The Proton Gen-2 sports is hatchback similar in size to the Ford Focus. But in terms of price, it competes directly with the Ford Fiesta. The Proton Gen-2 is available either as a saloon or hatchback. Although the saloon came with an LPG, the said tank has fell out of the radar of the car users. 

Pros

The Gen-2 comes with two petrol engine options. There’s the 1.6-litre at 110 bhp and the 1.3-litre at 74bhp, both of which include the five-speed manual gearbox. You can get the automatic gearbox with the 1.6-litre engine. We recommend the manual gearbox at 1.6-litres as it performs consistently on all road conditions and within speed variations. 

The chassis enables smooth ride and handling. Suspension also allows for all around comfort throughout each ride, as well car composure as one turns into each corner. Grip is also stable, but expect sudden reactions to steering for certain inputs.

The included equipment is enough for every emergency and daily tasks: every Gen-2 includes an electric front window, alloy wheels, as well twin front airbags.

The LPG system, although not a popular choice in today’s cars, actually works in this design. The system fits seamlessly into the spare wheel and only takes up three inches of booth depth.

Cons

The interior design disappoint with its old look and low-rent plastic material. Drivers will have a hard time settling in; the position is unfortunate and suspension does not enable limits performance on the road. 

Noise is another problem within the vehicle’s cabin. Expect continuous drones even on town road driving speeds. Road noise is also heard while going on other road surfaces and conditions, particularly when you accelerate into faster velocities. Wind noise, however, is not as distracting but is still heard when going on motorway speeds.

Performance is inconsistent, depending on your chosen engine or gearbox. There’s the 1.3-litre engine but is slow at 94bhp. The automatic gearbox can lag your acceleration time and depends on your variation: it’s 13.6 seconds for the hatchback and 14.3 seconds for the saloon.

Handling on the Gen-2 disappoints as drivers will be displeased by the lack of feedback while steering. Rear sensors allow for safer parking but that’s not much of an exchange given how awkward the car performs even on low speeds. On a test drive, you’ll be considering the Ford as a better and smarter alternative.

Price is not costly for the Proton Gen-2, but you’ll end up regretting even placing that much of an amount for slow and disappointing performance on the long run. If you aren’t particular about where the vehicle disappoints and budget is the only determining factor, then you can easily get a discounted deal on this one. But serious car owners would caution against the downsides to driving, owning, and maintaining the car. It’s a short term ownership overall and you’ll want to upgrade in the future when more improvements are made on engines, gearboxes, and designs of more prominent car manufacturers. You’ll want to look into the Ford cars first if you are looking for similarities to the Gen-2.

In an industry primarily dominated by Japanese, European or sometimes American products, it is rather rare for a South East Asian brand to have a good foothold on the vehicle market. Proton is one of the few well done and well-built South East Asian Vehicle Brands; its popularity is evident in the European nation of Great Britain and in Australia, Japan, China, Russia and many more ASEAN partner nations. One of Proton’s more popular designs is the Proton Gen-2. The Gen-2 was in production from 2004 to 2012 and was part of Proton’s hatchback projects. The Proton Gen-2 was designed with a distinctly Malaysian designed Engine and also a unique platform to go with it. This uniqueness of the Platform can be evident in the size of the Proton and the fact that despite its modern design in front, it keeps a sleek hatch back for mobility.

The Gen-2 was modified in many different variations including its Europestar “facelift” which was meant to give it a modern racer’s look.  But despite its popularity, the Gen-2 failed to capture the demands of the British and Australian populace, mainly for its size. But it had some moderate success during its release in other ASEAN nations.