kereta

Persona *** 5271

I guess today is the day that most of you have been waiting for the day that the car that promises to set off a snowball effect of recovery at Proton. First sightings of the new Proton sedan were early this year in April, but we actually got to see 3D renderings of it in March. Little did we know that it was a real car to be put into production.

UPDATE: Proton Persona now on sale for RM59,400! As most of you have known by now thanks to a tip off by The Edge, the new Proton sedan is called the Proton Persona. The name is not unfamiliar as it has been used before for the UK market Proton Wira. This makes the name somewhat apt, as it is finally the car that will replace the Wira, something the GEN2 did not do when it was introduced a few years ago.

Proton has taken steps to ensure the Proton Persona is what the customer wants, not what the management wants. Many models clinics and surveys have been conducted to ensure market acceptance. After my first impression of the car at the media preview earlier this week, I must say that Proton has done a relatively good job with this car!

Read more on the Proton Persona after the jump.

Most of you have an idea of what the exterior looks like already. Its basically a GEN2 with a boot. Other than the tail lamps, the entire car from the B-pillar onwards has been reworked. The new car is 167mm longer than the Proton GEN2, and 12mm longer than the Proton Waja. The boot is a respectable 430 litres in size, which is larger than the Toyota Vios at 400 litres. It also features a lock, something that was missing on the Proton GEN2. A 60:40 split rear bench folds flat in case you need more space. Rear headroom has been improved by 43mm over the GEN2 thanks to a redesigned roof curve at the rear. It now measures at 980mm, compared to 950mm in the Vios and 970mm in the City! It only loses out to the Myvi which has a pretty tall roof at 995mm.

The interior has been thoroughly reworked and I can tell you this – the interior plastics arent the best that Ive seen but it is better than some C-segment Japanese sedans Ive driven recently. The dashboard is based on the one from the GEN2 but it has had its quirkiness removed. Normal is the new black, I say. I think the public is fed up of Protons previous attempts to be all “sporty minimalist Lotus”.

Other than the twin-pod meter panel (which now features fully black meter faces instead of the black and white one on the GEN2), the GEN2s interior felt like the Wira replacement it should be. Even the Pirates of the Caribbean cutlass-style handbrake lever is gone now. One qualm I have is that the buttons in the center of the dash still feel very cheap, and they do not really have any obvious switched on or off feel when you press them – or you could say the buttons provide not much feedback to tell you you’ve pressed them.

The door panels have been completely redesigned. The power window switches are now on the armrest which is the preferred location for many. There is some decent cloth trim on the panels. I dont know about you but I prefer my elbow touching some nice cloth or leather instead of bare plastic. The seats have a new design and now the front seats are more conventionally shaped and feature a headrest.

The little analog clock which no one could read has also been removed, so the dash lines flow a bit better now. But the best part of all would be a glovebox, although it is not a particularly cavernous one. With just a few minor changes, the functionality of the Proton Persona’s GEN2-based interior has improved. I hope this new dash carries on to the new GEN2 facelift as well.

There is central locking and 4 power windows on all of the Persona models from the base line to the high line. You can control the central locking either from a button near the power window button cluster or a button on the dashboard which the passenger can use in case of an emergency. The dash button also doubles up as the alarm deactivation button in case you mistakenly trigger the alarm system. The doors automatically lock themselves once the system detects all doors are closed, the handbrake is released, and the brake pedal is pressed.

Rear legroom was not too bad, a testament to how the increased legroom measurements translate into real life application. That said, once someone tall sits in the driver’s seat, the rear passenger behind him will start to suffer a little, but it is typical of a sedan car in the B-segment size.

Now on to how it drives. Proton allowed members of the media to drive the car around its test track in Shah Alam. At first impression, the Persona feels like it has a more comfort oriented setup unlike the GEN2, and this contributed more to body roll – you cannot have everything of course.

Proton included a 9-point Vehicle Dynamics Chart in the press kit and it shows that the Persona outperforms the GEN2 in terms of Ride Comfort and Roll Control but the GEN2 beats it in terms of lane change stability and cornering stability. The car generally understeers a lot under pressure but most of the time it is recoverable via throttle lift off.

If you want to toss the car around, it can be quite lively but the supplied Silverstone Kruizer 1 tyres are not exactly performance oriented. I would say its a case of the Satria Neo 1.3 with Sime tyres all over again. Do change them if you want to have some fun with the car and have the budget. But I am sure Proton has reasons for the Silverstone Kruizer 1 choice as they are generally known to be one of the quietest tyres around within their price range and by far the best tyres to come out of the Silverstone labs to date.