Proton R3 to offer modification services and produce factory-tuned performance models in the near future

When Proton confirmed its partnership with Geely, rumours were rife that its motorsport business unit, Race Rally Research, better known as R3, was set to have its plug pulled and its staff redesignated to other divisions within the organisation.

While that didn’t happen, there has been very little activity on the R3 front since then, with the performance unit continuing to remain quiet aside from the participation of the works team in racing events such as the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) and the Sepang 1000KM (S1K) endurance race.

Product-wise, there was the Saga R3 Limited Edition and also the Iriz R3 Limited Edition from last year, but these models, made to celebrate R3’s racing successes, were simply cosmetically enhanced editions devoid of any R3 touch. All that silence has led many to believe that by and large, the days of old – and a hallowed name – are all that’s left of the sub-brand.

Well, here’s news that should cheer up fans – things are far from over, because the R3 brand is coming back, offering more than the merchandise and premium motor oils it has just introduced. Now parked under Proton Global Service (PGS), a subsidiary of Proton Edar, followers of the brand can look forward to exciting developments in the not-too-distant future.

In an interview last weekend with Proton deputy CEO Roslan Abdullah and PGS CEO Lee Yeet Chuan, it was revealed that R3 will not only be offering accessories for Proton models, but is planning to offer modification services to customers as well as produce factory-tuned performance variants of existing Proton production models down the line.

The idea, as Lee puts it, is to bring back the glory days of R3. “As you know, R3 was born out of a passion for high performance. Moving forward, we hope to bring this back with performance equipment, from accessories to vehicle tuning, which is the most important aspect. We will also look at Proton models that we can work on and sell as R3 variants,” Lee explained.

He said that initially, offerings will include R3 wheels, body kit elements and decals (in the vein of the Modulo route for Honda), but the ambition – away from R3 badged models – is to offer more performance-based services such as mechanical-related modifications and suspension tuning.

“The company actually received many enquiries from customers over the years to help them modify their cars, but at that time R3 was not business oriented, so these orders were not taken up. Now that R3 is under PGS, we want to look at a “House of R3″ type of business and provide such services to our customers, not just for new cars, but also for existing Proton owners,” he said.

While cosmetic items such as body kits and decals could come about by this year, Lee said that performance components won’t appear so soon, nor will any new model with R3 badging, due to various development processes and also obtaining relevant approvals from authorities.

“Usually to develop a new variant, it takes at least a year. This is because there are many legal processes such as vehicle type approval (VTA) from JPJ and durability testing. Even if it is only producing performance equipment, you can’t make them to sell directly – you have to do rigorous testing because they are OEM components. So it will take about a year, and you can expect at the fastest, next year,” he said.

Roslan said that in terms of a complete model, the automaker is still in the process of identifying the vehicles that R3 will work on, but they will be distinct R3 products, and not just cosmetically-enhanced variations.

Proton R3 to offer modification services and produce factory-tuned performance models in the near future

“For now, we are still doing research on this, but the most important thing I told Lee is that we cannot produce an R3 model that for example, when you look at the grant, only says Proton Saga. We need to produce a model with the name R3 listed on the grant. Of course, to produce a new variant like this, a lot of additional process work needs to be done. We also need to strike a balance between the process and price – we need to sell at the right price,” he explained.

Regarding the model that will be chosen to be given this performance variant later, Roslan stated that it could be any model in the current Proton line-up. “For example, now we have the Saga, we have the Iriz, maybe we can start with these models first. Now, there are people who say why not the X50, or the X70? Of course we will look into these, because the opportunity is there, but we are still studying all possibilities. From here on, we can gauge what customers demand, what are their expectations, and will work based on that,” he said.

Roslan added that there is also the probability of Automotive Conversion Engineering (ACE) – which produces special modification models (such as the stretched Perdana limo) – contributing its expertise. The engineering firm, which is also under Proton Edar, is expected to be involved in one way or another, he said.

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