For the latest Proton BLM Pictures, Read this entry: Proton BLM Clay Model

Proton just launched their new family members, Proton Persona, or simply Gen 2 Sedan. I’m not going to write any review about it as paultan and unker Chip already did a very good job at it. Unker Chip from autoworld is purely article, no direct comment associated with his article except in the infamous autoworld forum. However, Paultan is normal blog, with hundreds of comments, reading the comments from top to the bottom of the page is very time consuming. Reading the comments is like reading a different genres of books at the same time, some of them very serious some of them very comical. I extracted some of the comments here, you may add yours…

The comments originates from Paultan review.

mattyboy said,

Dogster - now you win title of the most stupid person to post! Of course I have seen the picture you fool else why would I post.

I urge you to go look at the picture yourself, now, go on, then come back and tell me what those two gauges are!

The one on the left has a pic of a petrol pump with markings 0, 1/2 and 1/1 where as the one on the right has a pic of a thermometer with markings 60, 90, 120 degress celcius.

Now, any person with one iota of a brain would sum up that one gauge is for fuel and one is for water coolant temp - I will let you guess which one!

Dogster call mattyboy stupid, mattyboy call Dogster stupid, apparently they are referring to different pictures and definitely mattyboy didn’t look at the picture. The picture in question is this:

Before you flame, lets read paultan explanation first, It’s Siemens VDO fault and no, it’s does not get its way into production.

Paul Tan said,

Guys, rather than bash blindly here, I have asked someone in Proton for an explanation on the meter panel with two fuel gauges. It is not a Proton assembly problem but a vendor problem, as Siemens VDO delivers the meter panel as a complete unit to Proton. The photo is a pre-launch leaked photo as there were only 3 Personas with these sesat meter panels, and they’ve already taken steps to rectify it as well as on the supplier’s side before the car was launched. It’s not fair to just bash without knowing whether the photo came from - now we know it is a preproduction car.

mattyboy: the meter panel in question here is not the meter panel in all personas but the 3 links posted by frezzoed in the comments section of this post

Remedy said,

I bought perodua MYVI 4 month ago.. Today i book Proton persona for my second car.. because it so much better than MYVI… Thanks proton.. Your interior very nice.. Quality great.. Love the persona door slam sound.. sooo much better than myVI.. For me as a student.. this car is a must have..

p/s- Who said p2 make a great car???

A second car for a student. P2 is not great, but they perhaps reduce the owner headache in term of power windows. Quality wise?

badsoulfly said,

first time in my life this is the first time i’m really really proud with PROTON..
even they only add the butt of Gen2..and then becoming as Persona..this is the most beautiful 100% made in Malaysia..lot of improvement air bags and new transmission like imported cars..but just only RM50,000something…better peoples take this chance to have one… look like new Lancer GT from the side

Lancer GT from side, cool. Do you prefer amoi that’s look pretty from behind?

ob8 said,

the ribena colour is cool, remids me of the old putra. its definitely a balik kampung car. better nvh, big trunk and just in time too. i would wish for a diffrent rear lights though. myvi and viva is not a balik kampung car, its more of a go to 24hr mamak stall car. go go proton powerangers..

offroader manix said,

Mind you..this could be a dangerous car when you step on it.

The rear of the car is too high……so when you brake hard into a corner or any E brake situation.the car rear might wants to come around……this car got weight distribution problem.

Just like the previous Camry model which is a disaster in weight distribution…..which is dangerous

gow8 said,

Still an ugly looking car. Will not be seen in one. We have better choice from other car manufactures. Better to have a good partner like VW and we get to see better products from Proton. This car will not sell.

and the answer is

xstan said,

Boy..there still so call BLIND BASHER. Never see one but just simply bashed. Well cant blame…this blind basher must be an UGLY chap so would not one to sit in one, right?? It’s not sellable only to this UGLY CHAP.

leongylun said,

this is new car?? haha..it sounds funny..it’s just a long version GEN2 and no much differences between the GEN2 and Persona..and this car will replace the best selling Wira? But GEN2 was already replaced Wira wat? then this car will replace GEN2 lo? haha!! P1 pls dun waste money in developing something useless stuff, what we wan is totally new car model…
And i personally think that the current GEN2 owners why they pay higher price for hatchback and now the long GEN2 only cost 46k..not fair la…

Yes, developing a totally new car is very cheap, Proton should do that so that the can stay in the red, forever.

lowprofile said,

i’ve seen it, touched it, felt it and it’s miles better than the g2. i think i’ll stop being a proton basher… may even consider it. overall, for the price, it is good value for money. quality is almost a quantum leap over the g2. all that remains is the achilles heel - the power windows!! this remains to be seen if it is as good as the proton ceo says.

