Lots of car for your money
Proton Gen-2 1.6 GLS
Not many Maltese will remember the Proton brand, but I am sure that those who do remember the cars imported by the Mizzis in the Eighties - some of which are still on our roads - have mainly positive memories.
Fast forward to the present and a totally new generation of Malaysian-built cars (Proton also owns Lotus, which helped in the design and development of the Gen-2), with contemporary looks and engineering to match, including low gap technology.
That means that the panel gaps are kept to a minimum consistently all around. The Gen-2 is a five-door lower medium-sized (segment C) hatchback seating five adults with lots of luggage (the rear seat splits 60:40).
The Gen-2 I had on test for a few hours earlier this month is highly specified and, in my view, for Lm7,500, provides a lot of car for your money. In terms of looks, externally, there are the five-spoke 15-inch alloy wheels with locking wheel nuts, rear spoiler, tinted and laminated windscreen and colour-coded bumpers, door handles and mirrors.
Inside, you get climate control air-conditioning (highly effective), leather seats, remote central locking, an integrated Blaupunkt RDS radio/CD player with four speakers, electric windows and door mirrors, rear parking sensors, multi-function alarm and steering wheel-mounted audio controls.
The driver's seat is height and tilt adjustable so, coupled with the height adjustable, sporty-looking three-spoke steering wheel, you should soon find your ideal driving position. I recently heard that, because of steering wheel-mounted airbags (of which the Gen-2 has four - driver, passenger and twin side airbags) the ideal way to hold the steering wheel is no longer ten to two (or ten past ten).
The ideal steering wheel position is now 9.15 or quarter past three so that, in the event of an accident, your arms don't get 'burnt' (or bruised) by the exploding airbag. Also a reminder that your elbows should be slightly bent when holding the steering wheel to enable you to use maximum force to react in case of an emergency manoeuvre.
Not that you need to exercise a lot of force with the Gen-2's steering for it is speed sensitive and easy to manoeuvre when parking. I found the ride and handling of the Gen-2 suitably sporty (tuning was by Lotus) and I am sure there are many Maltese who will like its looks.
The headlamps have a distinctive shape and are made from clearform, giving a brighter beam and less dazzle for better visibility at night, coupled with integrated fog lamps that are standard with this level of spec.
My test route took me from the Cadillac Experience Centre in Attard, with which Proton shares its showroom, straight down to the Mriehel Bypass and on to the Marsa Sports Club, where I shot these photos. I immediately took a liking to the speed sensitive steering, which is precise and makes the car easy to manoeuvre.
The car's dimensions are just right for most local driving conditions and although the car's roof slopes steeply from the centre point around the B pillar (beside the driver's seat back), thanks to the side mirrors, visibility is more than adequate and the rear parking sensors make parking easy.
The interior is quite opulent with headrests integrated into the leather seat design. The handbrake comes in the form of a 'trigger', there is a five-speed manual shift with a round gear knob and the ventilation controls consist of three round knobs on top of each other below the stereo system.
The central part of the dashboard is topped by an analogue clock (all instrumentation comes with white-faced dials) and the central instrument panel consists of a large speedometer (with the main reading in mph) and an inserted temperature gauge, a similarly large rev counter with an inserted fuel gauge and digital reading in the centre, including tank range.
I found some of the buttons, especially those on the steering wheel, a bit too small for my liking, but otherwise, the interior is habitable and all the main buttons, switches and stalks for indicators and wipers easily come to hand.
Proton has placed much emphasis on safety, so there are side impact bars and crumple zones front and rear, anti-lock brakes (ABS) with electronic brake force distribution (EBD), ventilated disc brakes in front and solid discs in the rear.
There is a McPherson strut front suspension system with a stabiliser bar and a multi-link rear suspension system also with a stabiliser bar. The 1.6-litre engine with multi-point fuel injection provides plenty of power and is quite torquey (good pulling power), although acceleration is adequate.
Apart from the 1.6 GLS model, there is also an entry level 1.3 GLS 94 bhp model that is also quite well specified (you get manual air-conditioning, no leather or rear spoiler and no side airbags, but pretty much all the rest) at a showroom price of Lm6,500. Automatic is also available on the 1.6.
The rest of my test drive took me into Floriana for a stint at the office and then back to Attard but I got enough of a feel of the car to know that this is well built with a few rough edges but excellent all-round value. Local agents Fapi Motors of Attard also seem keen to offer good customer service and the cars come with a six-year warranty.
At a glance • Engine: 1,597cc, four-cylinder 16V double overhead camshaft (DOHC), max power (bhp)/revs 110/6,000, max torque (Nm)/revs 148/4,000 • Maximum speed: 185 km/h • Acceleration: 0-100 km/h in 12.6 secs • Tank capacity: 50 litres • Best fuel consumption: 10.1 litres/100 km (urban), 5.6 (extra urban), 7.2 (combined) • Dimensions: Length 4,310 mm, width 1,725 mm, height 1,435 mm
Fast forward to the present and a totally new generation of Malaysian-built cars (Proton also owns Lotus, which helped in the design and development of the Gen-2), with contemporary looks and engineering to match, including low gap technology.
