A closer look at the Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing

Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing – short test drive

April 7, 2010 at 8:44 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Test Drive Reviews, Videos

We’ve been itching to drive the Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing the moment we saw it in the metal and read through the spec sheet. From the amount of interest generated by the posts about it on this blog, we reckon that you would also want to know how a RM115,000 Proton with an upgraded Campro, trick suspension and mega brakes would drive. Well, we just attended a media test drive session of the Neo R3 at Proton’s test track and guess what, it’s a cracker!
Continue reading the report after the jump.
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A closer look at the Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing

March 31, 2010 at 11:17 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Proton

Tuesday was a seriously busy day for our team as there was a few events about town that we had to go to, including one of our company’s own, which we will write about shortly After going back and forth between the Golden Triangle area and Bandar Utama we decided to have dinner at the Pavilion.

After dinner we took the opportunity to take a closer look at the Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing that was still on exhibit there. There were actually two cars at Pavilion – one located at the Concourse area next to the Lotus Racing T127 while the other was located outdoors. By this time it was around 10PM so it was much easier to get some photos that we missed earlier during the crowded launch event.
So here’s are some more ‘close-up’ photos of the car…

This is the engine bay, where a few upgraded parts can be found. I personally think the red Campro CPS engine cover should have been painted yellow or green or perhaps both to match the rest of the car.

Here’s a close up of the exhaust extractors.

And this is the carbon fiber air box.

The top of the Ohlins fully adjustable suspension system – this is where you’re able to adjust the settings for the front suspension.

And this knob in the boot is where you adjust the rear suspension’s settings – there’s one on each side of the boot.

The dashboard has green in it – looks kinda weird if you ask me. The only car with a green dash I’ve seen is a friend’s Mercedes-Benz W123.

The seats are wrapped with Nappa leather.

Here’s the engine start button. It has a green glow to it. You have to twist the key in and then only can you press this button to start up the car. It only cranks, it doesn’t shut off the car.
And so that’s pretty much it. You can look after the jump for a full hi-res photo gallery of all the close-up photos we snapped of the car. You’ll also find a video of the car’s exhaust note when being revved at idle. This was the car located outside so no, we didn’t pollute the interior of the Pavilion with exhaust smoke!

EOCM 2010 Genting Highland Road Tour

EOCM 2010 Genting Highlands Road Tour
January 14, 2010 at 12:46 am

The 1.6 liter Campro CPS engine used in the Proton Exora has been the subject of much criticism, whether called for or not. Yes, having a relatively small engine in a large vehicle is bound to require a little more pedal to the metal but everytime there is a story about the Exora or the Alza on this site there is bound to be those who pop up and say that they’ve tried the Exora in so and so situations and the MPV failed to deliver.

I think other than Proton themselves, the next group of people who are likely to be infuriated by such allegations are the Proton Exora owners themselves. After all, they’ve committed to years of monthly repayments to the Proton family vehicle of their choice and having a personal connection with their car, insulting the Exora is almost like insulting their logic or choice of picking the Exora over its competitors.

Quite interestingly, the Exora owners over at protonexora.com.my (Exora Owners Club Malaysia) have decided to take the matter into their own hands. They’ve actually organised a convoy together up to the Genting Highlands Resort. The EOCM 2010 Genting Highlands Road Tour convoy began last Saturday at the Genting Sempah Rest Area. The Exora went up and down (with no sweat) and the members had a great time. The “Jom Ronda Bersama Proton” crew from TV3 also joined in to feature the convoy in an upcoming segment.

It’s nice to see how much passion these guys have for their Proton Exoras. It’s one vehicle that Proton has managed to tick all the right boxes for its intended target customer – space, comfort and price. It just shows that although you could say Proton has failed us in the past with products that don’t quite right hit the sweet spot, when Proton delivers something good, Malaysians will reciprocate.