A Proton with some style

Life should have been the other way round. You first go through the hardship of arthritis and all the diseases that come with old age, then you worry about your retirement, your children's college tuition, getting a promotion, getting a wife, a new car, smoking marijuana in university, be pampered in your teens by your parents, be raised by your nanny, be cuddled as a toddler by everybody and finally passing off as an orgasm.

I am sure you have heard the statement before. But I would like to bring that into the car world. It is when you are young that you need the cool cars. When you are older, you are most likely to get settled into family life.

So, what is the point of having a car that can crack the sound barrier and attract women like bees to honey when your wife's waiting for you at home and your children are waiting to be picked up from school?

That, however, is the sad truth of life.

The good news, however, is that Malaysian auto-maker Proton has taken a shot at catering exactly to this niche. Say "wassup" to the new Gen-2. This is the most expensive vehicle currently on sale from Phranakorn Auto Sales, the official importer of Proton cars to the Kingdom.

So what makes the Gen-2 special? From the front, the Gen-2 is nothing spectacular except for the stylish headlights. People turn to look more due to the Proton badge rather than the design of the vehicle.

From the rear however, it is an altogether different story. The rear spoiler is the real cherry on the cake and people are sure to quiz you on how much you spent on the sports car.

Then comes the red and black trimmed interior which could easily be passed off for an Italian designer's work. The doors also get the same red trim and so do the rear seats.

Hop in to the semi-sport seats (which have fixed, non-adjustable headrests) and you are all set to swoon the ladies. Although not really the most supportive, the seats look good enough to impress the girl next door.

Quality however, is lacking, starting from the good looking but cheap-feeling buttons on the centre console, to the red and black leather-trimmed steering wheel. The steering-mounted controls tend to mix up their functions with the volume button performing the function of the pause button every once in a while.

The audio system, although very nice to look at with a circuit board-like design, requires a thorough mugging up of the switches and settings. The climate-control switches are set vertically and the red stitchwork on the gear lever looks great.

The red theme is also passed onto the instrument cluster which has a red glow, best viewed at night. There are two cup holders in the centre with small cubbyholes on both sides of the gear lever.

The Gen-2 is a tidy handler at low speeds, although in the city it feels slightly lethargic. As long as you are driving below 120kph the Gen-2 will impress. Above these speeds, you start wondering if Lotus (the sports-car company owned by Proton) had anything to do with the Gen-2 at all. At 150kph the Gen-2 feels so unstable it will turn you queasy.

What makes things worse is that every once in a while, the brakes seem to need a lot of foot travel, as if the brake boosters have forgotten their job. Usually, the brakes are good enough to inspire confidence. Which makes me wonder if the brake problem was a fault with the unit I drove. In that sense, the Gen-2 is a disappointment considering that its siblings, the Savvy and Neo, perform impressively at speeds of even 160kph.

Acceleration is nothing spectacular from the 1.6-litre Campro CPS engine and the 125 horsepower seems to die out in the higher-speed ranges. What does not die out is the noise and vibration of the engine that you can feel as the speed progresses. At higher speeds, the steering is also lifeless and seems to lack feel with too much slack.

As far as who it will appeal to, the young new jobber who wants the bark but is not too keen on the bite will definitely consider the Gen-2. Not because of it looks but for the fact that it costs a

mere Bt629,000! That is about Bt200,000 cheaper than the Mazda 3, although the latter is miles ahead in terms of quality.

Is the Gen-2 your car? Let's put it this way. If the number of times that you're awake past 2am partying in a month exceeds 10 and the number of Bt1,000 bills in your wallet rarely exceeds one, then the Gen-2 is to you what the latest Nikes are to a 14-year-old.

At a glance

Engine: 1.6-litre Campro CPS

Displacement: 1,597cc

Maximum power: 125hp @ 6,500rpm

Maximum torque: 150Nm @ 4,500rpm

Transmission: Four-speed automatic

Suspension (f/r): MacPherson strut/multilink

Steering: Power-assisted rack and pinion

Brakes (f/r): Ventilated discs/discs

Dimensions (mm):

Length: 4,310

Width: 1,725

Height: 1,435

Wheels (f/r): 15-inch alloys

Price: Bt629,000

Importer: Phranakorn Auto Sales

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