That means that the panel gaps are kept to a minimum consistently all around. The Gen-2 is a five-door lower medium-sized (segment C) hatchback seating five adults with lots of luggage (the rear seat splits 60:40).
The Gen-2 I had on test for a few hours earlier this month is highly specified and, in my view, for Lm7,500, provides a lot of car for your money. In terms of looks, externally, there are the five-spoke 15-inch alloy wheels with locking wheel nuts, rear spoiler, tinted and laminated windscreen and colour-coded bumpers, door handles and mirrors.
Inside, you get climate control air-conditioning (highly effective), leather seats, remote central locking, an integrated Blaupunkt RDS radio/CD player with four speakers, electric windows and door mirrors, rear parking sensors, multi-function alarm and steering wheel-mounted audio controls.
The driver's seat is height and tilt adjustable so, coupled with the height adjustable, sporty-looking three-spoke steering wheel, you should soon find your ideal driving position. I recently heard that, because of steering wheel-mounted airbags (of which the Gen-2 has four - driver, passenger and twin side airbags) the ideal way to hold the steering wheel is no longer ten to two (or ten past ten).
The ideal steering wheel position is now 9.15 or quarter past three so that, in the event of an accident, your arms don't get 'burnt' (or bruised) by the exploding airbag. Also a reminder that your elbows should be slightly bent when holding the steering wheel to enable you to use maximum force to react in case of an emergency manoeuvre.
Not that you need to exercise a lot of force with the Gen-2's steering for it is speed sensitive and easy to manoeuvre when parking. I found the ride and handling of the Gen-2 suitably sporty (tuning was by Lotus) and I am sure there are many Maltese who will like its looks.
The headlamps have a distinctive shape and are made from clearform, giving a brighter beam and less dazzle for better visibility at night, coupled with integrated fog lamps that are standard with this level of spec.
My test route took me from the Cadillac Experience Centre in Attard, with which Proton shares its showroom, straight down to the Mriehel Bypass and on to the Marsa Sports Club, where I shot these photos. I immediately took a liking to the speed sensitive steering, which is precise and makes the car easy to manoeuvre.
The car's dimensions are just right for most local driving conditions and although the car's roof slopes steeply from the centre point around the B pillar (beside the driver's seat back), thanks to the side mirrors, visibility is more than adequate and the rear parking sensors make parking easy.
The interior is quite opulent with headrests integrated into the leather seat design. The handbrake comes in the form of a 'trigger', there is a five-speed manual shift with a round gear knob and the ventilation controls consist of three round knobs on top of each other below the stereo system.
The central part of the dashboard is topped by an analogue clock (all instrumentation comes with white-faced dials) and the central instrument panel consists of a large speedometer (with the main reading in mph) and an inserted temperature gauge, a similarly large rev counter with an inserted fuel gauge and digital reading in the centre, including tank range.
I found some of the buttons, especially those on the steering wheel, a bit too small for my liking, but otherwise, the interior is habitable and all the main buttons, switches and stalks for indicators and wipers easily come to hand.
Proton has placed much emphasis on safety, so there are side impact bars and crumple zones front and rear, anti-lock brakes (ABS) with electronic brake force distribution (EBD), ventilated disc brakes in front and solid discs in the rear.
There is a McPherson strut front suspension system with a stabiliser bar and a multi-link rear suspension system also with a stabiliser bar. The 1.6-litre engine with multi-point fuel injection provides plenty of power and is quite torquey (good pulling power), although acceleration is adequate.
Apart from the 1.6 GLS model, there is also an entry level 1.3 GLS 94 bhp model that is also quite well specified (you get manual air-conditioning, no leather or rear spoiler and no side airbags, but pretty much all the rest) at a showroom price of Lm6,500. Automatic is also available on the 1.6.
The rest of my test drive took me into Floriana for a stint at the office and then back to Attard but I got enough of a feel of the car to know that this is well built with a few rough edges but excellent all-round value. Local agents Fapi Motors of Attard also seem keen to offer good customer service and the cars come with a six-year warranty.
At a glance • Engine: 1,597cc, four-cylinder 16V double overhead camshaft (DOHC), max power (bhp)/revs 110/6,000, max torque (Nm)/revs 148/4,000 • Maximum speed: 185 km/h • Acceleration: 0-100 km/h in 12.6 secs • Tank capacity: 50 litres • Best fuel consumption: 10.1 litres/100 km (urban), 5.6 (extra urban), 7.2 (combined) • Dimensions: Length 4,310 mm, width 1,725 mm, height 1,435 mm