More info on the Proton X50 from the recent City Preview event is trickling in, in addition to what we’ve shared with you from the media preview in Tanjung Malim last week. We’ve seen the X50’s claimed fuel consumption figures, and now here’s another claim – one with regards to the testing that went into the new model.
It’s no secret that the Proton X50 is essentially a right-hand-drive Geely Binyue a.k.a. Coolray in some markets. But the Proton X50 is the first RHD version of the B-segment SUV, and as we’ve seen with the Geely Boyue-to-X70 conversion, there’s a fair bit more to be done than just flipping the steering wheel. The X50 has 406 parts that are different from the Binyue, for instance. Local content is 40% at launch.
It has now been revealed that the Proton spent 75,000 man hours on testing the X50, and has completed 1.9 million km of local road testing of the SUV, which is claimed to be “tuned for Malaysian roads”. We’ve been told that it’s not the full-blown “Proton Ride and Handling” package but minor adjustments on the Binyue, like what they did for the CKD X70.
Why are we still seeing camouflaged mules running around despite the X50’s launch being just around the corner? We posed the question to X50 vehicle programme executive Mohd Haizam Bin Ghazali (basically, he’s the man in charge for all things X50, like a programme manager) and he confirmed that test cars are still piling on the miles.
Mohd Haizam explained that while production of the X50 started in mid August in Tg Malim, Proton has not completed the development of the car, and there’s still work to be done. The X50 test mules that are still on the road are the continuation of reconfirmation activities, and there’s also some validation work to be completed. Also still running are audit cars for quality. More on the work behind Geely-to-Proton, LHD-to-RHD conversions here.
Also mentioned at the City Preview customer event is that the Adaptive Cruise Control function – which allows the car to follow, stop and turn autonomously, keeping you in lane with steering assist – works at speeds of up to 150 km/h, just like on the X70 Premium.
The top 1.5 TGDi Flagship version of the X50 comes with the full ADAS pack that includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane centring assist, lane keeping assist, auto high beam and blind spot monitoring with a door opening warning. There’s also a parking assist system that enables autonomous parallel and perpendicular parking moves, something even the X70 Premium doesn’t have.
We’ve already covered the X50 extensively from the media preview that happened last week, and you can check it out here. Below are the spec-by-spec differences that we know so far. Bear in mind though that all the images you see here are of the range-topping Flagship – Proton has yet to reveal the other variants in the metal.
2020 Proton X50 1.5T Standard
Gets as standard:
- 1.5 litre turbocharged three-cylinder MPI engine
- Around 150 PS and 226 Nm of torque
- Seven-speed (wet) dual-clutch automatic transmission with manual mode (no paddle shifters)
- Four airbags (front and side)
- LED headlamps and DRLs
- 17-inch alloy wheels
- Quad exhaust pipes
- Full carbon fibre-print bodykit
- Fabric seats
- Rear air con vents
- Digital instrument cluster
- Eight-inch touchscreen infotainment unit
- Reverse camera
- Electronic parking brake with auto brake hold
2020 Proton X50 1.5T Executive
Adds on:
- Six airbags (front, side, curtain)
- Leather-wrapped steering wheel
- Automatic headlamps
- Front fog lamps
- Leatherette seats
2020 Proton X50 1.5T Premium
Adds on:
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
- 18-inch alloy wheels with red brake callipers
- Powered driver’s seat
- 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment unit
- 360-degree camera
2020 Proton X50 1.5 TGDi Flagship
Adds on:
- 1.5 litre turbocharged direct injection three-cylinder engine
- 177 PS and 255 Nm of torque
- Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS)
- Dual-tone exterior (black roof and pillars)
- Panoramic sunroof
GALLERY: 2020 Proton X50 1.5 TGDi Flagship
GALLERY: 2020 Proton X50 colour options
GALLERY: 2020 Proton X50 official images
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
X50 testing still ongoing. Earlybird buyers doin free testing, better make early SC appointment yo
You forget that testing is still ongoing and the car not yet on sale. By the time they are available at showrooms, it would have done its target 100,000km road tests. You can be assured that car durability & reliability wouldn’t be a problem by the time you accept delivery.
Haval give 7 years warranty, Geely can or not?
Haval give 7 years warranty if you go to Haval service center every 5000km and pay for Haval service.
You pay for Haval service or not?
So far from what i know, Haval owners have driven their cars over to Thailand up to Bangkok & over to Laos on their own without any service crew backup. That’s how reliable the car is. None X70 owners dare to drive over to foreign country as the car can develop problem any time & there is no SC support. In fact owners now say X70 must not be the only car owned as its highly unreliable without spare parts.
