My pride and joy?
I owned a Proton Persona M-Line 1.6 manual transmission. I have owned it for about 2 months now. Recently, I took it for a spin around the peninsular just for the sake of getting to know my ‘whip’ better. The trip alone covers about 2000 km of long, tiring, boring, entertaining journey. Let not discuss about the amount of money I managed to spend throughout the entire trip coz I might wept silently. This adventurous journey started from my hometown Kota Bharu, Kelantan. It took me the whole day to drive from there to my next destination, which is my sister’s house in Rawang, Selangor. On this trip, I managed to test the limit of patience for my dear suspension along side the bumpy and tight cornering roads of Jalanraya Timur-Barat, also known as the horrific “Death Roads”.
The McPherson struts on the front of the car was well balanced, as it uses the same materials that has been implemented in more luxurious cars, Mercedes, BMW, Audi to name a few. However, the rear suspension was somewhat disappointing. The rear of my car jump enthusiastically whenever embracing a rather high bump. The chassis of the car was rigid and it did give lots of grip when turning despite its tall figure. This is something that MyVi failed to offer thus making Persona the winner in the battle of the grip.
The inside atmosphere of the car is slightly disappointing coz the temperature was quite warm, despite the presence of the air conditioner. Whenever I turn on the air-con, the sound of the fan was horrendous! It sounded like opening a ventilation ducks. Then after a while, the sound wears down but another disappointment occur. The air-con did not do the job well enough to keep me and company cool trough out the nonchalant journey. The natural climate of this country does not help either. So, we all squeeze tightly so that we can feel the direct blow of the air-con. Yes! That is the problem. The air-con is cool but it doesn’t spread evenly in the entire space of the car. That is why I’m hot, literally.
Now, let’s talk about the interior of the car. The first thing that you will notice upon entering the car is that the dashboard uses the same specs and design taken directly from its older brother, the Gen-2. Upon seating inside the car, the first thing that caught my attention is the horrid steering wheel. The design itself is awful! The only thing that managed to keep me calm down is when reading the acronym ABS on it. Not to forget, this car is made of specs from the European cars. So, it is worthwhile mentioning that the turning signal is on the left hand compared to the Japanese-made cars which is on the right. Quite a nuisance at first but I managed to get used of it. My only problem is when making drastic turns, I get caught up between changing gears and giving signal, both using my left hand. That’s not good news, especially when entering and exiting a round-a-bout.
Move on to the gears and transmission. Writing from the neutral point of view, I can say that the manual transmission is somewhat a bit disappointing for me. I am completely aware that this car is tuned for relaxed cruising instead of a racing-wannabe car but still, even a family car supposed to have a little sucker-punch in their gear ratios. The first things that really grab my attention when driving it for the first time is the gap between gears are too long. It would take forever to switch from the second gear into the third, and so do the other gears. As I have mentioned earlier, this is not a major problem for me as most of the time, I do enjoyed the stability and the quietness of cruising in my car. But, it becomes apparent when I do need a little bit of quickness, especially when making the dash after stopping at the traffic lights’ junction.
Talking about the quietness just now has make me realized that I do enjoy myself most of the time when I am inside the car, whether it is mobilize or static. The seats are adequate but cozy, and all the necessary buttons are within reach. I fell in love with the simplicity in design, not to forget the spacious passenger’s rear seats that provide optimum comfort during long and tiring journeys.
The McPherson struts on the front of the car was well balanced, as it uses the same materials that has been implemented in more luxurious cars, Mercedes, BMW, Audi to name a few. However, the rear suspension was somewhat disappointing. The rear of my car jump enthusiastically whenever embracing a rather high bump. The chassis of the car was rigid and it did give lots of grip when turning despite its tall figure. This is something that MyVi failed to offer thus making Persona the winner in the battle of the grip.
The inside atmosphere of the car is slightly disappointing coz the temperature was quite warm, despite the presence of the air conditioner. Whenever I turn on the air-con, the sound of the fan was horrendous! It sounded like opening a ventilation ducks. Then after a while, the sound wears down but another disappointment occur. The air-con did not do the job well enough to keep me and company cool trough out the nonchalant journey. The natural climate of this country does not help either. So, we all squeeze tightly so that we can feel the direct blow of the air-con. Yes! That is the problem. The air-con is cool but it doesn’t spread evenly in the entire space of the car. That is why I’m hot, literally.
Now, let’s talk about the interior of the car. The first thing that you will notice upon entering the car is that the dashboard uses the same specs and design taken directly from its older brother, the Gen-2. Upon seating inside the car, the first thing that caught my attention is the horrid steering wheel. The design itself is awful! The only thing that managed to keep me calm down is when reading the acronym ABS on it. Not to forget, this car is made of specs from the European cars. So, it is worthwhile mentioning that the turning signal is on the left hand compared to the Japanese-made cars which is on the right. Quite a nuisance at first but I managed to get used of it. My only problem is when making drastic turns, I get caught up between changing gears and giving signal, both using my left hand. That’s not good news, especially when entering and exiting a round-a-bout.
Move on to the gears and transmission. Writing from the neutral point of view, I can say that the manual transmission is somewhat a bit disappointing for me. I am completely aware that this car is tuned for relaxed cruising instead of a racing-wannabe car but still, even a family car supposed to have a little sucker-punch in their gear ratios. The first things that really grab my attention when driving it for the first time is the gap between gears are too long. It would take forever to switch from the second gear into the third, and so do the other gears. As I have mentioned earlier, this is not a major problem for me as most of the time, I do enjoyed the stability and the quietness of cruising in my car. But, it becomes apparent when I do need a little bit of quickness, especially when making the dash after stopping at the traffic lights’ junction.
Talking about the quietness just now has make me realized that I do enjoy myself most of the time when I am inside the car, whether it is mobilize or static. The seats are adequate but cozy, and all the necessary buttons are within reach. I fell in love with the simplicity in design, not to forget the spacious passenger’s rear seats that provide optimum comfort during long and tiring journeys.
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