We’re continuing our deep dive into the improvements made to the facelifted 2022 Proton Iriz and Persona, explained in great detail through a roundtable interview with the cars’ vehicle programme executive Adzrai Aziz Ibrahim, who oversaw the project. Here, we’re taking a closer look at the changes made to the Punch continuously variable transmission that has been a staple of the two models since launch.
Despite rumours to the contrary, Proton has decided against offering the Saga‘s Hyundai-sourced four-speed automatic gearbox, instead sticking with the much-maligned stepless transmission. Still, the company has made several tweaks since 2014 to make the CVT better to live with day-to-day, following customer complaints and reliability issues.
The Iriz and Persona last received a major hardware refresh for the CVT in 2019 as part of their first facelift, aimed at addressing perceived reliability. The revisions included a redesigned oil pump and hydraulic unit, a new oil seal and bearing, an optimised pinion gear to reduce noise and an improved transmission housing (to minimise oil leaks and porosity) and internal component machining.
According to Adzrai, these changes have been effective, lowering the number of warranty claims significantly. “We can see that from the launch until today, we have had an 80% reduction in warranty claims,” he said.
For 2022, Proton has focused on the CVT’s software, adding new functions to improve the performance and refinement of the transmission. The most significant of these is the return of the stepped-ratio SAT feature, which dispenses with the dedicated button and is now activated automatically once the accelerator is pushed beyond a certain threshold.
As such, the CVT is able to simulate an automatic gearbox’s “kickdown” and hold onto a specific ratio before “shifting up”. Proton says that the new function improves and reduces the noise made under hard acceleration and smoothens out the acceleration itself.
A Neutral Idle Control (NIC) has also been added, disengaging the clutch at a standstill (while still in D or S) to lower the idle speed, eliminate the shift shock when shifting out of Park and reduce vibrations. Adzrai said that the new features were derived from those of competing models, with the team having tested the new cars back to back against the Toyota Vios and Honda City.
Last but not least is a proper Eco mode (completely separate from the Eco Driving Assist indicator, which merely lights up when you’re driving efficiently), which disables SAT and disconnects the clutch off-throttle at speeds under 70 km/h, allowing the car to coast. Proton claims a real-world reduction in fuel use of between seven and ten per cent according to in-house testing.
As previously reported, these improvements – plus a retuned ECU – allow the Iriz to deliver an NEDC-rated fuel consumption figure of 6.7 litres per 100 km, with the taller (due to its larger wheels and roof rails) and heavier Active registering 7.0 litres per 100 km. That’s a significant drop of 12% and seven per cent respectively over the 2019 model’s 7.5 litres per 100 km.
Refinement has also been given a step up, with the vibrations at idle measured at 0.041 g at the steering wheel and and 0.029 g on the floor on the Iriz (0.038 g for both on the Persona) – a reduction from the 0.05 g measured on the 2019 models. The buzz, squeak and rattle (BSR) rating for both the Iriz and Persona has also gone up from 5 to 6.5, indicating a quieter cabin.
GALLERY: 2022 Proton Iriz 1.6 Active CVT
GALLERY: 2022 Proton Persona 1.6 Premium CVT
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barang spare parts ada kan?
So many improvement but still cannot surpass the Game-Changing Perodua Myvi. Until today, Perodua Myvi is still Malaysia’s best selling car!
I think all brands does suffer from a similar fate for parts due to covid issues. Based on my FB group of numerous car brands, there is still a complaint of parts availability throughout all brands.
Yes, it is improved CVT but the jerking in low speed driving is still there.
God damn I hate this Punch CVT.
Car showroom not yet allowed roadtest oredy you know it jerk in low speed? Come on bro, everyone knows you are a Proton hater no need to lie here.
Before u critic do try out the 2022 improvements laa
Which means… The original iriz cvt was literal crap
Nobody can score 100% at first try ya
proton cars low rv.
Interesting to own one in 2022 . Price on the road KK .
Great they can improve the transmission. Awesome.
I hate when Proton make a beautiful car such as Persona, but with classic 4 speed transmission.
so many articles.. when will test drive review comes out?
This was my comment for the engine but it applies the same to its gearbox. With improved refinement, there is no urgency to replace it until model change happens.
[With all the massive changes, VVT is effectively a new engine entirely itself, not to mention it has changed the mount points so older Campro cannot be fitted onto newer Iriz, Persona et al. A more correct term would be a well refined cousin of Campro, much like how HK416 is to the veteran M16.
Anyhoo from 2014 until whenso it gets phased out with PIES full model change, it had a good run but times changed and emission regulations are getting stricter. With EV on the horizon, it makes less sense to develop an entirely engine family replacement so going the route of adapting Geely’s 1.5L engine family which Proton are well familiar with by now, makes perfect sense if I were Proton, and save up the R&D money to develop new cars around it or go one up and come out with EV powertrain.
Yes they had Iriz EV, but even that bit of tech has marched on and moving toward inwheel motors which Proton could leverage on Bosch as their usual tech partner. This would save up space at the front bonnet for a quick swap battery pack cell, thereby making the change from versions of ICE car into EV a direct progression with minimal R&D investment needed if having to develop an entirely new EV car.
No not every EV car have to be built from scratch like Tesla did, see Ford with their F-150 Lightning. A switch from ICE to EV is entirely viable for existing cars today. Proton can leverage on that possibility to invest their R&D monies where it would count.]