PROTON SATRIA Review

Summary:

What we like: Styling; Handling; Interior space (for class).

What we don't like: Engine lacks torque.

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PROTON SATRIA review in detail:

Satria Neo is part coupe, part three-door hatch, but can be used as a four-seater if small adults or children are carried in the rear.

The driver's seat is set rather high, which may irritate tall drivers looking for headroom.

There's been a lot of design input from Lotus, the British sports car maker, so handling is brilliant in the usual Proton manner.

Keen drivers will love the way it holds the road in a neutral, well-balanced way until it reaches its very high limits of adhesion, all with plenty of feedback to tell you exactly what the chassis is doing.

The trouble is that good suspension dynamics can make an engine feel under-powered, and such is the case in the Satria Neo.

It's necessary to work at the gearbox to get decent performance as its 1.6-litre unit is on the sluggish side until it gets to 3000 rpm.

The five-speed manual gearbox is light and easy in its action, though the four-speed automatic is best left to the commuters with no real interest in driving.

Road noise is mostly well suppressed, however a lot of road/tyre noise gets into the car on some coarse-chip surfaces.

Proton is still being coy about the possibility of a new Satria GTi, but an announcement is expected in regards to that sometime soon.