Inspired by the Mitsubishi Lancer, the newly-launched Proton car offers lots of incentives and value for the buyer.

IT IS a little after two weeks since the launch of the Proton Inspira, and I have had no less than 25 phone calls from people I know on whether it is a good buy.

If you think that paying between RM79,000 and RM92,000 for what is essentially a Mitsubishi Lancer, with slightly different looks and some changes to the ride and handling, is certainly worth the money, then the answer should be clear. While the Mitsubishi Lancer offers only a 2.0-litre engine, the new Proton Inspira offers three different variants, a 1.8-litre manual, a 1.8-litre CVT, and a 2.0-litre CVT – which certainly caters to a wider spectrum of potential users. The same goes for its price.

I had the opportunity to do a pre-launch test drive on the Inspira and found it quite satisfying. The Proton people have an agreement with Mitsubishi not to touch the drive train and engine components of the car. So, there should be no difference in performance regarding these parts. You still get 150PS of power with the 2.0-litre engine, and whatever performance figures that the Lancer gives. For the 1.8-litre, it is 140PS, and performance with the CVT variant is slightly lower than that of the 2.0-litre job with the same CVT.

The 1.8-litre manual, with its five-speed gearbox never made it here in Mitsubishi guise, so there is no comparison to make. However, this variant of Mitsubishi Lancer is sold in Japan, and technically, it is the same. The 1.8-litre, if it’s the manual, is fun to drive, and will appeal to those who like manual transmissions. Members of the media who drove it were impressed by its responsiveness. Instead of waiting for the speed to climb up while the engine roars at a constant rpm, you actually get to feel the speed pick up in direct response to the engine revolutions building up – something which people are used to. I have not been a real fan of CVT drive trains, and personally I prefer the characteristics of the manual. A manual version of the 2.0-litre would be interesting, although I do not envisage that this would ever become a reality.

According to Proton R&D head Tengku Azizan Tengku Ahmad, his team tested the standard Mitsubishi Lancer and did not quite like the suspension, which he said was tuned more towards the ‘enthusiast’ style of driving and tended to oversteer at high speeds. There was also too much body roll for his liking. Thus, the team worked on both the damper and stabiliser bar settings. By increasing the size of the front and rear stabiliser bars, Tengku Azizan says they have managed to reduce the roll, and they have stiffened the damper settings to give a more stable ride.

The overall result, he claims, is a much better handling of the car, with the Inspira sitting flatter through bends and with less yaw while going over undulating surfaces. When I drove all the three models, I couldn’t really feel the difference, perhaps because it has been some time since I drove a Mitsubishi Lancer. 

What is more pertinent is the fact that I did not feel insecure or unsafe at any time during our drive that went from Proton COE to Genting Sempah via the Karak highway and back to the COE via one of my favourite driving roads, the Ulu Yam-Batu Caves stretch. The cars were all disguised with pieces of cardboard and black masking tape, which attracted quite a lot of attention, as we whizzed by the winding roads and sharp bends up and down the hills. I have only good comments about the Inspira and my comment on its handling characteristics would be that it is not worse off than the Lancer, and the two are so close to each other that I would be nit-picking if I wanted to look for any differences. 


 



Without going into the justifications and explanations over the Proton-Mitsubishi  collaboration, I would say that if you have the money and want a good car, go for it!