Don’t start back after you own one.

panzer said,

test

3 simple steps to be a proton basher, register, test and bash.

panzer said,

I dont think this model will bring proton back to profit.People are fed up with the quality and after sales service.As usual,all proton are overhyped during their launch.

malimkundang said,

One thing that I always don’t like the way proton build the car is that seems they neglected the aesthetic and functional look of the car. The design of the headlamp and the tail lamp looks appropriate and aesthetically good for Gen-2. But I don’t see it works for the sedan. I think Proton designer need to look at that first. Nowdays buyers don’t look at the price only when they want to buy a car but design is under their consideration too. The centre panel for the dashboard seems out of place for the sedan. It works on the Gen-2 because of the sporty theme. I expect more conventional centre cluster which run down towards the arm rest. The front end (nose) is totally not harmony with the rest of the car shape.

I think more conventional and functional front end would be better. The interior in general doesn’t look solid enough. I prefer something that is more thick in terms of the lining and solid dashboard. I wonder how the sound of the door when it close.

Actually I am in a middle of buying a new car, but at this point of time I didn’t put Persona in my list. Not because I am prejudice towards Proton, but some of it details is just not of my liking especially the headlamp, the tail lamp, the side mirror, the dashboard, the interior lining is not solid enough.

This is just my personal view and it didn’t reflect the others. There might be someone who like the design.

For the price range I think it is reasonable because of the national car title.

Fair enough

gonggok said,

Low roofline?

Come on la…read Paul’s post. The Persona has more rear headroom than the Vios & City!

Went to the showroom the car looks good and that base line price is tempting. I’m sure many Myvi salesman are busy thinking up ways to bad mouth the Persona.

MyVi salesman are bad guy

xsi said,

(quote) neo2 said,
August 15, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Assumption: Downpayment RM500.00 only, the rest financed by loan. Annual interest charged at 3.88%.
I also check the controversial “tax-free” price for the following car:
Toyota Vios 1.5E RM47,281.62 1.5G RM54,325.70
Source: http://www.toyota.com.my
Honda City 1.5 i-DSI RM53,800.00 1.5 V-TEC RM56,800.00
Source: http://www.honda.com.my
All prices are based on Langkawi selling price.
I believe with the improved technology in engine, built quality and achieving economy of scale, P1 will be able to emerge as global reknown automaker, EVEN AND ESPECIALLY WITHOUT EXCESSIVE PROTECTION FROM G.
(quote)

this guy must be kidding, comparing a gen2S penisular malaysia price with vios/city price in langkawi…hehehehe….not a proton basher? yeah right…

but surprisingly, this sedan base model price about the same with myvi….and myvi is at then end of the day, is still only a smaller car that looks better. Power wise, ride wise and handling wise, even crappier than a kelisa….

kerelbort said,

Good job Proton… guessing this can compete with like of City or Vios outside Malaysia.

Outside Malaysia only. In Malaysia cannot.

sobri said,

Paul Tan, Gen 2 has copied a lot from Mazda 3 exterior styling, if I may say so. However, the interior and drive are definitely inferior.

How would you compare Persona to Mazda 3, in terms of quality and drive?

This guy managed to get Paultan attention. And Mazda 3? Maybe next time Proton should just copy cat RX8 directly with only minor change, that will make ah beng life much easier as well.

Paul Tan said,

sobri: the gen2 and the mazda3 was launched only about 6-8 months away from each other. if proton can restyle the gen2 to copy the mazda3 in such a short time we are giving them far too little credit than they deserve. in other words, i dont think the gen2 copied from the mazda3.

pipzs said,

when i was at the showroom, there’s one “leng-lui” who wants to explain me bout the car and she said “this car arr, got auto-break” and i was like laughing and i said “u mean, auto door lock?” and she said “aiya soli soli soli ya yah, auto door lock, soli ar boss”… and i continued laughing…. she’s definitely want the comissions…pity…

topgunthang said,

ok. proton is so successful with this launch. lets drop all anti-competitive taxes on foreign cars.

