Yesterday, we brought you news that Proton will make a return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) next year with the Iriz R5, developed by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM). Now, MEM’s official media provider Chicane Media has released a full photo gallery of the rally car, and it sure looks like it means business.
The B-segment hatchback has been beefed up significantly for competition use, with massive box arches bolted on to fit the larger wheels and wider track. Also visible is a deep front splitter, a large mesh lower grille with the Iriz script, bonnet vents, a roof scoop, a sizeable rear wing and a large exhaust exit.
Built to compete in the WRC2 category as well as the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), the Iriz R5 is powered by a 4B11T turbocharged four-cylinder engine from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. To comply with the R5 class regulations, the engine’s displacement has been decreased from the stock 2.0 litres to 1.6 litres, which MEM claimed would make the mill even stronger.
The car also comes with an Xtrac transmission, Reiger dampers, Brembo brakes and Cosworth electronics, and will be available in both left- and right-hand drive; homologation is set to kick off on January 1. “We started looking at this with Proton last year and straight away we were excited by what we saw with the road car. The size and shape of the Iriz is perfect for rallying,” team boss Chris Mellors told Autosport.
“Everything is in the right place: the overall length of the car is shorter than the Satria, but the wheelbase is longer; the strut tops are in just the right place; there’s lots of frontal area which is great for cooling. We’ve got a great base car and into that we’ve put all the right ingredients.”
This isn’t the first time MEM has joined forces with Proton for rallying either, as it had previously built the Satria Neo S2000 for the national carmaker. That car competed in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) and the APRC, bagging the drivers’, constructors’ and teams’ titles in the latter in 2011.
“Proton never lost its interest and desire to compete in rallying. It was just the practical point that there was no car. Proton is really excited by what we’ve got here,” Mellor said.
I WANT!!!
If you got some Nissan GTR worth of money laying around, you can have one yourself, as all rally cars have to be road legal and registered. BTW how do they plan to homologate the Mitsubishi engine? By declaring it is from a Proton Inspira like the renault engine in the satria neo S2000 is from the Proton Waja? I really wish that they did this along with a proper facelift of the Iriz, and this could be a great publicity tool for the Iriz road car. But no, motorsports has always been something disconnected from the sales promotion by Proton. If you are not milking the goodwill from the Motorsport activity, then why bother doing motorsports in the 1st place?
OMG ugly!?!?!! Close down whole company!
You must be almari dugung and vios catfish fan
Please have your eyes check ASAP
But why MEM need to work with P1 Sales team? No kaitan at all. MEM wud rather sell their Iriz rally spec car rather than bog std Iriz which is sold by a UK distro. So why?
i do agree with u, iriz still running with belt…please doing thing better proton
Model kereta Proton setanding dengan kereta popular lain seperti BMW, Proton menerima penarafan lima bintang daripada Australia NCAP dan ASEAN NCAP.
Spending public fund for their indulgent.
Not p1 but Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM)
So many people here keep on saying Proton is not spending a sen on this. Hello, get real, Proton gives a few units or Iriz for development FOC to MEM.
Car companies in time immemorial have always given their cars FREE to rally developers as a way to make a name for themselves.
No rally developer has ever paid for a car they are developing
The question now is this….for a company that is losing RM4 mil per day and owes the Government RM15 billion plus the extra recent RM1.5 bil, is Proton in any position to give FREE cars away?
Other than cave facts to back that claim, is there anything else?
this is the same guy who said all Proton Sagas got VSC….ha ha ha ha. Cave facts.
Kunta Kinte, can you disclose the sources of the information as alleged? It’s good to state sources so you wont mislead readers. Otherwise, you are all full of *hit. Tqvm.
Good more reason to cut Proton workers by shutting down the R3 motorsports department since they now sublet the contract to orang puteh in UK. And they’re not even Lotus employees. Waste of money!
Why matters if spend Ingland public funds?
Stupidity at it’s finest
mem is british private team who has also race satria neo s2000 on wrc and aprc which proton become champion on 2011 and 2012
Won both 2 litre class and 1.6 class back then back to back until mem pull out later years
Proton only provide after sales service/support
If you don’t know how motorsport racing works or even being a motorsport enthusiast then keep living in your imaginary coconut shell
Provide sales service/support? to who? who are they selling to? service/support don’t cost money?
Just because you read a little about motorsport, you are acting as you know everything about it. Motorsport is an expensive thing to go in to. Even Malaysia is pulling out from hosting. Ko apa tau?
And thats why bashers need to READ the article b4 bash. Then theyd knows based on the extensive parts changes, P1 only needs to sapot on chassis development and repairs. Thats peanuts compared to the specialised rally parts listed above.
