The previous Persona was a C segment car because at the point of time during its inception, the other C segment cars were sized as such, think the older sentra, older corolla etc. Today, the C segment has grown by quite a bit and Proton's C segment challengers are the Preve/Suprima. So, the only way to maintain a clear separation between the current C segment offering from Proton was to push the new Persona to B segment. Here, the overall car does not differ too much from the car it replaces. There will be some pluses and some minuses though. And to further create a space for the Persona, the Saga which when it first came out in 1985 as a C segment has been pushed all the way down to be the company's representative in A segment. This is to enable the Saga to continue being the company's most affordable model for its customers.

Hope the explanation helps.

This post has been edited by lowpro: Aug 16 2016, 02:20 PM

23 Aug

You're right. Sad but true.

Just checked, it is for parts and labour for scheduled servicing.

Front park sensor can be turned off

The steering loads up with speed. I've experienced it and it works well. Solid on the highway and light in the city.

The ECO indicator only lights up when you are cruising on a constant throttle and when you accelerate gradually. It takes probably a slightly longer test drive to see that happening.

The acceleration and brakes (once the pads have bedded in nicely) will be much nicer once the car has about 800km on its clock after proper running in. Most showroom models don't have the opportunity of a longer distance to let the engine, brakes and tyres run in properly and will still be pretty tight when it is test driven.

I did like how the steering wheel can be light for slow traffic and how it weights up for higher speeds.

Average FC on the car I drove was about 7ish so, with a bit more kilometers under its belt, the car can be pretty decent for what it offers.

This post has been edited by lowpro: Aug 29 2016, 11:01 AM

Probably the demo car is still not run-in yet. Try again a few weeks later. Should be fine.

LOL!!!

The HU is not so nice to use but it is acceptable.

For the FC, after using the car for about a day, I managed to get to about 7 something litres for 100km. Combination of highway, fast and slow driving plus city. Not too bad lah. Will improve further as it runs in.

Head unit

That was a demo unit that I had tried out

Basically the C-segment cars were affected back then in 85 when the Saga was introduced - Corolla LE 1.3/GL 1.6 and Sunny 1.3. The Japanese cars went up by about 4k to 6k depending on model and variant. Not sure if the Laser, 323 and Tredia also had their prices bumped up...

Hmmm, I quote 'might be tough'. Hope there are some owners who could shed some light on this. But to be fair, the Attrage is really meant to be a Bezza type car, A-segment, small and clearly more at home in the city than venturing out of it. But the Persona is built for more all rounded duties.

It is pricey though for what it offers but many times, car companies are tied to the high taxes and have no choice but to pass on the prices to buyers. The discounts that Mitsubishi offer are possibly pushing the car to negative profit. IMHO, Malaysia will probably, slowly head to where more developed countries are in terms of car business i.e. sell at low price with little profit and make back on aftersales. Hmm, so the Persona with its 3 year free service should be a good deal now.

Yup, from the time of the Gen2, the cars used electronic throttle already.

Here's parts of a report from the recently concluded media test drive of the car. Full story can be found in carlist. I think the 2 sections I posted below are key questions that potential buyers would like to know the answer to:

How does it Drive?

As expected, the Persona’s ride and handling far surpasses anything within its price range. At highway speeds it feels composed, secure, and firmly hunkered down on the road. The electric power steering feels slightly aloof compared to older models with hydraulic assist, but is quick and accurate enough to satisfy.

Body movements also feel reassuringly controlled. For the average driver, it is a satisfactory setup; only the enthusiasts among us will miss the finer control afforded by the predecessor’s fully independent suspension setup. The solid fundamentals of this car was amply demonstrated in the closed demo session where, even with ESC switched off, the Persona requires very deliberate and abrupt steering inputs to unsettle. (Our friends at PanduLaju recorded a couple of videos that showed the Persona's performance at an obstacle avoidance course with ESC switched on and off)

Further contributing to our highly positive impressions is a vastly improved CVT. Although hardware remains identical to what the Iriz gets, the software has been expertly recalibrated. Not only is the dreadful drone that plagued earlier Proton efforts with the Punch CVT markedly reduced, kick down response has been made sharper, and the car takes off from standstill with more conviction.

How Economical Is it?

A simple fuel economy challenge was included in the drive programme. Over a 117km route across the state of Pahang from Jengka to Tanjung Lumpur, majority of the participating cars (all being CVT units) achieved readings between 5.4 and 5.7 litres/100km on their trip computers, all of which were reset at the start of the route.

To give the numbers a sense of realism, the drive organizers imposed a time restriction, requiring all cars to complete the route with a minimum timeframe of two hours, meaning we had to maintain average speeds of 80 to 85 km/h in order to complete the challenge. The route itself offered an even mix of highway and trunk road driving before ending in rush hour downtown traffic at the heart of Kuantan.

We switched over to a manual transmission unit for the journey home. Driven with greater exuberance, the said vehicle returned an average consumption of 8.3 litres/100km; incidentally the same figure attained when we recently reviewed the Iriz 1.6 manual. Between the two extremes, we reckon most users can expect to average in the region of 6 – 7 litres/100km in their daily grind.

Servicing costs would be identical to the Iriz, with regular maintenance scheduled at 10,000km intervals. Additionally, early takers who complete their purchase of the Persona before the end of September get three years of free servicing covering parts and labour.

Hmmm, could the wheels be photoshopped on?

Here's another article on the recently concluded media drive. Do note the media cars are fully run in already so, do be patient with your own cars when it comes to 'pick-up' or acceleration. Give it some time.

https://www.autofreaks.com/reviews/test-dri...proton-persona/

http://www.mekanika.com.my/pandu-uji/pandu...mpur-ke-kuantan



This post has been edited by lowpro: Sep 21 2016, 04:52 PM

There's a new video on Proton's FB page. Not sure how to copy the video link so I paste the whole address here for you guys to watch:

https://www.facebook.com/ProtonCarsOfficial/?fref=ts

Actually it is very quiet at speeds from 120kph to about 150kph. I wouldn't really believe those who mentioned that it was 'humming'... lot's of competitors staff tend to mention such things in the most convincing way though. Didn't go faster than that during the test drive. Some journalists have reported speeds of 180kph to 190kph and mentioned that it was pretty stable even at those speeds.