PTAllTheBest said,

there is 1 thing which i very hate about it.
only HL got disk brake. come on la. what century oledi.
dun give a $H!# on this car
better save a few k. go and buy myvi
more spacious

A clear P2 supporter and P1 basher. There are numbers of comments from Petai the best, This one is the best and is he suggesting that MyVi 1.3 is more expensive than Persona!?

hcgui said,

A Hi-Line Proton Persona complete with CPS and VIM selling around RM58K will surely kick new Vios, City and Latio’s arse REAL HARD!

come on Proton, give us the CPS and VIM in Persona! Waja will get CPS very soon so we know basically it’s ready! i understand from the marketing point of view tat this will surely hurt the sales of ur new Waja and new Gen2 but this is the BEST way for u to turn everything around!

Cheers and Happy 50th Merdeka! Persona launch is just so perfectly timed! Malaysia Boleh for once!

ezralimm said,

Nice review Paul. It helped prevent WWIII

Hey, has anyone been in a Persona AND a Corolla? Can someone please comment on the size of the car? Specs wise, it should be bigger than the Vios/City. The Vios/City should be compared to the upcoming BLM.

Vios and City only comparable to Proton BLM, current BLM is Saga, Pity u guys vios/city owner.

BigFish said,

“First UK export specs” car selling locally by Proton! That should be the way for Proton to show they are patriotic and take pride of rakyat support.

darren82my said,

WELL DONE!!! PROTON!!

But i hope that it will be a replacement of Campro to CPS in nxt yr…

for Persona, RM55k for H/Line. it is reasonable price and suitable for maket nowadays.

for me, it is only my dream car also, i will take Waja since it has discount RM3k rite now…. and will be ard RM59k++…. jz more expensive than Persona RM4k.

however, i will ask my friend to go and take a look for the Persona, i think they may be affortable for M.Line package.

You know, I’m richer than my friend.

prometheus said,

August 15, 2007 @ 9:53 pm

very rich student.. change car every 4 months.. when i was a student I ride moto also happy… then bought a 10000 ringgit car in the last 2 years.. Times are changing for the better..

Not change dude, second car dude. Very rich lah this dude.

Rolling8 said,

I’ve just seen the car in Pandan Indah show room. The logo caps of both front wheels went missing and the door closing sound like this “BOOOMM” ! Cool.

Rember Sylar? Boom!!!

silverfish said,

Aril said,

Yeah..just an opinion. But basically if you study marketing…then you will no.. but i respect that..

BTW, HL and Premium is different…even both got ABS, EBD, and so on.
Premium at Waja is traditon and suppose limited, even in 2002, 2003, 2004 all got premium version same like 2007. As i said, if both segment got premium, Waja will dead. And i think Premium only for Waja dude

———————-
With all due respect, you still don’t get what I’m saying. BTW, I used the word “premium” in the general sense, meaning top of the range ie the equivalent of what they are calling H-line. I don’t know what Proton uses the word “premium” for and I don’t really care.

PS: I don’t need to study marketing to know what common sense can tell me. Proton has a long history of screwups. They probably had a lot of people who studied marketing in there. Didn’t do them a lot of good did it?

You guys should just exchange YM! ID and go debate with each other.

king said,

impressed with the interior built…..now better than cheap plastic myvi. just disappointed with the steering wheel. they should get rid of it at all cost. its the part where the driver/owner touches all the time.

$44,999 for baseline. p2 really the blood sucker now selling tiny viva at 45k.

Whos’s the blood sucker now. Sucker….

xstan said,

PTallthebest. don have to keep repeating over & over again in hope to disuade or corrupt the others on how bad the car is. Typical one sided basher. I know u prefer puny size car. Yes puny size car is good for ladies & students, not for real man like HULK.

JULIANLEE2 said,

why do we have to pay so much for cars, for RM44,999 i can buy a lot more cars
which are 10 times better

Please do so, and give me 1 lah, as a gift.

Paul Tan said,

littlefire85: if you do not have hard concrete proof that the campro is based off a renault engine, i urge that you stop throwing those statements around whenever you feel like it. i personally know some proton powertrain engineers, one of them is a good friend of mine and he confirms what your so called trusted salesman says are absolute lies. i have even had a salesman telling me the campro is an f1 engine prototype. says something about salesman credibility. why do you think proton has efforts such as livemarketing? to get the truth across.

Bila kecil kawan, bila besar lawan, fire

And Proton image do tarnished very bad, their first question in FAQ. P2 escaped without any guilt for their MyVi, or all their range for the matter.

Question: Is this a Mitsubishi based model?
Answer: No, since the Waja, there has not been any Mitsubishi-based model.

This post was drafted when there’s only about 250 comments, but today there’s 430++ comments already. Would you like to add yours or your favourite? To read more just go to paultan original post

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