Finally got chance to properly review this car:

This is a review of the Cerato 1.6L where it will go against the Suprima S Premium. After having sampled both cars on a long term basis, the big question is the Cerato worth RM20k over Suprima S. There will be no bias, since I have access to both cars. Also, I will not comment on the boot space, since a hatchback is not going to win vs a sedan anytime soon. However you can put those big size 36 bags (or was it 32 size bags-the one people go oversea bring those massive bags) widthwise which itself it a huge achievement. Location: KB-Cameron Highlands

Looks:
Subjective, depends on which one you like. Exteriorly, some portions of the Cerato work, the grille/lights do not work that well compared to the coup/Kia Rio vesion since you can see it copying BMW. Suprima S has nothing to shout about in the looks department. The look of the SS takes time to grow on you. Personally I like the SS rims more than the Cerato ones.

Interior:
Here is where it gets complicated. There are two things that auto-journalist always say. Fit and Finish. Fit, how good the stuff is bolted together. Finish, how good the materials are in the car. After further testing of the Cerato, I will say that the Cerato wins in the Fit and in Finish. The panel gaps are smaller compared to the SS. If you just look at the Cerato’s interior, you will see the premium feeling of the interior, right until you touch it. Then you notice hard plastic. Key areas such as door panel, above the dash, parts of the dash have just adequate padding. Very clever stuff here. Stuff on the SS which are silver plastic, in the Cerato it is proper chrome plated (plastic? Or metal?)

Looking closely the materials, Cerato wins. Whole top dash of the SS is of soft materials. However, Cerato knows where to use the materials better SS. I don’t mind the plastic grey centre bit of the SS. Useful to put the GPS suction cup. On the Cerato, you can put the suction cup in front of the clock/outside air temp. Good amount of soft material on the hand rest. However, the centre console of the Cerato has better fit and slightly better materials, which gives the overall aura of better fit and finish. Here is where Proton needs to learn. Having good fit can fool a lot of people. That is why some people still go for the Civic even though the hard plastic everywhere.

The meters of the steering is better looking than the SS/Preve by a long mile. For those who want my in-depth SS review, I think it is somewhere in Version 0 of SS thread. The meter of the SS looks squashed IMHO. I know it is a Jaguar copycat, and the Cerato does no favours in copying BMW’s, but it is pretty to look at. The info display of the Cerato has more info than the SS. The real time fuel consumption, distance left to refueling and the analogue fuel indicator are stuff I mentioned Proton has to change about. Makes no sense putting a digital indicator for an analogue reading, unless the digital indicator has lots of sections that can accurately tell the amount of fuel. Also mentioned this during the SS review. In the SS, the fuel consumption, distance left are on different screens.

Where the SS wins is in the 7” screen. I don’t know what the screen size on the Cerato, but I think it is smaller than the SGS4 and the display is quite small to be of use. You can use it for reversing, it is just not that easy compared to the SS. You need to concentrate more on the screen when reversing. Which to me is annoying and I find myself not relying on the screen at all. One good point about the Cerato is that, if you reverse, you can still hear the radio/mp3 etc. In the SS, whatever you heard on the radio is bypassed by the reverse camera. The radio on the Cerato is not those RDS ones where it recognizes stations and changes the station automatically depending which part of the country you are. On the SS this is automatic.

The split time/outside air temp of the Cerato is better, but the font/lighting reminds me of an old digital clock I bought in bulk order. Will not win any fans. Same with the digital AC controls. In the Suprima the AC controls are manual rheostat, digital in the Cerato. Problems with the Cerato AC is that, every time I turn on the car, the Air circulation is off. Sometimes it turns off after I turn off the car. This is fine if you are living in Scotland where the air is clean. In Malaysia, I only notice the off Air circulation when I am behind a diesel car or a trash compactor. It is not nice. If someone knows how to make the air circulation be in the permanent on position, please tell me. Another problem with the digital meters in the Cerato is that, it is actually slower to change modes. Things which take 1-2 secs in the Suprima take between 1-2 secs more depending on moving between modes. I have to note that Cerato is dual zone, AC while SS only one zone. So Cerato is better there. Also, sometimes when I change the temperature setting, the air circulation turns off.

Just to note, you need to tint the Cerato windows yourself or the Cerato does not come with factory tinted windows. SS does.

Cerato 1.6 comes with fabric, the SS in Leather. I have no preference for both, and I don’t mind both materials as well. The Cerato comes with rear AC vents. Wins big time here if you need have people to ferry around.

In the driver’s seat
Here is where things get complicated. The Cerato has a better seating position compared to the SS. Better because it has tilt & telescopic steering, organ style accelerator pedal and full memory seat with multiple adjustable settings. The Cerato has auto-dimmed rear mirror. In the SS, seating position is manual and tilt but not telescopic wheel.

