The hype for this new car is pretty apparent judging from the two Proton outlets I went to today. There were just too many people that getting into the cabin is actually quite a heavy task.

The overall styling is bland, nothing too shouty. Everything is just simple lines and shapes. No drama at all. In fact with the hood down, it looks very humble. Pop up the hood and it reveals the exact CFE lump found in the Exora and what surprised me is the addition of front strut bar, a darn thick one too.



Just like the exterior, the interior has nothing much to shout about. Nothing too bold in it. The air con vents are the traditional rectangle unit, the gear lever doesn't need any tai-chi style movement to be operated and even the handbrake lever is so simple that it feels it's being nicked from a Saga (very hard plastic). The glovebox now doesn't open and just fall down like a ripe durian. Once the lever is release, it actually goes down graciously, although not as smooth as the one found in other Japanese marques. The air con vents feels a bit flimsy and hopefully it could survive out extreme climate or else it will just be like those oldern days Iswara with broken air con vents. 



Then comes the doors. The magnesium door handle inside does feel a bit elegant, at least its not giving those "I'm going to break!" feeling like those found in the Saga or Gen-2. If one is taking bring colors such as white, silver and brown, it is quite easy to notice the imperfection of the door welding everytime your rear passenger opened the doors. It looks like a half ass welding job.



Jumping into the rear seats and this car really can sit 3 behind comfortably, even the one sitting in the center will not feel small or uneasy because of the huge cabin and huge headroom. Too bad there's no rear blower but purist will just argue that Proton's air con is strong enough to chill the entire cabin within seconds.

Moving to the back, the back seats can actually be folded down and it will reveal a huge boot at the back. However, even the boot has a class leading volume, but it clearly left out when it comes to ergonomics. One will have to stretch reallly deep if one would like to reach for the thing at the far end of the boot.

Just a favour repaid from my SA since I thought her how to switch off the ESC and helped her answer a few simple technical question.