Peanut still money. You are a lost making private company surviving on public fund.
to MEM of course
they for example if the car crash and need parts specifically from proton
and little motorsport? mate i’m avid motorsport enthusiast, especially rally
i watch wrc, euro rc, btcc, rally cross etc
and that’s just euro scene, i’m not even touch asia pacific yet like the aprc, mss
you the type i think only watch F1 and don’t believe there’s a racing scene where shitty proton even compete the likes if europe big boys
pathetic attempt
Well, for starters, more than you.
Do you actually read the article? Or you simply love to bash Proton or you are bored with your life?
What is wrong with the fender?!
Rally spec car.
What’s wrong with non sport enthusiast people who keep looking point to shoot proton down?
Cuz jeles no Axia rally car?
They butthurt tengok P1, too proud with their old outdated sampan jepunis cars
if there even one i’ll bet a lot will turtle like myvi before even reach finish line
The fender(massive box arches) bolted on is to fit the larger wheels & wider track.
wow this car really makes me drool over it…
Message lebih over dari Mat Over. Nak hype pun agak-agak la …
You must be from the “Wow, lucky I didn’t book the other car” era.
Butthurtness is high in here, lol
So if MEM was a P1 subsidiary, like some claimed, why need Chicane Media to release teaser pics?
Basher just came out of their imaginary coconut shell and was butthurt to see proton achieve something
That sticker “Proton Motorsports” send shivers down my spine.
It is a blasphemy in the motorsport world to have such sticker.
Not developed by Proton
Using Mitsubishi engine
Not even tuned by Proton
Only using Proton’s chassis
And yet they have the audacity to put “Proton Motorsports” instead of Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM)
Sangat memalukan
Memalukan is those who bash own efforts when even others acknowledged these efforts. Memang memmalukan.
DK is syok sendiri person, civic is his dream car.
Civic? Seriously? LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLO
for real bro? what we up for? nothing just a a shell of iriz…
well….it looks like MEM doesn’t mind…too bad
It’s part of after sales support proton give
Officially it’s still known as MEM
Likewise i could say to shitty toyolta sportivo and their shitty trd badge
Heck when the last time trd did something worthwhile, even mitsu rallyart also gone, hmmmmmmmmmmm
Hahaha motorsports pun want to rebadge
Honda Accord rebadge Proton Perdana
Suzuki Ertiga rebadge Proton Ertiga
Mitsubishi Lancer rebadge Proton Inspira
Then again Malaysian companies also like to rebadge everything
Syok sendiri, tak original but malu only
MEM is not local company
You are spot on bro. I believe there is no such thing as a FREE lunch. Most if not all racing team runs on sponsors.
Without sponsors, where do they get the $$$ from.
Looks more like someone(P1) DONATED the $$$ otherwise where on earth they fund the Rally. The word “Proton Motorsports” probably cost M’sian tax $$$ in millions.
of cuz theres no FREE lunch. MEM needs to use money to buy the car! Unless u saying they use bitcoins to purchase instead?
Prove me
How many FREE lunch have U eaten/taken that does Not have string attached??!! If U still have doubt, ask your gud fren john. He knows nothing is FREE in this world. Hehehe, cheers
I dont think that is the official livery for MEM. I assume MEM just introduce the casis they will use to compete first.
If the bodykit is up for sale then it is so good.
And soon the return of mat kereta or ah beng with iriz evolution
As if mat rempit wasn’t bad enough we got car version
Y current rally cars all using hatchback?
Most manufacturer in europe especially make hatchback using rwd, in rare case some use awd or 4wd
Rally is practically rwd game but doesn’t mean other setup cannot race in wrc
Sub-zero, you must have been in deep freeze for at least 30 years because your comments are at least 30 years out-of-date.
Carbuyer is right you know. The last RWD car to win the WRC championship was the Open Ascona 400, way back in 1982. Then came the almighty Audi Quattro, which rewrote the rules forever.
Thanks for your additional information. I don’t think the Ascona was sold here in Malaysia, but we did get the highly desirable coupe equivalent, the Opel Manta.
Also glad to see that the voting majority know that Sub-zero hasn’t a clue about rally cars.
Assume you’re a small outfit rally team in (say) Seremban. You want to enter some rallies, and have virtually an unlimited car selection to choose from. Would you pick a Tata Nexon to build your rallying efforts around?
Now assume you’re a small outfit rally team in Bakewell, UK. You want to enter some rallies, and have virtually an unlimited car selection to choose from. Would you pick a Proton Iriz to build your rallying efforts on?
I believe the magic word to make the answer “Yes” in “incentives”.
