Proton Saga SV, FLX SE and Proton Persona Standard Test Drive & Comparo

Sometime early this month I have had a chance to test drive the Proton Saga SV, FLX SE and Proton Persona latest edition. These 3 cars are Proton's current most sellable cars due to their attractive price tags.

THE SAGA SV

For the Saga SV the unit I tested came with 1332cc total displacement Campro IAFM, that churns out 94 horses and 120nm of torque at 4000rpm. A pretty basic car came without sport rims (only steel wheels), coil mats, has an unpainted signal lamps and rear boot garnish and a removed tailpipe. It also has no fordable wing mirrors. Please refer to paultan.org for more feature explained.

The Drive

Sits on the car I immediate felt "tall" because this car's seats has been made higher for better viewing angles. The roof room is also aplenty for a 165cm tall guy like me. The cabin room felt airy and the usable space directly matches Myvi's. The seats are well padded and stepping into and alighting off the car is effortless.

As I start driving to my surprise this car is surprisingly agile and response well. The CVT transmission here should be praised because it pairs well to the engine speeds. You just need to step on the accelerator and the engine would start screaming and pickup will come very fast. We can even feel the back push.

Whenever you need speed simply kick down the paddle and the car will start lurching forward like a typical manual. Apart from a mere throttle delay probably due to the drive-by-wire technology,  driving this car is really fun and satisfying even though it has a tiny engine. It has all the power you need and I cannot imagine if this car is fitted with a bigger engine like what we get in the Saga FLX SE.

The CVT however produced a weird "pisssss" sound as the reverse gear is engaged. It rants all the way until I switched the gear. Proton claimed this is normal due to the mechanical frictions. But it really does sound irritating.

Back on road, the corners were taken well too and body roll is minimal. Albeit the ride is a bit on the firm side it felt solid more than annoying. The Macpherson struts front and torsion beam rear suspensions soaked up bumps extremely well. I happened to stomp the paddle to clash over the bumps in high speed, but the Lotus R&H able to handle them well and still gave solid absorption every time. Proton really done well in this aspect, surpassing many local and Japanese competitors.

The test drive last about 30 minutes. Within this time I tested mostly uneven industrial tarmacs, humps and bumps and some curves. Lots of the time I tried to push the engine and stop immediate just to test how the car handle. I must say the car proved solid enough, except the breaks.

The breaks is something really lacking in this car. It felt like NO BREAK even I stomp on it. It may be due to small break servo or the break pads itself. It is hard and feels empty, and it's totally different than my Exora's breaks which is rich and powerful, probably due to the ABS/EBD. However, I recalled the same brake feel when I drive my mum's Myvi last time. As they are from same local suppliers. SA told me to tame this car you need to kick harder at the break repeatedly to soften it. Once it's soften, then it is all good to go.

I think the same break system also install on the FLX SE and Persona Standard. Because they all felt the same. Although the SE offers a tad better stopping power with the helps of ABS/EBD. So Proton please hear this. As the car getting faster so as the break must be able to stop efficiently. Otherwise it will be worthless for a good car that has decent handling and performance like this one.


THE PERSONA STANDARD

Stepping into the Persona showed a different story. This is Proton Persona Standard spec, the only variant available in the Persona line-up after Protn Preve was introduced. Proton has dropped and upgraded a couple of accessories in this car and it is now looks and drives better.

The standard spec came with 15" 9-spoke alloy rims, no fog lights or fordable mirrors, no ABS and more. You can refer to Proton Edar website for full specifications.

To the contradiction to the Saga, the seats of this car is really hard and short reminded me of a sport car's seats. So for long drive it will be a tired drive. The seats are also low compared to the Saga, Vios and Alza resulted less ergonomics and human friendly.

The car has a solid chassis with nice door that opens wide. They are also closed tamely with a solid thud sound. This proves how much material have been poured into producing this car.

Stepping on the accelerator I immediately felt the delay on the throttle. I took like 1 second delay before the engine start responded. It's like slower than my Vios 2008.

Driving on later I seemed better and delay was minimized because the gears interchange pretty quickly whenever you need it. The engine felt livelier in this car compared to Saga may be due to the engine and transmission tuning.

This car also ride a few notches better than the Saga because it has better chassis and suspension. I can feel how smooth the car ride over the tarmac and how easily it absorbs those holes on the roads. It felt way solid than the Saga and has better NVH better I would say, than my Vios as well as the Alza. I can even match the Nissan Teana's NVH though lacking the Camry's in terms of comfort.

Overall it has a really meaty suspensions and blessed with prefect tuning. The ride and handling and the NVH is really top-notch compared to many locals and Japanese cars. And this car likes swallowing corners, better than the Saga I tested.

I recalled the Proton Preve Premium CFE that I tested last year. If comparing both the Preve is packed with more soundproofing and harder chassis and harder suspension with a better engine. The Persona is not loosing any point compared to the Preve in terms of it ride and handling feature. The Preve is one step further to the already solid Lotus Ride and Handling but the better buy would be the Persona because of its good value and well positioned price tag.

While the Persona is a good car to buy, the Saga excel in terms of its affordability and user-friendliness, and with a nice CVT gearbox. I like the gearbox very much because it has no power lost while changing gears. I felt the car keep accelerating and pickup is also good. The car deceivingly felt more powerful. At price of RM36,888 OTR, this car is definitely a good buy.

THE SAGA FLX SE

This is an upgrade version for the Saga FLX range - Sage FLX SE with 1.6 Campro IAFM.

This car drive a lot same like the ordinary Saga. The difference is that it came with more bell and whistle. For feature wise I don't want to explain more. You can go checking out with the showroom.

What I want to do now is to compare this car with the other 2, the Saga FLX and Persona.

Being priced slightly lower than the Persona Standard auto version (about RM1K+), people will start asking why should I buy this, cause I can buy a Persona, which is bigger and better ride at this price point.

So the answer is simple. Proton Saga FLX SE has the best value added equipments, such as ABS/EBD, full bodykit, leather seats, power wing mirror, free ecotint, 15" sport rims, USB/AUX input, nice muffler, limited color plus a bigger engine. All these had made up a full grown adult which really please your eyes.

It also retains all advantages of an ordinary Saga such as good seat, big boots, nice ride while added a better performance engine.

So how's the drive? While bigger engine does extended your eyeballs but don't overwhelm by it. The extra meat may not be felt in real life driving. When I compare it with the Saga 1.3 SV, it does have a little more punch but its just marginal. All other feel are the same. It may have more power one the top end, but on low revs they are both comparable.

Braking performance also not much improvement with additional of ABS and EBD. It still felt hard and lacking in boost on hard breaking. It felt a bit less biting. So my suggestion is not to drive fast with this car (although it can go pretty fast), unless you've upgraded to better performance brake pads.

Still Saga FLX SE remain the best value car to buy till date based on the price tag. Its aggressive look and added equipment proves to be a value buy.