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.

This post has been edited by Mr Gray: Aug 19 2013, 11:08 PM

Individual preference, I guess. .

put money in ASB, and earn 7%, equivalent to rm560. interest for balance transfer 1%, rm80 only. I think well worth spreading the cost.

less expensive, safety features, leather seat, design wise and I prefer 1.6 over 2.0 for fuel saving.

Are u serious, 2.5%? Wow!

I called Bank Muamalat, and the operator said, 2.5% rate was for offer during Ramadhan only. It expired sudah. The current rate is 2.75%

Just paid the booking fee. Maybank quoted 2.83% for 9 year loan. Can't wait to get the car!!

I think you should do another test drive at another Proton outlet. I encountered none of your observation.

Where did you do your booking? my sa didn't mention anything about colour availability. I picked red.

The SA told me I can pick up my car on friday most probably. woooohoooo.

What should I check when I first get the car? Any advice?

I went to the JPJ myself early in the morning. Registered the car, and got the plate number. Gonna pick up the car after work.

SA just called and tiba-tiba cakap tak boleh ambik today. Kereta still dekat Tanjung Malim. Maybe tomorrow or latest on monday. Haishhh, potong stim tul la...

Tu la. What free gift did the SA offer u? I will get Touch n Go with Smart tag, 3 free service voucher and minyak half tank. kalau by monday tak dapat lagi kereta, I am gonna ask for minyak full tank. Hahahaha, was super excited to fetch it, then tetiba this happened. Haihh, sabar je la..

weeeheeeeeee. got my car this afternoon.

My impression so far, after five days.

When you stopped at the traffic light and started moving, for the first few seconds, the engine is noticeably louder, and takes a little effort to accelerate. But after maybe 6 to 7 seconds, it would become smooth again. Driving on the highway is f***ing awesome! I really enjoyed it, the meter showed 6.5 litre per 100KM when I drove on the highway.

The leather seat is really awesome. I actually spent quite some time just lepak and tidur tidur ayam in my car.
I have clocked about 380KM in the past five days, and spent about RM80 for that. Average fuel consumption on the car showed 11.1 litre per 100KM for now.

The GPS works really well, my only complain is the resistive screen is a bit annoying because I believe many people are used to the convenience of having a responsive capacitive screen.

I tried connected my phone to the car's bluetooth and surprisingly I can answer call, and talk on the phone without holding it. I tried calling my friend with it, and he could hear me crystal clear. I can't find where the mic is located in the car, but it sure is a nice feature to be talking on the phone while driving, without holding the phone or handsfree equipment etc. Nonetheless, the problem is his voice didn't come out from the car's speaker. I think there must be some setting options underneath the android console that I have to tinker with, to make it work. Will give feedback further when I find it.

Auto-wiper feature is very nice, as it will adjust the speed of the wipers, according to the severity of the rain. Heavier rain= faster wiper. Rain stopped= wiper instantaneously halt its operation. Nice

Auto-folding side mirror is also another neat feature of this car. It would auto-fold when you press the lock-button on your key fob, sparing you the effort to try opening the car door, to ensure that you have indeed locked the car.

By the way, not having a dedicated boot release button is not a problem at all. (Paultan's Hafriz Shah complained about that thing). Just press the unlock button on your key fob for a little wee longer, and there you go, the boot opens.

I don't really know much about cars in general, so I can't really give a technical review for you guys.

The only thing that I don't like about this car now? Its noticeable engine noise. Apart from that, it is a really beautiful car, well-designed, and make people turn around when you drive pass them. Ride and handling is superb, as expected from Proton/Lotus, and I really enjoyed riding it when I melalui selekoh-selekoh tajam.

To be honest, I am still a wee bit skeptical with the quality of a proton product, but I am willing to give it the benefit of doubt, at least this time around. I hope it won't disappoint me.

I will write more when I find something interesting/faulty about this car.

This post has been edited by Mr Gray: Sep 6 2013, 12:10 AM

EXACTLY! Saga SV is the cheapest proton. Can't afford Suprima, buy la cheaper car, Persona, Saga, etc. Some people really do have that weird mentality, where they want all the goodies, everything super good, at a darn cheap price. Adoiyaii...

Hey guys,

My car is showing "Periodic Inspection" as illustrated in the picture. My metre is now about 762KM. Should I go and send it for the first service now? Is anything wrong with my car?


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hahaha, malas nak tunjuk. sama je dengan gambar suprima yang lain.

Yeah I was wondering about the same thing too. If you read the manual book, ada part that said please refer to audio manual book. I didn't get it either.