Now assume bashers arent ralliers or rally owners. Otherwise its obvious real ralliers or rally owners dun gip a F about which country a car is from as long as its a race winner, and have sapot to the customers.
why not an Iriz if the chasis is fit and we have limited budget for a race car?
the finest autist is finally here!
who the hell put mini suv on a racing competition where the rule is ONLY A/B/C SEGMENT SEDAN/HATCHBACK
is like putting bugatti veyron on F1 championship
now that stupidity is beyond cave man level
I wish they use Bezza instead, world championship will be easier with Bezza.
hahaha…bezza tonggek, worst to seen
Perodua SA who dont know about rally.
wat a way to throw money ..even socai smarter than P1..making losses and cars cannot sell still want to show off
This is why you are stupid like the rest in this comment section
MEM is private company from british who buy proton product and services to compete in wrc
Just like how you hire a company to do service your office aircond
And that’s how proton and MEM relation are
Not proton donating free car for no reason
And MEM have been proton customer for a loooong time
And again, proton ia under drb hicom, once again which mean they are under a PRIVATE COMPANY
They are no longer under khazanah which all we know is gomen company
Who is stupid saying proton using public fund when they are currently a private entity?
The amount of absurdity of false information you third world mentality malaysia spout and believe is disgusting and beyond any sort of form intelligence waaaay below bacteria
I pity your species a lot
Did Proton actually made the announcement that they are into Rally? No right, so why butthurt?
Really?? A company on the verge of bankrupt still venture into Rally….
I don’t remember article says proton sponsor them
Do you?
Proton sold them car and after sales support
That’s that
Being seeing stupid 3rd world mentality malaysian a lot recently is indeed worrying, your a disease need to be eradicated
funky monkey obviously you have nothing better to do except to bash Proton. Let me share you a secret; read the article first before trying to act clever! ooo yes, another thing, Proton never made any announcement of sponsoring any Rally event as such stop jumping into wrong conclusion!
Aiyoh they are nuts lah. So far removed from reality of their precarious situation. At least Malaysia Airline sanggup swallow the bitter pill and resize because in aviation there is no longer protectionism. It’s ok that’s another story I’m just giving an example DONT start arguing on MAS. but u get my drift. Eh… Jangan jadi bodoh la. U no longer have Karamjit our flying Sikh or ur Wira aka EVO 3 Mitsu (Itu sebabnyer). Stupeeed. You look at Honda la, No 3 in Japan and ex F1 multiple champion with the most gifted driver now eating humble pie. Mau masuk Indy 500 to distract people. Tengok la ex multiple F1 Champion Renault, backed by TC in Malaysia, somemore pakai bulletproof Nissan engine, fuisyh… it all paid off la. They sold like 20 unit kot every month kat sini. Yes you will sell more cars by participating in F1 only if you are red in colour. Petronas kan also multiple F1 Champion somemore associated with Mercedes. Orang pakai Petron jugak. From Philippines. Shit lah… mati lah kita…
I believe you didn’t read the article, properly
I’ll bet your comprehension is as big as kindergarten
So to go to your kindergarten level
Proton don’t sponsor
The team bought proton car and the after sales support only
No public fund is used, since proton is private entity and no longer under khazanah
If you cannot comprehend then i pity your life
mem the best rally
OMG this really tempting! I really hope they made the road legal version of this baby beast!
CAMPRO engine inside? really?
Article says 4b11
That’s why READ THE ARTICLE FIRST, DIGEST THE INFORMATION, THINK BEFORE YOU POST A COMMENT LIKE THIS, NOW EVERYONE KNOW HOW STUPID YOU ARE
What’s the point of this rally iriz? Bangkrup still want to waste money on rally that does not benefit the business one bit. The govt should stop giving this company money to waste like that.
What’s the point of wasting your already depleted brain cell when you know they don’t sponsor the team? And proton no longer under government your peanut size brain
Proton not once made any announcement of sponsoring any Rally event, why you guys keep saying wasting people money…adeiiii please lah read properly
The front bumper lower spoiler looks more like an air dam rather than splitter. There is nothing to split if it looks like that.
Why does rally car’s Outside Rear View Mirror is mounted wayyyy back (up to mid of Front Door) compared to its original position?
*Just out of curiosity from someone who doesn’t know much about rally.
because the drivers seat is actually located at the middle of the car [a little bit further from the windscreen compared to the roadgoing cousin] to aid in weight distribution.
This might be the 1st Rally Car that may win some races….but eventually go bankrupt…..
I see you also as stupid as other people above your comment
If proton go bankrupt you think it’s the end of AP? The end of everything you think related to proton? No
Gomen will move into other form to screw you as same as before, proton is just a tool to be discarded
The difference between you and me is you know you can’t fight it because you also like to be screw because every crap you believe by your species is the truth and only the truth
Ans because of that you become basher like you are now
Posting stupid comment for the sake of hating cycle
Hello, have you guys actually read any news from Proton Management stating that they actually into this Rally??? Just because the mat salleh got an Iriz to be a rally car doesnt mean Proton is behind it!
Think a bit deeper. Why would anybody joinly develop a Rally Iriz & proudly make known its a Proton if there are no benefits to the external company who does not own the brand or glory?
Let’s make this simple,
“Get the facts first then distort them as you please”.
Despite the negatives comments from the comment section. I believe iriz have the potential to be a tough competitor in the wrc 2 and aprc. Glad that mem picked iriz for their rally car. Iriz ftw