If cannot tahan pakai buang 5 tahun lor
Who like to play restoration job can take it
From the rubber door seal for rattling noise to the engine mounting brake oil pump turbo cooler, etc
@Hart932. Orealy?
https://paultan.org/2019/02/26/proton-x70-owners-epic-road-trip-to-geely-hq-hangzhou-china/
“So far from what i know, Haval owners have driven their cars over to Thailand”
I didn’t say that Haval is unreliable (I don’t know anybody who drives one, so I cannot comment that). I said, that the warranty is void if you don’t go to official Haval service every 5000km.
That is if u assume no issue at all between now and hitting the target mileage. Any issues found that require engineering and mfg changes will not be immediate
Prove it by giving 10-years car warranty unlimited mileage (including DCT gearbox too).
Ada kawtim ?
Does Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Ferrari, et al gives you 10 years car warranty? After all, their cars are multiples more expensive than X50, they should be giving 20-30 years car warranty no? Ke ada kawtim?
WOW 1.9mil KM…. This car must be running 24/7 at 110km/h (Malaysia max road legal speed) in the last 720 days (or last 2 years!!!)
“Test driver” sounds like a dream job for some people, but in reality it’s not. It’s a difference if you want to drive or if you have to drive.
And yes, they clock several hundred kilometers per day, it’s their job. But they use more than one car of course, the 1.9mil km are combined.
Early buyers are at LEAST assured of near 2million (that’s MILLIONS!) km testing done. Rest assured.
No matter what it is, Proton Reliability is greater with longer distance than Honda. Plus with less maintenance for Proton with low price
Actually, maintenance cost for Proton X50 and X70 is higher than any Honda cars. I personally did the checking. So don’t get your hoped up too high. Objective posting here so keep the hate bashers away… :)
You personally did the checking? Sure boh? PaulTan also personally did their checking and found X70 servicing cost are cheaper than CR-V. Mau tipu siapa ah????
Whatever it is, even though honda maintenance cost damn cheaper but will have to pay more for replacing parts. That will be additionally cost for paying more replacing parts plus maintenance.
LIKE: X50, Vios Facelift, Almera and Persona
DISLIKE: City, HRV, BRV, CIVIC
Sayonara to Civic, HRV, CRV, City, BRV, Jazz
Slap the Ais Kacang’s face said that change logo need 2 years time.
Power window boleh pakai tak?
Sure. Hi Proton, power window up down. Anything else?
Yeah, just make sure the absorber mount doesn’t give way soon like the X70. My new X70 had loud sounds coming from absorber mount after just 1 week of ownership. This is the CKD. Understand the part is made by APM and Kayaba. Ridiculous and still haven’t received the replacement parts till now. Its been 2 months. So, Dr Li, you should check on your supplier’s quality, their products etc. If not, just use those that are manufactured in China like the CBU units. Had high hopes for Proton but with this issue, not too sure anymore. Nice car to drive though, though fuel may not be as economical as the Japs. And full of technology. But the absorber mount issue, imagine do they conduct their PDI diligently.
See, told ya they have part issues
You mean honda also got part issues, lol
Mengaku jelah spart part susah dapat, jangan malu-malu. All major economies are decoupling from China. Proton je still dekat2 dengan China.
Your Japanese car fuel pump dah tukar ke belum?
Copy paste: “roger foo on Sep 23, 2020 at 10:49 am
XD50 for me,. Happy with X70 currently owned. Continental feel and with all the safety features in. A safe car to drive.”
Copy paste
“Owner Says Proton X70 Spare Parts Unavailable for 2 Months”
One case out of…? Come on. This is a car and things happens, even the owner is more understanding than you, just a regular hater cherrypicking on issues.
A few more copy paste for your indulgent
“Proton X70 Parts Issue Upsetting Its Owner”
“Proton X70 Owner Waiting For Spare Parts”
“X70 has spare parts issue?” – Lowyat
“Proton X50 Makes Its Debut While X70 Owners Await Spare Parts…For Months”
Lol! You sure you don’t want me to point out the number of complaints from dissatisfied Honda owners? Try me bub.
Like p2 with it’s fuel pump issue?
No worries, understood that even though there is issues for X70 but P1 always give better satisfaction to the customers. Meanwhile honda also got issues but with many broken parts. And coming out from SC, another headache again.
