I don't know. That is one possibility in that constant abuse might have caused the knocking of the engine (with RON95 fuel). Have not tried RON97 and will not do so for economic reasons.

There is little to zero difference between different type of fuels be it Petronas, Caltex, Shell, BHP etc. on the Ford Focus, but with the Proton Preve Turbo, somehow my car does not respond well to Petronas fuel but shows better performance with all other fuels in not showing the knocking/pinging sound from the engine during acceleration. Though had chosen Caltex for the power and and performance minus the knocking sound.

Good to hear your car does not have the knocking issue, and that you find no difference between Petronas RON95 and other fuels. Looks like the "problem" of this engine knocking varies between cars.

Thanks for the information. Is your car the Preve Turbo of the low-spec Preve? Now I know there are 2 more Preve users that have this same engine knocking issue other than me. Too bad you have this sound with all RON95 fuel. I only have this with Petronas. With Caltex fuel, there is negligible to zero knocking on the car.

No experience with Petron. I have only used Caltex, BHP, Shell and Petronas. All fuels are almost the same to me (but I chose Caltex). The only problematic fuel on my car is the Petronas fuel. The car showed reduced performance, rougher acceleration and slight reduction in power, coupled by engine knocking during acceleration, most prominent when going up a slightly inclined slope. I only use RON95. No experience with RON97.

The knocking/pinging sound. It certainly sounds like it's coming from the engine. It is not the low frequency/bassy sound of the engine that we hear from any engines in the car when the car is accelerating. The sound is extraneous. It sounds like a lot of metal plates or parts knocking against each other rapidly. It is independent and separate from the sound of the engine. You can hear this metal knocking sound in the background of the revving of the engine when the car is accelerating.

I am not sure if the "knocking" sound you hear is the same knocking sound that I hear in my car. Sometimes, words are difficult to describe the real event unless you experience it yourself in real life situations. One will usually hear this knocking sound in very old cars. I experience this similar knocking sound in my 10 year old Waja with manual transmission. You will hear this sound when you accelerate the car with a wrongly selected higher gear. Meaning when the car is supposed to be in 3rd gear at a certain speed, one may be using 4th gear to accelerate the car, and due to this wrongly selected gear, the knocking sound will appear.

Interesting that you find Petronas fuel to give the best power compared to Caltex. It's the other way round for me on the Preve Turbo. On my other car, the Ford Focus, little to no difference but as the Preve Turbo performed better with Caltex than Petronas, I have used Caltex for all my cars.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Apr 22 2015, 08:45 AM

You already received some responses and I'll add mine. If your expectations are low meaning you don't mind the slower pickup power, then the low-spec Preve should be fine for you. Just go to other Proton branch for a test drive if the Proton centre near your place does not have any test drive unit. In that way, you would know for yourself whether the car suits you or not. I would think in terms of specs the car is perfect and value buy. The only aspect is in the acceleration power which will affect drivability. As mentioned earlier if you can live with a slower pickup car, then the low-spec Preve should be fine. It is a value for money solid car for a mere RM55k+.

If you are considering this car, you would get full advantages in terms of safety and comfort. Fuel-wise, as with any C-segment car, fuel economy won't match smaller cars such as Axia, Myvi, City, Vios etc. but in its segment the fuel consumption is quite decent and expected given its size and weight.

ps. - Not too sure how much is the high-spec Preve Turbo after the price reduction but assuming it is between RM60k-65k I think this model should be in the shortlist if you are considering the low-spec Preve and can still stretch a bit. It is the most value for money car in the C-segment in my book as the added power in acceleration will bring a lot of difference to the driving experience and in everyday's drivability in city or highway drive.

The engine knocking is just a term in describing the knocking sound that is coming from the engine, and it is audible.

Yes, the noise sounds like it is friction or clashing or knocking of metal objects, in the engine compartment. However, in my experience different type of fuels have caused the severity of the knocking sound. The engine knocking comes up prominently only with Petronas fuel but not so with other types of fuel. Having said that, my findings are not consistent with some other users here who have experienced engine knocking with all types of fuel, and I don't have any explanation for that.

