I own the Preve Turbo and Ford Focus Titanium. The Proton Preve/Suprima are indeed the poor man's Ford Focus. At around RM69k or lower due to year end discounts, the Preve Turbo and Suprima are great value, but the inferiority shows when compared to the Ford Focus.

Differences as follows:-

1. Steering. The weight of steering of the Preve(I presume Suprima also) is significantly heavier than the Ford Focus. When there is a need to turn the steering wheel a lot especially during reverse parking etc., it will be much easier and effortless to turn the steering wheel. More energy and effort are needed to turn the steering wheel of the Preve Turbo when doing some parking.

2. Refinement. The small little details such as the feel of the gear knob, the signal stalk etc. The gear knob of the Preve Turbo feels cheap, and it is stiff when moving around the gears when you want to shift from say N to D or D to R etc. The gear knob of the Focus feels nice to touch and shifting between gears is much refined as it glides through the gears.

3. Power and acceleration. No doubt the Preve Turbo/Suprima is one powerful vehicle, thanks to the Turbo engine. Though, the torque and horsepower figures are lower than the Focus. There may be little difference when accelerating from 0 to 100km/h but when accelerating (hard) from say 100km/h to 160km/h you will feel the difference. The Focus will pull away more effortlessly and quicker.

The 1.6 Campro Turbo engine of the Preve Turbo/Suprima is more powerful when compared to non-Turbo 1.6-litre engines, but when compared to similar Turbocharged engines such as Ford Ecoboost 1.6 or VW 1.4 etc., the Turbo engine of the Proton is lacking.

4. NVH. Both are comparable when the cars are stationary but when accelerating the engine and CVT noise from the Proton is louder than the Focus. There is a low-frequency drone from the Turbo engine of the Preve coupled by CVT whine.

5. Sound from suspension when going over bad roads. This is one area the Proton Preve Turbo is better than the Focus. The suspension of the Focus is noisier than the quieter suspension of the Preve Turbo when going over bad-surfaced roads or rough roads.

There are more differences between the Preve/Suprima and the Focus but the above are the pertinent ones.

In the end, the Preve Turbo or Suprima only cost RM69k+/- vs the Ford Focus low spec at RM115k+/- so, the Proton ain't too shabby. But the difference in quality does shown between the two.