There are type of people who don’t stop to find just a tiny bit of issue from a certain brand and feed on it. They make it look like a major thing whereas the issue might only happen once, or at a very small ratio. I think your case is valid and you’re sincerely just telling people about your experience. It’s a pity that Proton doesn’t resolve your issue as quickly as possible otherwise you won’t be posting about it now.
Buyers nowadays not only buy a car, but a complete package (car, servis, parts).
If the car is okay, but the servis or parts availability is bad, it will damage the reputation of the product in the long term.
That’s true but some parts are not mass produced especially the ones that rarely have to change or have issue. Uniquely, some of the claimed issue are related to those type of parts. Which is why I mention “a very small ratio” and which might not be enough to make people think twice to buy or not to buy. If it’s something that is well known to have issues and part of a major component, that will no doubt be a clear warning sign not to consider the product at all.
Proton don’t change owner 2 times in 5 years for no reason.
Neither does Nissan changing their CEOs like I change underwear. I wonder what is wrong with Japanese management.
Still nissan is selling at developed countries with stricter regulations and not Nigeria, Somalia, Ivory Coast.
Really then? Try to buy any of these socalled developed country Nissan cars here. Where’s the Maxima, Kicks, Note, March, Pathfinder that are sold there?
And what is this? https://paultan.org/2020/09/21/nissans-best-bet-for-a-turnaround-is-china-report/
Nissan having to count their survival on a country with less strict regulations? Is it coz cannot sell in countries with stricter regulations? Hahaha
But I doubt the reason was largely because of no parts for a rare issue.
Sure, Proton have some quality issue every now and then but there must be something in them that Geely sees. I bet one of the reason is “potential”. If not, why would they bother. Not many can deny that Proton cars are much better since Geely and I don’t think Geely done a lot to be honest. Proton might already have what it takes to become better but nobody sees and managed it properly.
(Like) X50
(Dislike) HRV
(The X50 has 406 parts that are different from the Binyue, for instance. Local content is 40% at launch.)
Kudos to Proton for their excellent engineering and localisation efforts. Sadly I can’t say the same for Aruz, 90% is still same as Toyota Rush.
mari honda showroom
Sorry, too bored and yawn. Every younger want shiny younger design, not the same boring tech with crab ricer car. Yes, only aunties/uncles will go to honda showroom
I don’t wanna be stereotypical toward any brand but you made a valid point.
Bring it on
What?! Auto high beam?…Such a feature to show how stupid is today’s drivers…
Disability in controlling standard switches, turning on headlights during bright sunny days, throwing high beam whenever computer think, use daytime running lights at night, turned on fog lamps and feel the car move faster…And still forgot to turn on signals when turning or change lane.
Just like smart phones getting smarter but users getting dumber. Automotive industry nowadays needs dumb road users. Or else wont sell. Just like the smart phone users, the users are the product for the advertisers, not the phone itself.
I agree.. especially when I see a brand new car that doesn’t turn on their signal, I’d be like “so kesian la this guy buy new car but signal oredy rosak”. Funny thing is, their signal seems to be working when they cut queue!
make sure it really up to standard…don’t be like ‘old’ proton, power window also took few generation to solved…haha
Still rehashing that old myth eh?
Its not old myth. I’m still have the old Proton for 12 yrs & power windows have repaired 7 times. So just because Proton rectified the power window in new model still didnt solve those on older cars on the road. Is it owners fault or the manufacturer for not coming up with a new design for old cars so that owners can change to?
@Hart932. Oh sure. You got such an old car and you expect them to rectify it for you. Hey, I got a 12 year old Vios and it didnt come with 6 airbags (only measly 2) and didnt have Stability Control, nor AEB, Blind Spot monitoring, ACC and Lanekeep Assist, etc. Is it owner fault or the manufacturer for not recalling my old Vios for fitment of all those “missing features”?
Haha…Power window issues nearly became part of Proton standard / standard problem of Proton.
Not anymore no power window issue my 9 years old Exora CFE still run fast/smooth as it does on the 1st day. quality improved alot compared with P2, Waja Wira’s time.
Although it’s true, you have to come up with something more creative than that. The joke is too old and focused on one out of many issue that may happen on the car. Of course it’s because that the issue is too repetitive that makes it so imbued to the minds of others but repeating it over and over again seem to indicate that it’s the only issue that you know about and “feed on it” ..
Well done Proton for checking car build quality.
Nice!
Impressive.
Tuned for malaysian roads…….I guess it might referring to road with multiple huge bonggol, potholes, family-loaded genting climbing, and water wading capability(from flash flood). Maybe kerb climbing (when car parks cannot be found).
