satisfied when using cheap car with well maintain... sure can use it as long as it is...

everybody knows that, not surprising. you are surprised?

I finally went to take a look at the Persona yesterday at a PE sales office off Jalan Kepong since i'm very familiar with a salesman there.

below is my personal opinion which doesn't reflect the majority taste. if my points is somewhat similar, then it's purely co-incidental.

The Good
1) MUCH roomier for rear passenger. ample head space and leg space.
2) Massive trunk space, bigger then waja.
3) Boot abosrber thingy which ease opening and closing of boot. no longer have to slam the boot shut with force.
4) Lots of sound proofing material in the boot, should be a quiet ride (haven't test drive yet though)
5) For performance freaks, the rear strut bar mounting point is easily accessable where the sound proof piece covering it, can be removed since it's stuck on with velcro.
no such luxury was found in the neo and those who want to install rear struts have to have their rear pannel removed or have a hole cut into them.
6) Comfortable driver seats, although not as bucket as the neo.
7) Door closes with a solid thud, although the door is very light in feeling, unlike the heavy doors of neo.
8) Really affordable price tag. at RM49 800 (M-line manual), it's only RM1300 more then my Neo at introduction price. If the neo and Persona launched at the same time, i would've got the persona instead.

The Bad
1) Engine bay setup 100% identical to Gen2 where the battery is located at the back of the front passenger headlamps, leaving little room for intake mods.
2) I find the rear passenger seats a little too upright. if it's reclined further could be more comfortable.

The Ugly
1) UGLY steering wheel! looks really cheap, feels really cheap. They should've used the neo steering wheel instead.
2) They could've done better with the interior design (especially color scheme). I prefer the neo's interior design the best.

im still waiting my H-Line come out.....

'Penantian Satu Penyiksaan'

Better get H-Line with ABS,2Air bags, 4disk brake,captor, tinted...... just top up about RM3K from M-Line.....

For me it either High Line or Base Line. Buy Base line then mod or buy High line and keep it as it is. Not sure if can change the CD to MP3 for BL

Agreed...why should I pay more for something I don't see everyday juz for it to look good and be more expensive to replace??? I believe the Campro engine bay looks very very neat... Juz lack the large plastic cover like expensive cars...
Again another person expecting Proton to offer 100K car at price of 55K???

Why shouldn't it be identical when they share the same engine???

well, in the past, Gen2 performance kakis (Gen2club) did complaint about the battery location.

such "problem" was rectified in the Neo. and seeing that persona is launched one year after the neo, they should've taken some good stuff from the neo and added it into the persona, like how they arrange things in the engine bay. the engine bay of the persona is spacious, sadly, they could've done better in locating the components in a less cluttered manner.

Oic...but Neo's engine bay is designed differently right?
Or maybe, juz maybe the battery is there to make way for the CPS/VIM technology upgrade???

the neo's engine bay is slightly smaller then the persona, which is why i'm surprise why they did the persona engine bay that way

well, CPS/VIM would be nice
maybe in the face lifted version in another year to come.

Coz it's based on the Gen2's platform...
They can't achieve the size they wanted if based on Neo's...
Hopefully...or maybe produce a Campro successor... It's already quite old...

Any news on the facelift Gen2 with CPS engine? I hope it come soon otherwise I'm not sure there is any reason to buy the Gen2 since the persona is a better buy.

Well its good to see there more good side then the bad and ugly combined.

The facelifted gen2 and waja CPS will be out est by Oct. The gen2 will cater for those looking for a sporty ride while the persona is aimed primary for family people.

There's a video on Persona's ride and handling at previous post...
It mentioned at the end that the facelift models will come out nx month...

I hope the facelift Gen2 will have the interior similar to Persona + CPS engine. Maybe it will be priced close to 60K to avoid competiton to the Persona. I wonder if there will be NEO will CPS too

Persona HL is ready actually but there is problem on the captor alarm. Thats wat i heard from salesman. Hope they will solve it these few day and Monday can get car

Is it CAPTOR subscription problem or something to do with electrical/installation?

Since when Proton listen to their customer dude? Maybe once in a while in the Neo case u stated above? I still remember Wira's famous rear bumper problem that require Wira owners to drill n fix two screws on the side of their bumper so that the gap between the bumper and the body panel wont become wider.

Where have you been living - under the stone is it.

Savvy's facelifts.
So many improvement in persona over gen2, separate headrest, door trim, interiors, rear headroom etc.
From digital fuel gauge to analogue for more accurate measurement, more variants from low to hi-line.
There are many more besides that.

i want add some positive/negative comments...since im already had a test drive from proton,the mines, im drive from the mines -> UPM ->the mines,
positive comments
a. im impress with suspension when im take conner on upm highway ewith 80km/h speed...
b. really silent when driving on 90km/h...may be it still new..???
c. luxury look with affordable price...
d. for me...feel like camry....wekeke....

negative comments...
a. im prefer manual, im hate the arm rest(near handbreak)...hard for me to play with gear...n the arm rest cant take off..aaaiii....
b. need to change the radio panel also if want install dvd player + lcd...

overall...affordable price...im will order early next year...
*update from proton the mines dealer, if book on next week, u need to wait 4 months...bcoz already reach 4k booking for this week....aaii....

This post has been edited by paan: Aug 18 2007, 08:32 PM

already reach 4k booking for this week?? it's quite impressive for Proton since last time model. hope that Proton will gain much profit and develop more cars with the latest technology. go go Proton