The steering wheel on the Cerato is worse than the SS. Its slightly big and the material is not that good. The wrapping is hard and the bottom end does not have any wrapping. There is only one place to actually hold the steering wheel at 10 and 2 o’clock. You can touch the wheel at the bottom ends, however the joint areas at the bottom end is not that comfortable to hold. Honestly, just touch the SS steering and gear, then touching the Cerato feels like the Cerato is RM20k cheaper than the SS. I am not satisfied with the steering at all. This is a small problem and can be cured by buying aftermarket wheel wrap. Not that big of a problem. The buttons on the Cerato wheel is fine.

On the subject of buttons, weirdly for all the accessories Cerato has, I cannot find the auto-wiper. I don’t think there is an auto-wiper. I’ve gotten use to the SS auto-wiper that it permanently sits in the auto position forever.  For those who have never experience the auto-wiper, then this is not a big deal. For those who have, this is an annoying bit. Same like if you have experience auto-AC, going back to non-auto. It is that annoying feeling. Another thing about the buttons is the auto-on lights. Cerato has it wrong. The auto-lights have to be next to the off button, not after the full on button as when you turn on the lights, there is no point to go to the full auto mode. Very minor issue.

Ergonomically, both cars work, however the Cerato looses slightly at the armrest area. In the Cerato, the armrest tilts upward at the finger/hand area resulting in awkward position when you want to rest your hand. That awkward tilt position houses all the buttons. In the SS, it slopes down. The SS works better in that regard and you will not be strained. One thing after owning the SS for some time, I notice that sometimes I open the rear right window when paying toll. I took me a long time to notice that the position of the front window buttons are slightly in front. The rear compartment of the armrest of the driver finishes the same as the front passenger, however since there is only one button at the front passenger, the ergonomic work better there. Maybe Proton can move the whole console by half an inch or 1 inch to accommodate that. This is however a minor fault since I’ve own the car for a long time. However once you get used to the SS window position, this is not an issue.
On another note, the centre console can be brought forward. In The SS it is fixed. In fact, I think I can sum up the interiors of both cars by just comparing the consoles. Stuff which is simple in the SS is better in the Cerato.

Driving
In practice, the keyless of the Cerato is better than SS as you don’t need to put the key in the car slot. In fact, if you don’t own the car and just driving, the owner can sit in the front passenger seat and everything is fine.

IINM, it seems that Cerato has slightly better FC than SS. If you like to drive, stay away from the Cerato. The steering is numb. The “normal, sports and comfort” steering mode is just there to make the steering heavier without providing any feedback to the wheels. On town roads this is fine, it is easy to drive. However straying away from “normal” mode is useless. I cannot feel the road, which is annoying, since I don’t know what surface I’m driving on. TBH, my Logitech DFGT has more feedback then the EPS of the Cerato. So if you like driving, the SS is way better. If you think driving is a chore, then the Cerato is for you. Overall, the ride is on the softer side. The SS is firmer.

One thing driving to CH is that, there is enough power to go about…if you don’t mind not overtaking everyone that is. The problem I see is when overtaking above 80km. At 80km the RPM is <2k, however you really need to work the engine up to 5k RPM if you want to overtake from 80 km on a hilly road. TBH the SS wins big time here as there is plenty of reserve power in that 2-4k RPM turbo range. If you are in a hurry, forget about it. The Cerato does not have enough. The problem with having the max power nearer to 5k RPM is that you need to accelerate a lot and by the time you do reach 5k RPM, the overtaking chance has gone.

Cerato has better insulation than the SS from engine and tyre noise. And when you do work the engine to 5k RPM, the engine sound is not that bad actually.

Other stuff
One accessory I like a lot about the Cerato is actually the auto chromatic mirror which dims when vehicles at the back open their lights. Even when they have high-beams or like a bus or Pickup truck where the lights are high, the thing auto-dims. Now where can I find this accessory for the SS.

Cerato and SS has the same amount of power plugs (2), usb socket and AUX port. However, for some weird reason, while charging 2 phones and listening tracks on the USB, the power ports failed. Tried everything, but they just failed. Went to SC, they say something about 5v-12v thing. However I only used a standard USB cord and a standard car charger, it should not have failed. Will see if it fails or not.

Another issue is the fogging inside the front lights. I only see fogging on cars <50k and on non-ori light parts. Not sure why there is fogging in the Cerato. Sent to sc, need to see if they have fixed the problem.

The Cerato glovebox has a cooler function. Have not tested this out yet.

Conclusion
Is the Cerato worth more than RM20k. For the most part, yes but there is a slight no.
Yes:
If you want premium feel, comfort, and not bothered that much about driving. This car is great if you have people to ferry about. The quality of the car is better than SS. As a daily driver, people stuck in traffic jams will not mind the Cerato at all. If you like pretty centre console, get the Cerato. Driving at night is nice with that auto chromatic mirror. This car is perfectly made as a highway cruiser.
No:
If you like driving on winding roads and auto-wiper is a must. The SS is a lot better. The RM20k save can be used for fuel.

There are good reasons to justify that RM20k price difference.