You can google on "Engine Knocking" or "Engine Pinging". Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive article on it. The sound of the engine knocking should be what that was described, and the potential causes to the pre-ignition that causes the knocking are also mentioned. Anyway to save you trouble, here it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Apr 23 2015, 08:48 AM

Car is under warranty so it makes little sense to send the car to a 3rd party vendor to fix the flaw. But as mentioned, the engine knocking may not bother people too much if the sound is not very loud (it is usually minor but audible). Only in very old cars, in my experience, then the louder knocking sound may be a bit annoying, but the car can still be driven as usual without any issues. It is just that the knocking sound is not very pleasant as it is extraneous.

I am just surprised that a new car that is less than 2 years can show this knocking sound. Though I understand others may not experience this knocking that I am experiencing in my car (only with Petronas fuel).

Looks like you travel a lot in your car having clocked 84,000km in a less than 3 years car. My previous Nissan Sylphy's mileage was only about 51,000km when I sold it at 5 years old.

Coming back to the Preve Turbo, yes, the knocking sound will usually come up when going up an inclined slope, and due to this condition the engine needs to work harder at a the same RPM to accelerate the car up the slope. Fortunately, in my case with Caltex fuel, there is little to zero knocking on the car even when going up an inclined slope.

My previous first generation Proton Waja also has the engine knocking sound. Not when it is new, but when it is close to 10 years old. Similarly, driven it for 12 years before selling it.

You must have taken great pains in maintaining your Wira. My family owned a Proton Wira first generation too (both Wira and Waja were bought when they weren't even launched on the road ie. without any test drive). Our Wira was driven for 13-14 years before it made way for the brand new Waja, which was sold 2+ years ago.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Apr 26 2015, 09:36 AM

If mileage of the cars are in the region of 1,000km to 12,000km, then they can be taken as test-drive cars, not exactly showroom cars. Showroom cars are for people to look and touch whereas test-drive cars have been driven by potential buyers. Test drive cars can be considered as 2nd had cars also. As a test-drive car is used and usually driven quite hard, the price has to be low to justify the condition of it.

I rarely use S mode on the Preve Turbo as I find the RPMs to be very high in this mode. I have only tested the S mode on normal roads and have not driven the car up to Genting. It seems like the car can be driven up to a practical speed of 80km/h in S mode before the RPMs get too high and the rev of the engine gets unpleasant. But when going up Genting I guess the S mode will be suitable since the speed of the car will be around the range of 30km/h to 70km/h or so.

Apologies if I have offended you but I do admit that I may be critical when it comes to assessing things and usually don't hide the flaws or weaknesses. I am quite analytical in person. That goes the same with my other car that I own, the Ford Focus.

The term "pussy" has different meanings. One being a weakling and the other being vulgar word for the female genital. I hope you are not referring to the latter when you called me a pussy. If it's a weakling, the application of this word is not appropriate either. If you call me critical or fussy, then I can agree.

Issues such as CVT whine and the sound from the engine, these are inherent characteristics of the Preve Turbo. It is not so much related to whether one is driving the car properly. I have driven enough cars for the past 25+ years to know how to judge the characteristics or performance of these cars. Hence, I don't need to know about the details in how to drive the car properly, especially since you have suggested I do not know how to drive the Preve Turbo properly. The knocking sound from the engine is something that i experience in my car. Others who don't experience this knocking does not suggest that the knocking sound had come up because I don't know how to drive the car. I am baffled by your remark.

As for driving the car up Cameron or Genting, I have mentioned I have not driven the car up Genting (though I have driven the Ford Focus up Genting on 3 occasions up to date). The Preve Turbo is more like a care-free car which I often alternate with the Ford Focus. I drive the Ford Focus more these days as I derive more enjoyment from it compared to the Preve Turbo.

