July 20, 2006
Christmas comes early
WOOT! got mine on tuesday
I’ve test driven this car before deciding to buy. Since it’s totally pwned the bestari in both the power and handling and price. so, anyway, here’s the review from a person who had forked out RM48k for it.
Am i driving a Lotus?
Well, I’ve not driven a Lotus before, but i did had my fair share with Proton
sports tuned Waja (non FR version) during one of their roadshow and I can confidently say that it pales in comparions with the Satria Neo. Cars developed per-Lotus take over such as the Savvy and the Satria Neo are remarkeble in handling corners and never seems to loose its footing on the tarmac. I know i shouldn’t pushed a brand new car to it’s limit but i just can’t help it. well, i did confined the speed limit so not to strain the engine and gearbox, but when coming to corners, i just have to let loose and feel the rush driving this beauty.
Transitional time
Truthfully this is my first hot hatch. I’ve owned a Kembara 99′, driven my sister’s Savvy on many occations, deliver goods with a Relault Grand Scenic, and other short experience with Sports tuned Waja on a roadshow, uncle’s beat up Wira and an Ah beng’s wira with surprisingly really good absorbers. Even with all the experience with those cars, it took me quite a while to get used to it’s lower stance and limited view range. I used to tail gate allot with my sister’s Savvy after TT sessions with friends but with this car (Neo), it gave the illusion of my car touching the rear bumper of the other car when driving close
although it’s quite a safe distance away. Not that worrysome if i’m driving since talegating is lawfully wrong. But it could pose a problem durng parking, especially parallel. The rear view is ok-ish to my standards since it’s somewhat similliar to the Savvy.
Continental and yet not so continental
The Satria Neo has a somewhat continental design with the signal indicator
on the left side. and yet it uses japanese design gear box where reverse is engaged right below gear 5.
interior
Firstly, yes, proton still uses cheap plastic. The good news is that’s not not
as cheap as Savvy’s and it’s definitely cannot be told just by looking at it. Proton has taken steps to increase quality of the dash and door panel and did not put much effort at other insignificant planes like the cover for gear stick, handbrake which to my feel is just like the Savvy. One major warning is NEVER spill your drink at the cup holder that’s placed at the back of the handbrakes. It appears that the padding at the bottom can be removed and it exposes the internal works of the handbrakes. the cable is clearly visible when the the padding is removed. So, imagine if a 60% sugar concentrated Coke/pepsi is spilled, it’ll go straight into the mechanics and carpet. Careless design, Yup,
it’s a proton all right.
misc
One thing that really surprises me is that Proton has finally learn to up it’s standards by providing more features such as the fuel count down where the car calculate estimated km left from the amount of fuel left in the tank. On a full tank it registers 425km. One way to find out is to drive and record FC. guess that’s all.
BTW, i’m driving a 1.6 standard edition (M-line)
