Proton Saga Test Drive Review

The cheap and cheerful Proton Saga, it's new but is it any good?

INTRODUCTION. The Proton Saga is widely known as the Proton BLM, which stands for Base Line Model. This means the car is actually quite a poor bloke. It is deprived of modern day car luxuries like Anti Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), or Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP), etc. The absence of all those pricey gadgets allowed it to be one of the cheapest new compact sedan you can get in Malaysia.

EXTERIOR. From the outside, the new Saga looks far better than its preceding 1985 model. The front griddle looks awesome. I have no complaints for its lamps and rear styling but, the Saga looks slightly 'squashed'. By 'squashed', I meant the car looks as if it is not wide enough, I reckon it's caused by car's higher roof line.

This higher roof line allows passengers to sit comfortably, as opposed to Satria Neo and Gen2 where you'll need to bang your head against the ceiling. In reality, the Proton Saga is similar to Proton Wira, both has a overall width of 1680 mm. It looks rather small but I assure you, on the inside it's quite spacious for 5 grown ups.

ENGINE BAY. Under the hood, the Proton Saga is powered by a 1.3 Litre IAFM equipped Campro engine. This engine is capable of producing a satisfying 98 hp*. To have a better picture of things, let's look at the horsepower (hp) produced by different cars.

1.3L Proton Saga --- 98 hp*
1.3L Perodua Myvi --- 85 hp
1.5L Toyota Vios --- 107.5 hp
1.5L Honda City --- 118.4 hp

*for some unknown reason, the official brochure is only published with the familiar 94 hp but the actual dyno figure is 98 hp!

IAFM. By the way, some of you might be curious about what the Intake Air Fuel Module (IAFM) actually does. For starters, 3 elements are essential to allow explosions to occur in the combustion chamber. These 3 elements are fuel, air and spark. The availability of these 3 ingredients will cause the engine to behave differently. Basically, the IAFM is in charge of the air ingredient. It is an air intake manifold where it controls the air flow into the engine. The benefits of having the IAFM system are:

• Improve the efficiency of air intake into the combustion chamber, allowing better combustion thus generating more power.
• Improve lower end power because the air flow can be optimized for both low and high end engine speeds.
  
• Uses reinforced plastic molded manifold instead of aluminum manifold. This material difference results in overall weight reduction, which will improve fuel consumption slightly.

Click here to read more on the IAFM module.

INTERIOR. Now let's have a look at the interior of the Proton Saga. On the inside, you'll find the dashboard is made of the usual cheapo plastics. The center console and the air conditioning dials feels as if they're some low quality imitation toys made in a 3rd world country. But since the car comes with a cheap price tag, I can't really afford to condemn about how bad the plastics felt. In general, it's bad but still acceptable.

METER DISPLAY. The meter clusters are not overdone, it feels neither too techy nor cheap. The needles are clean, the indicators are clear, and I like it pretty much this way. However, I feel that they could have improved the small electronic display area on the left cluster. The steering feels great to hold but there's this. Do not attempt to adjust the steering height while driving as I discovered the steering is unusually heavy. One might need both his hands to lift the steering until it is locked to a desired position.

SEATS & VIEWS. I find the normal seats available to be quite comfortable. The driving position is excellent, the front view, side views and side mirror views around the car are excellent. The car pillars don't get in your way. There are not much blind spots around the car. The rear view is clear thanks to the not very tall rear boot (petite-sized Asian woman would be very much grateful of this).

STORAGE. There are lots of storage places in the car: 2 cups holders below the center console, one behind the handbrake and the another 2 are mounted on the rear passenger doors. That totals up to 5 cup holders, one for everybody ... LOL!

By the way, there is a long storage compartment under the steering. I guess this compartment is for magazines or newspaper storage for taxi drivers. I still remember the 'kempen membaca' advertisement on TV where it shows a taxi driver spends his time efficiently by reading while waiting for potential customers. I guess he could slip his magazine into this slot!

I find the glove compartment to be rather small. Since the car comes with 1 air bag on the driver's side, Proton decides to make a hole like chamber at the front passenger side. I'm not sure what is this for but ... maybe Smart Tag or to put some veges from the pasar? There is no cover for this chamber so it's definitely not for valuables.

This small sized compact sedan comes with a respectable 413-Litre boot space for storage. The space is undeniably good but take a look at the ceiling. Too bad, it's quite an ugly sight because the bare metal with all those holes can be seen clearly.

AUDIO SYSTEM. Upon purchase, the car comes with a Clarion CD player with 4 speakers. Keep in mind, this is a super budget set of sound system, it is therefore undeniably lousy. There were tons of distortion and the noise level was unbearable especially at higher volumes. Keep the volume settings mid-low and you might have a chance to enjoy it.

TEST DRIVE. That pretty much covers the interior and exterior of the car. Now the TEST DRIVE! After doing a few laps, I feel that the Proton Saga is NOT underpowered as many claimed but it is not almighty as well. I must admit, the car feels slightly sluggish right after starting but as you accelerate, the car becomes much better. With 3 persons in it, the 1.3L car could sprint pretty lively. As you floor the accelerator, the engine grunts and soon you'll find the car sprinting right away. Thanks to the Lotus tuning blah blah blah, the Proton Saga's handling is quite good as it did go pretty solid around corners. Relative to the Perodua Myvi, this car promises a much more stable, less bouncy ride.

Although the car comes with power steering, it still feels quite heavy. This heavy-tuned steering results in better handling, it makes it easier for you to pin point where the car goes, it makes it safer to drive at high speeds but at the same time it is tiresome to drive the car at lower speeds. This is the direct opposite of Perodua Myvi where the steering is tuned to be feather light. So Myvi is good for slow speed while the Saga is better at higher speeds, get it? Electronically adjusted steering in cars like Nissan Latio are certainly way better but we're talking about cheapo cars so no complaints here.

SUMMARY. This is certainly a very very long post, here's my say on the good and the bad:

Good

1. Seats are comfortable for 5.
2. Good handling (Myvi as comparison).
3. Smooth, stable and less bouncy ride (Myvi as comparison).
   
4. Pretty sprinty for a 1.3 Litre (Myvi as comparison).
5. 5 cup holders and sufficient storage places especially the one under the steering.
6. Stylish and clear meter clusters.
7. Driver's view of the car's surrounding is clear.
8. Stylish front griddle.
9. Has immobilizer even for a base line model.
   

Bad

1. Heavy steering, not electronically adjusted. It feels slightly tiring to drive it around the town.
   
2. Cheap plastics for center console and air conditioning dials.
3. Small glove compartment.
4. A lot of distortion and intolerable noise level in the sound system, only suitable for low-mid volume.
5. Bad finishing for the top of the rear storage boot, metal bars with holes can be seen.
6. No arm rest.
7. Harsh gear shift from D->N->P for the automatic version.
8. No ABS and EBD.

There you have it. My review on the Proton Saga. It's time to for you to drive a Saga for yourself!

The Proton Saga, more than meets the headlamp.