I’ve always been very accident prone. I have run down a pedestrian, crashed into various static road signs, and recently drove my car into a ditch. The repairs on the car alone set me back more than 1k due to the messed up suspension, shock absorbers and miscellaneous stuff down under. Thus, I was left car-less for about three days while it was at the workshop.
Thanks to Roslina, I was given the new Proton Satria Neo CPS to commute to work while my car was in the workshop. One interesting anecdote about the origin of the word Satria – it’s Sanskrit for knight. Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless. Never lie, even if it leads to your death; that is your oath. :p
I had the Proton Satria Neo CPS on loan until my car got out of the workshop – my eternal gratitude to Roslina and Proton for providing me with a backup car…especially given my less-than-stellar (dubious?) driving safety record. 😉
Heck, I was surprised Roslina even agreed to lend me the car since she reads my blog and probably have witnessed the multiple accidents I have gotten into. Heh! Well, thankfully, I did not crash the car or give it so much as a scratch, and thus, to show my appreciation for her kind gesture, I shall write about my experience with the Proton Satria Neo CPS.
I drive a Toyota Vios 1.5G which I purchased in late 2006. I chose Toyota for just one primary reason – it’s a family tradition. My dad used to drive a Toyota Corolla before he switched to a Lexus (which is also under Toyota) and my mom drives a Toyota as well. My sister in NZ also drives a Toyota – she owns a Toyota Celica (but then again she’s a cardiologist so she can afford it). Thus, I got a Toyota as well, just not to depart from our family tradition.
There are a lot of people who has misconceptions about our fine local automobile industry. Build quality and performance are some of the most common gripes.
I have been doing some research on the topic and found some very interesting facts. The Proton Saga is based on the exact same engine as the Mitsubishi Lancer and Proton has grown by leaps and bounds since then. The acquisition of Lotus (say what you will, but it definitely helped in the aesthetic department of the cars) is another feather in the cap of Proton.
Proton had this huge banner at a prime location on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne when I was doing my university there. I overheard an Aussie couple commenting on it. The conversation was pretty funny – they were debating whether it’s a German or European car manufacturer. I was just beside them, waiting for the pedestrian crossing to turn green and I told them (with no small amount of pride, I must admit) that it’s a MALAYSIAN brand. 🙂
The Proton Satria Neo CPS looks good – check out the aggressive front grill, the spoiler at the back and the awesome rims. I love the nifty emergency brake, the canggih window winder below the stick shift, and the two-door design. It’s built for speed…and the volume controls on the steering wheel would get you out of a lot of vehicular mishaps too. 😉
My fellow coworker (who parks beside me) commented on the aesthetics of the car – his exact words were “Nice car!”.
Unfortunately, I had to reply “It’s not mine”. 🙁
The Proton Satria Neo CPS was launched on February 2009 to replace the top H-line version of the Proton Satria Neo. It has been given a facelift – the aggressive body kit looks much better than the previous versions. Check out the side by side comparison with the old Proton Satria Neo (the new one is on the left at my condo parking lot) – it just so happens that my neighbor drives the older version of the Proton Satria Neo.
The changes for the Proton Satria Neo CPS are not merely cosmetic – it also features a 1.6 liter Campro CPS engine with 125 bhp and 150 Nm of torque. It is zhng-ified for a more aggressive driving style (suits me just fine ;)) – the CPS mechanism in the Proton Satria Neo CPS switches to high cam at 4,400 rpm compared to 3,800 rpm as in the other CPS-equipped models such as the Proton Waja and Proton Gen-2.
I took Deb out for a mamak session the night I got the car.
It was fun, she lives about 10 minutes away and I kinda abducted her and forced her to take a video of me test driving the car. LOL!
This is the nighttime driving video on the LDP.
Check out my speed test of the car too – managed to get it up to a decent velocity in a short time, thanks to the excellent acceleration.
The next day, I met up with Tzia at Kelana Jaya LRT for lunch.
I managed to drive from SS6 (where I work) to Kelana Jaya LRT, had lunch, and drove back again in less than 45 minutes.
I wanted a daylight video as well as a night video for the test drive of the car and I am pleased to report that any car that can get me to lunch and back within an hour gets the thumbs up from me. 😉
The Proton Satria Neo CPS is a dream to drive. It goes up to 160 kmph on 4th gear before redlining and I managed to push it up to 170 kmph on the 5th gear. I probably shouldn’t say this, Roslina will kill me if she knew I was driving that fast. 😉
Oh well, in my defense, it was on the PLUS highway and I got very, very lost on Saturday morning while returning the car. I spent over 3 hours (!) on the road and pumped petrol 3 times, but the silver lining about the fiasco is that I managed to give the Proton Satria Neo CPS a proper test drive.
Everyone at arms…or is capable of bearing: Kneel! On your knees! Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless. Never lie, even if it leads to your death; that is your oath. Rise a knight…rise as knights! Thanks Roslina, for letting me loan the car while my car is in the workshop!
…and like a good citizen, I filled it up with gas before returning it. 😉
