Malaysians very weird.

Japanese car 2 airbags, 4-star ASEAN NCAP, no ESC/VSC, jurassic-era 1.5l 4AT drivetrain.....OTR price over RM90k, SO CHEAP!!

Proton car 6 airbags, 5-star ANCAP, with ESC/VSC, 1.6l turbo CVT drivetrain, C-SEGMENT......OTR price less than RM80k.....PROTON??? SERIOUSLY PROTON??

Seriously, go buy a Vios and leave this planet.

Oh common mr proton salesman..
80k proton shd have the following
1. Hand stitch leather dashboard
2. 7 airbags
3. Premium audio system
4. 2.0 twincharge
5. Dsg gearbox
6. keyless opetaration
7. Power seats
8. Hybrid system.

how is the lag? any better?

If only someone is crazy enough and rich enough to convert the Preve/Suprima S to manual themselves.
Unfortunately I only have the crazy part covered.

Suprima R maybe? 

I test drove the car yesterday morning at Proton Showroom Jalan Ampang. Amongst my impression was that, it was definitely more beautiful and sporty in front of my own two eyes, rather than in the pictures on the net.

Leather seats were comfortable, interior design could be improved further, but it was okay. Boot space was definitely a surprise, as I thought it would be very small. But it turned out to be quite spacious, albeit a tad smaller than Preve's.

The noise from the turbo engine was quite noticeable, but I think I can live with that. The acceleration of the car was great, it took little to no effort to go from 0 to 100KM/h in less than 10 seconds. Handling was top notch, as expected from Proton/Lotus.

Nonetheless, I also test drove Inspira yesterday, and I found some noticeable differences. Inspira felt more rigid, more stable, and more fun to drive. I reckon it has got more to do with it being a 2.0 car vs 1.6 for Suprima. And also the lack of engine noise, as compared to Suprima.

I played around with the paddle shifts for both cars as well. I prefer the ones on Suprima. When I clicked on the paddle shift, the dashboard panel immediately shows me the current gear, and I can go up or go down as I please. And whenever I press the brake, it would automatically switched to D, which I think is pretty neat.

In Inspira, the paddle shift doesn't quite work as such. When I pressed the brake, it didn't automatically turn to D. I have to manually change the gear myself.

But all in all, I am pretty impressed with what Proton has come out this time. Suprima S is going to be my first car, and somehow I have turned to believe that Proton has changed. I asked for opinions from a few of my friends who owned Preve, and they were quite satisfied with it.  Off course there were some minor problems here and there with Preve (as can realistically be expected from any car brand), but they told me that, they have not had any major problems with it.

To be honest, I am quite afraid to buy a Proton, in case I would be getting a lemon unit. Nonetheless, I decided to toss that fear away, and just proceed with buying Suprima S.

Just handed all my documents to be processed by the SA, and she told me that the lowest interest rate that she can give me is from KFH, 2.65%. Anybody knows if I can get a lower interest somewhere else?

And she told me I can pay my downpayment with credit card but needs to swipe only RM1000 a card, per day. I planned to pay RM8000 downpayment with two cards, and that is going to take me 4 days to do that. She said, if I were to swipe the whole amount at one go, Proton would charge me 2% for that. Pretty outrageous, I must say.

Anybody knows where I can get swipe the whole downpayment at one go, without being imposed exorbitant charge?

I planned to balance transfer all the 8K to my bank Islam card, as Bank Islam only charges 1% for 12 months balance transfer. I would prefer to spread the cost in one year, rather than forking out 8k cash straight ahead.

Even with the stick shifter pushed to the left it will still return to D mode? 

Just came back from test drive

Interior - Almost identical to Preve. That gap under the center console that someone posted earlier, it's there in the showroom car. Leather seat looks quite nice, and I much prefer the Suprima's silver-ish dashboard trim. Hate the piano black on the steering wheel, though. I am a bit disappointed at the boot space, the intrusion of the wheel arch reduced the width quite significantly.

Exterior - I have not figured out how to switch on the rear foggies. Changes from Preve also include autofold side mirrors that unfold when you disarm the alarm, instead of unfolding only when your car is moving like the Preve. The rims....oh the rims 

Performance - A marked improvement over the original Preve. Note that I have not test drive a Preve with the new ECU mapping so I dunno if it is similiar. The response is much better, no more rev til the moon only will move. Manual mode shifts are responsive as well. Engine noise is acceptable, I can hold a normal conversation with the SA while revving.

Ride&Handling - Those who say Lotus-tuned handling is a lie is either on crack, or just blind bashing. I took it on a high speed on short stretch of twisties. The car is supremely composed when I chuck it left and right along the tight curves, there was never any need to use the brakes, just use manual mode and downshift at the right moment. The car feels heavy when turning in at slow speed, but once you're hauling arse, it miraculously transform into a lighter B-segment hatch. It is planted and stable, inspiring a lot more confidence than my Fiesta. Ride comfort is adequate for a family car; don't expect it to glide over potholes - it won't, I tested. But for a general purpose car, it does good enough.

Like some forumers mentioned, this is the car the Preve should've been, even if with just 4 airbags plus a boot. Things I don't like are the unsupportive seats (my butt was sliding all over), high seating position, rear headboard that will inevitably rattle because there are no sponges between it and the plastic that holds it up, poor fit and finish in certain areas and the small boot space. And the name, godemit Proton, If I buy one the first thing I'll do is rip off the "Suprima" badge and replace it with "Preve", and if anyone asks what car I drive, I'll say "Preve hatchback" 

Other than that, for RM80k it is a lot of car for that money.

P/S: After the test drive we went to KFC for a drink. There was a group of unkers discussing about the car. Almera was brought up, but one of the unker acknowledges that Almera has a lot less features than the Proton. See, even unkers are learning to appreciate Proton 

I pushed the shift stick to the left....throughout the twisties it didn't automatically shift for me la, ikut my paddle input. If it is the same as Preve means it will auto downshift it you are decelerating to the point of stalling on higher gear....and will and upshift if RPM hit 5k.

Inspira's paddles is fixed to the column right? does not spin with the steering? I prefer that coz just now I tertekan the wrong paddle when the steering was upside-down....konfius liao 

if u are still believing that the quality of exported newer proton (preve for example) is higher then local market, u are clearly mistaken and are indeed blinded


if spec is higher, in a way yes but specs is not the same with quality...
if u still insist it is, i can gladly present u the biggest facepalm in the world...

the older protons, on the other hand is a slightly different story...
how long ago is the wira?

The Suprima wins hands down in terms of passenger cabin size compared to Focus.

Just that the boot is smaller than I expected.

Siape tu? 

I got no idea why ppl wanna buy this car. IMO, it is wrong pricing.

For its categories, as compare to 4 door hatch back.. I believe it on size and feature, it may offer the most.

In terms of price, for the same price u could buy:-
2013 Vios J - 73k
Honda Jazz - 74k
Honda Jazz hybrid after discount
Nissan Almera
Kia Forte
Perodua Alza

In terms of after sales, i think Japs after sales is way better than Proton Tidak Apa After Sales.

Anyway, thats just my opinion.

Waja.. there's the problem. The first Proton car.
You should expect people will counter your opinion with their opinion.
If you skeptical about the car, at least give a fair comment after you see and test drive the car.

The only worth buying among the cars you mentioned is Forte and Jazz, but given the price, size, performance, handling and features. Suprima still a good buy. 
I have a 2004 waja at home. no major problems. mind to tell what is your problem?

malaysia's best selling car for 10 years ahead 

Saga BLM/FLX is which segment? Some people compare with Vios (B-seg), some people say A-segment with boot.