The mighty X50 can take all these punishment.
1.9km test. If going at speed of 90km/h that means the car have mean running non stop for nearly 3 years. Something doesn’t add up
multiple car testing le
That is combined number, you have to divide by testing car quantity.
Do you think Proton only test 1 car during the whole development period? They probably have a dozen of those Prototypes running around.
1.9m km for 75k hour, average speed is 25km/h
Paultan – “We’ve been told that it’s not the full-blown “Proton Ride and Handling” package but minor adjustments on the Binyue, like what they did for the (slightly stiffer tuned ) CKD X70”.
Understood for the 90% of the mass market.
Meaning the Fully Tuned reserved for the ss sport variant in the coming future, Good then selling the Standard tuned for enough profit ro prepare for the niche variant Manual with fullblown P1 Ride & handling when they have enough fund to so
Time to upload new photo bro.
Are they sure they tested it 75000 hour..it take 8 to 9 year if it OTR 24 hour
Multiple test unit
bro, its man hour bro..go google and understand what is man hour first la..testing not done by one person only lah
Not if they use multiple cars at the same time. For example, 75000 hours / 20 cars = 3750 hours per car. So it would only require 5-6 months for 75k hours worth of testing.
1,900,000 ÷ 20 cars = 95,000km each car testing saja
They test last 10 years. This model 2010 just got this year..
Seem like you not really know production line.
Sheesh… getting my hopes up. If it were fully proton handling I would want compare it to CX-3
This is how really works that make feel better and comfort
Give 7 years warranty like Haval, then peace of mind
I had peace of mind with BMW 3 year warranty previously. Why should I worry on a far cheaper car offering 5 years and why should I need up to 7 years? Typical warranty past 5 years are meaningless as majority of the car isn’t covered anyway.
Don’t really believe car manufacturers press release after the whole dieselgate thing realised car makers are full bs
It is still an infernal combustion engine hence Malaysians not Chinese are not moving forward fast enough.
How much RM?
No point testing on empty freeway road speeding all the time
Proton car always have problem with city driving
It is tested on various road conditions judging by the locations of X50 spyshots. Don’t simply make assumptions.
Yup agree on the certain type of people. And yes, my case is a genuine one. Imagine driving a new car out from the showroom and u get the crackling sound from the absorber mount. Who wouldn’t be frustrated. Yes, it’s a pity Proton takes this long to resolve quite a simple issue really. But looking at it holistically, the locally manufactured part is questionable. No point also changing to a new locally manufactured part as the problem will persist perhaps again immediately or somewhere near down the road. But am sure the higher management of Proton will look into this with Dr Li at the helm. Well, he’d better do his work.
There’s one problem though, like I said earlier, the ratio is too small. Imagine 10,000:1 – would any big company come up with a quick solution for a mere 0.001% possibility of some issue? I think the people in the service center should instead think of outsourcing the issue since the ratio is too small. Why wait for official part from official source? Why don’t take the initiative to buy official part from other valid sources? Or maybe just buy them from the China itself? The service center need to up their game, more work are necessary in order to make a customer happy. Hopefully your case will be resolved soon and hopefully no one had to experience that in the future.
I think they just lazy flip the steering from left to right. Why claim do a lot of thing as the turn signal is on the left still like driving in China still?
That’s only one thing, u dun know math?
bye bye hyundai kona and kia seltos
Still waiting for Proton’s first PHEV car. Waiting for that to replace my 10 year old Fiesta.
EV/PHEV are way too expensive for the average Proton buyer not to mention the cutthroat replacement battery price. Even MINI EV is a Rm20k premium on the regular version so expect a Rm50k regular Iriz would cost you Rm70k for EV. Hardly a sum an average Iriz buyer would consider.
Factoring all that, you don’t save any on fuel cost but you suffer worse on depreciation. With such issues, there is little incentive for Proton to come out with EV/PHEV atm.
Very impressive and state of the Art will capture market in Pakistan.
Forgive my ignorance but can someone please explain how Proton spent 75,000 man hours testing the car? That’s 8.5 years. Geely binyue was only out 2 years ago. And how does Proton covered 1.9 million km?
Tuned for Peninsular main road.
Wonder how much different will it make if they tested and tune driving on Borneo roads.
Article is about Proton, post is about Proton. Yang ko mabuk ketum talk about Honda for what? I don’t work for Honda. And Proton selling in only third world countries is nowhere near Honda.