Went to test it at SS2 branch with friend after breakfast, nobody is there so car is available immediately when we're there.

Showroom showed H variant but test drive model is AV variant. main 2cents as below:
1. Powertrain is good enough only for flat road cruising but at the stretch leading to Seapark, at standstill slope the car really struggle to climb up (with 3 pax on board). Pedal to metal, the lag is noticeable and really underpower. 1.5L engine turbo will make this an instant winner. On flat road its ok but still, lag all across.

2. Legroom for short person is fine but for 6ft ppl need to adjust front seat if sit at back and vice versa else knee will touch the seat/ glovebox. Because I have long thigh the seat only cover half of it. To me is a cramp car.
Seat wise I like fabric more than leather coz I felt the leather in AV is too synthetic for my taste. Your mileage may vary.

3. Fan/ AC temp control much prefer knobs than buttons. The one fascinates me is the trunk tray basically you got 2 level. One is flat with seat, another is the tray stow it one level lower so you got deeper trunk space. I'm a fan of it. The rear boot cover is fabric and looks very easy to koyak.

Subsequently went to test drive Proton X50 nearby. Everything inside is a big step up compared to Ativa. But the cabin lighting is broken when we tested it. It remained on no matter what the salesman do.
1. The power is really biggest noticeable difference as it got additional grunt compared to Ativa. Suffice to say its miles ahead better.

2. I like the tactile feel on the switches when pressing on it. It feels solid and good compared to soft mushy sensation on Ativa. Then there's the nicely knurled knobs controlling AC and the clicky feell when rotating it.

3. Same high spec comparison, inside is ebrake, Beemer style gear lever, 2 tone interior, white colour cabin light, eco and sport mode instead of start stop function on Ativa which I hate it very much especially the thud when it restarts the engine, pressing P button helps you engage ebrake automatically.

4. Waaaaaaay more roomier at both front and rear than Ativa. Can't fight at all.

5. Stupid Proton signal stalk on left side. Salesman said conti cars also like that. I say Proton of all things you go copy the worst part, ppl do like that so you also do like that? The salesman smile saja. Conti dont design car out of proportion like Persona that you dont copy?

6. Storage behind the gear level just weird, cant even fit in a phone with flip case. Storage space below the gear lever also some are not usable space.

7. 360 camera on X50 is gooding. Too bad not available on Ativa.

Granted there's almost 30k diff between the 2 top specs but I just wanna highlight what we experienced. In short if budget allows, go for X50.

In terms of getting car, the Perodua branch we asked informed us first batch got 4k units within 1-1.5months can get the unit, without limiting any colours or variants. He claimed most ppl upgrade to AV get the red colour instead. How true we dont know. 2.19 for 5 yrs, 2.14 for 9 years assuming 10% DP. 7 yrs exact interest forgot but is between the 2

Proton meanwhile need wait 6 months to get the car, majority being top specs red colour sold.

Finally buying experience, when we step in Perodua the salesperson greet us, pass us the brochure and pricelist, tried to explain all the features, encourage us to take longer loop during test drives, answer all questions whenever possible. Overall 5 star hospitality.

Proton meanwhile, step in the 4S centre the salesmans keep playing their phones. Nobody approach us and we need to actively ask around to see it. Barely explain features during viewing and test drive. We need to discover the features ourselves. Pricelist no ask also no give. Day and night difference between Proton and Perodua.

Apologies for the long post.

lol not sure what you mean by that but i try my best to answer.

just the usual affair but the start engine button is bigger on Ativa than X50, Fancier screen too and big font on that speedo reading too.
mixture of pedal to metal and normal drive during test drive.

Pardon for my ignorance we're not informed got this mode. My apologies. Will the power mode remained everytime the engine is off?

If is like the auto start stop feature its really a hassle.

Is it like those aftermarket throttle controller install on Alphards? What's the long term effect on drivetrain if constantly use this mode apart from increased fuel consumption?

Well, since its test drive can take the chance to try out stuff you dont usually torture your personal ride.
Another being first impression. First impression is very important especially for ppl drive small CC car all the while.

Personally I driven manual Serena C23 for few years so I get the pain of driving underpowered car.

You got it man, you really got it. Man it felt like salvation finally someone get the point.

Like you say is not a major concern since human used to being adapt to different surrounding. More of user friendliness to the overall usage.

Is the start stop battery same capacity as Bezza? Outside I asked around MF Varta cost RM330 including trade in.