just driven a proton, and loved it!

jimblowscash · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:10

OMG ive just driven a Proton Satria 1.8 16v GTi and loved it, the interior looks horrid and was falling to bits, but the engine had plenty of grunt, and was as revy as any twincam jap but the thing that totaly amased me was the handling, totaly threw me.... it handles better than my alfa V6 , it was a damp road and i had to really hoon it to get any movement from the back, and when i did it was just a simple correction on the wheel to bring it back, it didnt even understeer with breaking, however it had a tendancy to light up the unloaded front if you put the power on too soon through a corner.

im inpressed with the drive of this car but i wouldnt buy one due to the poor trim.

Fr0dders · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:15

handling by lotus

build quality by proton

enough said.

Zip · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:15

Your alfa must really suck

jimblowscash · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:17

Zip said:
Your alfa must really suck

and you drive??

agw_01 · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:17

Didn't they used to use the Proton's in Rallying?

It was the Satria wasn't it? That's all Google brings up.

Zip · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:17

jimblowscash said:
and you drive??

ol' Krusty

eidolon · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:19

MrLOL said:
handling by lotus

build quality by proton

enough said.

Probably no worse than Lotus build quality!

Lopéz · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:28

These things go alright, I got taken out in one when they were first introduced. Not something you see every day either.

Third Opinion · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:31

A case of great engine but shame about the car really.

Scrutinize · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:31

MrLOL said:
handling by lotus

build quality by proton

Insurance grouping by porsche

enough said.

Fixed##, for some reason insurance on these is stupid whenever I tried a quote, was about 50% higher than my 172.

moss · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:33

Third Opinion said:
A case of great engine but shame about the car really.

I could be wrong, but dont they use or are based on a Mitsubishi engine?

Matt82 · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:33

Third Opinion said:
A case of great engine but shame about the car really.

ive not driven one but they are widely considered to be very good handling cars lol

lotus did the chassis on it.

Lopéz · 22 Dec 2006 at 16:45

Third Opinion said:
A case of great engine but shame about the car really.

A case of great car shame it was built down to a cost. They're good cars.

Third Opinion · 22 Dec 2006 at 17:21

Matt82 said:
ive not driven one but they are widely considered to be very good handling cars lol

lotus did the chassis on it.

Lotus reworked the chassis on the Isuzu Piazza Turbo. It was still poo after they had messed around with it.

Cryfreeman · 22 Dec 2006 at 17:36

moss said:
I could be wrong, but dont they use or are based on a Mitsubishi engine?

I beleive it uses the 4g93 from the lancer 1.8 gti's

Andybtsn · 23 Dec 2006 at 12:33

I had this car for about 5 weeks, it looks nice and did corner superbly but in a straight line it was dire for a small hatch with a 1.8 16v engine and producing 130bhp. My Lupo GTI after that killed it in terms of speed.

Also the MPG was attroicous, I could have put up with it if I was getting something back in performance but I wasn't so got rid.

Here's a pic of it..

Looking at it makes me miss it as IMO its a gorgeous looking car. The interior was nice with the Recaro seats, dash was a bit filmsy too, but had nice extras with A/C etc.

agw_01 · 23 Dec 2006 at 12:39

Yeah, that's the one I was thinking about.

I love its looks, a sporty yet subtle looking car.

Andybtsn · 23 Dec 2006 at 12:40

I removed the front badge too, look a lot better without it.

agw_01 · 23 Dec 2006 at 12:41

Out of interest, what's the performance like?

I know you said it was dire, but it'd be good to know how long it takes to get upto the magical 60mph

Andybtsn · 23 Dec 2006 at 12:43

I honestly didnt have it that long to time it, but it seemed forever, I did go from a fairly quick car to it so might be a bit harsh on it.

For the price you can get them for now you probably wouldn't complain but I couldn't warrant paying what I did for it. Groupi insurance 16 too which took the ****!