I am not suggesting that the S mode in the car is problematic. Rather I am suggesting the S mode is not suitable to be driven at higher speed or higher RPMs. You don't know how I drive my car. I am not particularly gentle with my footwork. I often floor the pedal as in doing hard acceleration with my cars, especially with the Ford Focus. I do drive the Preve Turbo hard at times too, however, I refrain from doing that too often due to the "issues" that had been repeated many times on this thread now. The sound from the engine of the Preve Turbo during hard acceleration is unpleasant. The sound may be acceptably fine to your ears, but it sounded bad to mine.

Please bear in mind I am not exactly bashing the Preve Turbo but am relating my thoughts or opinions on the car. Whether you agree or disagree is fine with me. I have said many times. Despite some shortcomings of the Preve Turbo, it is a good car and value for money compared to overpriced Vios and City.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: May 7 2015, 05:35 PM

Good post. There is no doubt that the car can breach 200km/h, but it should not really be driven up to those speeds. The most I would go on the Preve Turbo is 130-140km/h. Even at these speeds, the drive is not comfortable anymore as the engine is stressed when cruising at these speeds on the highway. Comfortable speed 110-120km/h.

Similarly tested Almera before choosing the Preve Turbo. One step on the accelerator the ALmera doesn't seem like it was moving in front. To me it is underpowered. Tested the Preve Turbo and committed on the spot. Didn't test-drive Vios or Civic as these cars do not appeal to me.

My memory is getting rusty. I just recalled having drove the Preve Turbo up to Genting once, though it was entirely on D and not S.

The added weight had likely contributed to the difficulty in the car going up the steep road of Genting Highlands, in your case. Heavy load + steep gradient uphill is usually a bad combination as it reduces the efficiency of the vehicle when driven up the slope. The effects will be more severe with less powerful cars, or large MPVs with puny engines such as Perodua Alza or Avanza 1.3 with 6 to 7 occupants etc.

Yes, stressed as in sound from the engine. It is not solely about the loudness of the engine, but the way the engine sounded. The note from the from engine. It is the droning sound of the engine.

Okay now I'm not so tied up with work so have some time to explain. It all depends on expectations and also benchmark in the cars that are used for comparison. Saga BLM if I"m not mistaken is 1.3-litre and Preve Turbo is 1.6-litre turbocharged. Both are Campro engines which are known to be not very quiet.

In comparison to the Nissan Sylphy 2.0 that I have owned(currently Ford Focus 2.0) , at higher speeds say 130km/h and above, the noise from the engine of the Preve Turbo is significantly higher than both Nissan and Ford, in an unpleasant way. The Nissan and Ford come in higher-capacity engines, hence the engines may not need to work so hard at higher cruising speeds and as such, noise levels are comparatively low. Cruising at 130-140km/h with both Nissan and Ford is still comfortable due to the lower noise levels. You don't feel that the engine is stressed in any way.

Even up to a cruising speed of 160km/h, the engines in the Nissan and Ford are still not too noisy, whereas the Preve Turbo's engine will get real loud at this point. Occupants in the car wont' feel comfortable due to the noise from the engine.

Other than sound levels in the cabin, the difference between the Nissan Sylphy and the Ford Focus when cruising at higher speeds is the Nissan Sylphy wobbles and shows instability whereas the Ford Focus is rock steady. The Preve Turbo's stability at higher cruising speed is better than the Nissan Sylphy due to the stiffer suspension but still cannot match that of the Ford Focus.

I only tried driving the Preve Turbo up to 205 km/h once. Several attempts after that failed after I acknowledged that the car was struggling to achieve a higher speed once it hit 160km/h or so.

At 180km/h and above the sound of the engine is so loud that it gives the feeling it is going to explode or something. The sound of the Preve Turbo's engine is diffused in an annoying way in comparison to the linear and robust sound of the Ford Focus' engine which although loud, still sounded fine.