quality and drive around with lethal airbags. That’s nice.
ferrari mercedes all japanese car ,proton also using takata airbag… -.-“
False statement…perodua salesmen ?
Ok now pls export to Indonesia, Brunei, UK, middle east. Apa tunggu lagi? USA memang impossible lah.
Handling by Proton…
But I believe you don’t have to worry about that, its their forte anyway …. cheers…
Handling tuned by Proton. Proton Handling. Campro VVT & CVT bising Punch still bad! Now a day the latest engine is dual VVT. Kembara already use DVVT engine. Proton just 2014 use VVT engine. 2016 Bezza use dual VVT-i engine. Proton still claim VVT is the new engine. Haha!
Kau memang bodoh la same lorr, sejak bila perodua ada enjin dvvt oi?HAHAHA!!perodua pinjam enjin jepun je la sedar la sikit bodo..atleast proton dah ada enjin sendiri. Perodua? pengecut beb!!!
Bashing for the sake of bashing. Don’t care if it is a japanese engine, the point is it is in a perodua, and lots of it. Do you call Proton “pengecut” because the Inspira is also mostly japanese?? And what about the Honda I-VTEC engine in the new perdana?
tu proton saja suka2 letak enjin lain kat kereta mereka..alaahhhh chill bro, biarlah mereka, mereka dah besar..mereka dah akhil baligh, suka hati mereka lah nak buat apa sekalipun, ok lagi dari perodua yg tak ada enjin sendiri
tu proton saja suka2 letak enjin lain kat kereta mereka..alaahhhh chill bro, biarlah mereka, mereka dah besar..mereka dah akhil baligh, suka hati mereka lah nak buat apa sekalipun, ok lagi dari perodua yg tak ada enjin sendiri..
tu proton saja suka2 letak enjin lain kat kereta mereka..alaahhhh chill bro, biarlah mereka, mereka dah besar..mereka dah akhil baligh, suka hati mereka lah nak buat apa sekalipun, ok lagi dari perodua yg tak ada enjin sendiri
woi kau jngan lupa , sekarang dah 2016 dan kesimpulannya perodua masih tak ada enjin sendiri hahahaha. atleast proton dah ada enjin sendiri ^_^
Lotus is peace of sX! come on who drive a cheap lotus nowdays?
IMHO, the front overhang is a bit too long thus making the car looks weird, like the front portion is being chopped off from some other models and then fused to the body of the new car. Also, the front portion is a bit too flat for the slightly swollen over-all. It looks ugly-ish from the side profile. It really does. I’m no basher, fyi. I’ve owned Protons too. From the Saga, Wira all the way through Perdana.
Sometimes I do wonder, what goes on in the heads of the designers in Proton. For instance, the old Persona looks good. They actually got the proportion right. The new Persona, well if you ask me, it looks like a dugong. Now, the Saga, though looks leaps and bounds better than the previous BLM, they still don’t quite get it. But I must commend on the effort put in. Price wise, it’s very competitive.
Just my humble 2 cents by the way. Jangan kecam saya. Hehe
I am wondering the same thing … what goes on in the heads of Perodua designers??…hmmmhmhmmmm
Reminds me of a Mazda 2 Sedan for the side profile.
Touching a bit about the persona. Previous one is quite rear-heavy but the proportion isnt bad. The new one on the other hand is heading mainstream. B segment sedans are all swollen up to maximize space out of a small platform so dugongs are to be expected. Of course, don’t compare honda city, vios etc. Diff technology comes with diff dimension to fit into the car. Cheers
At least it looks better than the outgoing FLX.
talk is cheap guys. gotta be glad Proton is still around.
a little long and a little wide, in my honest opinion. but i like the rear end design – which is of something original. like gen2.
Personally i just think that the previous Saga BLM facelift looks better than this. The new saga (what should we call this to differentiate from the old ones?) front has lots of curved lines but the rear suddenly has lots of straight lines and sharp edges. If the rear has a design similar to the new Persona (rounded brake lights, more curved lines), then it would look better.
nice design with lots of improvement..but its a shame they ditch ABS in the low spec..hello! its 2016 not 1996
Low class and tasteless car.
Also, even with ESC in Premium, it’s still a 4 Star car?! That is Axia territory, and they don’t have ESC. What gives?
It’s a quantum leap from Proton Wira Tomyam whose owners refuse to let it die and get scrapped.
Limited budget buyer = no save car to use? ABS, EBD, BA how many % of the COP? Other road user safery not important? If band by basic varint saga due to no ABS, can we claim proton?
u can buy bezza if u want..u have a choice
Aiyoo,
Manual cars where got ABS…
What ABS?? What EBD??, aiyaa, Malaysian motorists are bunch of imbecile bastards with makan taik driving skills (one simply hard braking and another one simply tailgating – i can see lots of this kind of things until lost count especially at MRR2 under the bridge opposite BTS, it’s perfect recipe for route to hell). However, no ABS, EBD and BA increase likelihood of vehicle crash infront by few folds.
The most important for your safety is to drive slow and carefully, not because of installing all the safety features. If you speed madly, you will end up in the hospital even if you are driving a Hummer.
Limited budget buyer = no save car to use? ABS, EBD, BA how many % of the COP? Other road user safery not important? If bang by basic varint saga due to no ABS, can we claim proton?
I thought comments were disabled on this article… under order by DRB marketing they had to open so their staff can place positive comments again. I am sorry but this very respected site has become Proton exclusive marketing site. I am sure this comment will not be printed.
The comments were initially closed by mistake, and have been opened as soon as we noticed it.
My boss Kunta and me have our comments published all the time. I must say, this site is fair. They never discriminate. They allow everyone to give their fair views forward
Yeah right. Next u say aliens kidnapped the ori PT writers and replaced them with body doubles so that they can praise P1. Get a life, dude!
Does the rear boot garnish have the same mount design as BLM/FLX?
Wasted a lot of money replacing that POS plastic that keeps breaking. I always lift at the center, but it still koyak.
that is one thing i always noted when following Saga BLM / FLX. hoping the new one is better.
inb4 bash start.
For RM37K+ you can buy P1 Bezza 3 Cylinders 1.0 Manual
For additional RM 1K you can buy a Saga 1.3 4 Cylinders Auto.
You must be stupid if you choose to buy Bezza 1.0 Manual rather than Saga 1.3 Auto.
Uncle car dashboard look….Persona way more nicer….
why the proton saga and persona is not design to have that muscular look like the preve or suprima?
it looks cheap and flimsy.
tak payah nak bising2 sini, tak mampu belikan? drive gen2 kau je la..btw, saga 2016 dan persona 2016 adalah kereta tercantik yg aq pernah nampak..preve dan suprima masa baru keluar dulu aq rasa kereta tu gempak cantik giler, tpi bila aq tengok kereta2 baru proton sekarang ni, dan bila aq bandingkan dgn preve dan suprima, rasa mcm tak cantik pulak dah preve dan suprima ni…
kau fikir semua orang mcm kau, asyik nak ikut kepala kau je ..saga 2016 dan persona 2016 keta proton yg paling cantik lah ok..atau kau jeles tengok orang lain pakai ? kw tak mampu belikan? drive Gen2 kau je lah. apa bodoh kau ni , pengguna proton tpi bash proton , WORK HARD TO DRIVE HONDA, TOYOTA, NISSAN
Wow!!paultan.org quote was featured in Saga newspapers’ ad!
Should have put in ABS as standard feature throughout the range.
where the 3d body and chassis picture?
Ask Perodua too okay….
I think P1 should not use the word “Standard” in their spec. STANDARD is defined as “A level of quality or attainment”.
P1 should stick their Base model as BLM like before. If P1 want to attain a certain “standard”, P1 should set the example/benchmark by installing all their new cars with ABS.
U CAN be the standard barrier for all car manufacturer/assemblers will envy.
Isnt that what I said? P1 did a misnomer to call basic spec Saga3 as Standard. If pipu compared Std for Saga3 & Biza, it will lose out. Bad marketing strategy.
Let me simplify it in 2 words 4 u = NO Class
No class, just bread-and-butter for the working pipu
For the standard should remove the all round sensors (maybe just retain the rear), usb charging ports, rear fog lights and other cosmetic accessories. If still not enough, don’t use power ⛮ windows for rear windows and just use manual. They should prioritize safety package (ABS, EBD, BA & ESC) first before the things I mentioned above cause this safety package might help to avoid accidents or reduce the severity of the accident. They’re going 180 degrees from what they have promised before. Really sad to see Proton management unable to determine which things should have come as standard and optional.
Sigh.. the rear looks kinda tonggek like the Boxza. And visually not as aggressive as the spy shots shown a few days ago (with the body half covered). Also very disappointing that the Premium variant can’t get a 5 star NCAP rating. Oh well, there’s still the Persona and Iriz.
test driven one of them premium specs yesterday; have to say that i am pretty impressed. yes i’ve always been a fan of PROTON; currently driving a 2011 Persona but i had never been a fan of
(always hated) their car’s build quality. IMHO nevertheless:
– exterior, ok. not too impressive but decent enough for a car at this price range. better than the Bezza from most angle.
– interior, quality feel is surprisingly impressive! steering wheel looks much better than in the photos. nice door open/close feel, door hinge feel is a HUGE improvement from the previous generation. overall, the interior feels really solid.
– ride quality and handling + feel, damn impressive. better than the Bezza of course. personally, i think its pretty close to a polo sedan (the ride quality only ya? not the build quality or interior feel).
– sound insulation, awesome not only for PROTON standard but also compared to other cars at this price range.
– power? naahhh nothing much to shout about here but its decent enough for everyday use.
in short, a very decent effort from PROTON and highly recommended. obviously this is not a pro’s review, just some observation from a normal ‘pergi kerja-balik kerja’ driver.
go and have a test drive!
ps: i am not a salesman, just a fan.
Weird proportion and doesn’t look appealing. Please sack Azlano.
You simply bash and suka hati asking to sack people. Who are you? PM? Haha
I like the 14-inch rims better than the 15
Compared to bezza advance…to me, the premium saga is more expensive…for 46k, no leather seat, remote system with push start, no touchscreen entertainment and engine technology is a bit outdated.
To me saga is still more expensive than bezza as the competitor….the full spec 46k no leather seat no push start no remote boot no touch screen entertainment not really fuel effient…so depends on customer to choose…
So, the Saga Premium CVT (RM45,800) vs. the Persona Standard CVT (RM49,800).
RM4000 difference, which is better?
yang buat aku suka kereta saga baru ini dia punya belakang ja.. smart gila, mcm kereta audi.. tapi sekali tgok depan, aduii manyak kurang..
Great job Paul. Thank you for the useful info on cars review.
Merry Christmas to you and all your family members.
What improvement they did to the chassis?