The Proton Exora was one of the nations most anticipated model from the national car maker Proton. Right from day one, when the project was in the drawing board, Proton’s latest baby was expected to perform a very large task for its maker. It not only had the distinction of being the nation’s 1st localized MPV, something that the Kia derived Ria and Citra models were never going to achieve since they were essentially re-badged versions of the Korean version with a few bits of local content to make it affordable for the Malaysian buyers. The Exora had a lot riding in it for Proton as well. Battered by Perodua for large parts of 2009 , the Exora was expected to help Proton gain back the position it once held as the undisputed market leader in the Malaysian auto industry.
With the Saga BLM and Persona taking the fight to Perodua’s Myvi and Viva, the highly anticipated Exora was certainly going to be the manufacturers wingman of sorts to help it claw back and attempt to be Malaysia’s top automaker once again. The mammoth task that was expected of it became even harder when Perodua announced the production of the Alza, which was basically an elongated version of the Myvi variant.Proton also had a point to prove to the general public’s perception of the company’s once iconic image. Years of shoddy build quality, botched and rubbish OEM equipment as well as dated designs sent Proton on a downward spiral throughout the early parts of the new millennium.
With the market now boasting the likes of Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Kia with their attractively priced cars, Proton was pushed into a corner and starting with the Saga BLM and Persona have decided on an all almighty fightback. Hence, it was fitting that the Exora was going to be the new Gold standard in which all future Proton cars were going to be judged on.
The Exora, with all the weight on its shoulders, certainly does not flatter to deceive. It cuts it close in certain key areas, but in all is a very passionate and genuine attempt by the management and engineers of Proton in coming up with something that could have been truly brilliant. The equipment level, the spacious design, the attention to detail, the Euro Ncap safety ratings and the brilliant handling are just some of the aspects Proton has championed on this time.
With all the hype over the Exora finally reaching calming levels, Proton finally was able to finally let me have the H-line edition for a week’s worth of thrashing around.
Ride & Handling
For a vehicle this size, the ride quality was rather good. The one thing Proton’s engineers tend to get right almost all the time is that oh-so-sweet handling. Its great to know that all the input by Lotus has not gone to waste and I am brave enough to say that Proton makes among the best handling cars in Asia, one that is easily comparable to other powerhouses like Honda and Nissan.The steering feels absolutely solid and has a nice balance of heft and assistance, which is also very linear and consistent, regardless of the load in question.
Another positive feature is the tight and crisp turning circle of the Exora. This is mainly due to the compactness of the engine, which means the front wheels of the Exora can be turned so much that anyone can execute a neat turn in any tight spot.
Interior
The flexibility of the cabin is also a trump card for the Exora. The 2nd and 3rd row seats can be folded down individually to offer various kinds of combinations to carry passengers, luggage or over-sized merchandise. The best feature was indeed the the simplicity of the of the mechanism that operates the 2nd row of seats. All it takes is a mere 2 or so seconds to fold and move it.
Best of all is the ease of doing it. It was basically a 1 hand 1 lever mechanism. The last row of seats are also equally easy to operate. You pull 2 straps and a lever and hey presto the seats are down or up. When fully folded, you can see the sheer size of the the Exora’s carnivorous body. The seats fold flat on the floor and thus offer great access and ease to load and unload odd-sized or heavy objects.
All three rows are comfortable, and a large sized person can easily fit into the third row comfortably. When seated in the rear, I found it quite comfortable and spacious with my knees barely touching the second row. Another point to consider is that the third row is quite wide and its not an overstatement to say that two large persons are actually able to fit without rubbing shoulders. On the negative side, there are no ISOFIX points for the seats and there was only a lap belt for the middle seat in the second row instead of a full 3-point system.The air conditioning in the Exora, like all other Protons, was superb, thanks mainly to the inclusion of two blowers, one for the front and the other for the rear rows. There are air conditioning vents for all 3 rows, with the vents for the 2nd and 3rd row located above the windows.
The Proton Exora H-Line comes with cruise control, a roof mounted LCD screen and a DVD player. The DVD player is a separate roof-mounted unit which is not integrated with the in-car entertainment system. It allows you to stream the audio from the DVD to the head unit installed up front via FM transmission or alternatively, the kids /passengers at the back can actually plug in headphones to the DVD player via the two 3.5mm headphone jacks.
Compared to the M-Line version, the H- Line edition Exora has slightly different trim on the outside. There is chrome for the grille and rear, as well as blacked out B and C pillars using black stickers. It’s good to know that the Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming functionality of the 2-DIN head unit has been retained in the M-Line.Another interesting feature were the leather seats in the H-Line version which has a combination of materials. The leather seats are also pretty adequate if not average looking. The engineers have incorporated a type of suede-like material at the sides of the leather seats, which they say was intentionally left there so that the leather would be allowed to expand and contract in a certain way under the hot Malaysian climate and thus reduce the chances of them cracking. This, in my opinion, was an act of pure genius and hats off to the Proton engineer / interior designer who came up with the idea.
Extras
The Exora also comes equipped with a Body Control Module that was supplied by Continental Siemens AG. Some of the interesting features I found while driving were the battery saver for room lamps, luggage and key ring illumination. These automatically turn off after 30 seconds to ensure battery life is maintained, should for any reason they are left switched on for an extended period of time. The Exora also has follow-me-home headlamps, which stay on for a short period of time to help illuminate the driver’s path for a short period after parking. There is a door opened indicator on the instrument panel that indicates exactly which door, bonnet or rear hatch is not securely fastened. If that eludes you, there is also a door opened warning beep when you exceed 7km/h.The signal indicator stalk was something quite interesting. You just have to tap the indicator stalk for the signal to flash 3 times, to indicate a quick lane change, which means you don’t need to fully engage the indicator stalk to turn on and reach for it again to deactivate it. The dim-in and dim-out feature for the cabin adds a slight touch of luxury to the Exora . The cabin lamps turn off automatically after you lock the car, staying on for 30 seconds and then takes 3 seconds to fade out. When unlocking the car, the cabin light fades-in in 4 seconds.
Front and rear wiper washer drip wiping is perhaps the feature i thought was so Un-Proton-ish. The wipers automatically remove excess water when you operate the front washer, it will wipe 4 times and then pause for around 5 or so seconds and then wipe one more time, to remove all the excess water effectively. This is because some of the washer liquid from the top of the windscreen will slowly drip down after the initial wiping, so the last wipe completely removes the washer water. This is a rather neat trick that not many cars I know have.The doors will also lock automatically once you reach 20km/h but its long been a feature in most cars today and I am glad Proton did not forget that. The doors will also unlock automatically once you remove the key from the key barrel. If you perform any sudden braking at speeds of at least 96 ++km/h, the hazard lights will flash automatically.
Engine
I have deliberately left the engine review at the end because that probably is the Exora’s biggest flaw. The engine on the Exora has got to be the biggest disappointment in this otherwise decent package by Proton. The one dimensional 1.6 Campro CPS engine that powers the Exora as well as the Waja, Gen 2, and Satria Neo kicks out a decent 125hp with a respectable 150Nm of torque.While seemingly sufficient in a normal passenger car, the same engine on a “fat” MPV means the performance is critically affected. Proton of course couldn’t do much about this since the CPS is the only engine series it now makes. The aging Perdana’s Japanese sourced 2.0L V6′s were too old and suffered from poor fuel consumption while outsourcing the engines from a different partner would have sent costs up, which would have meant a higher retail price for the Exora. A joint-venture project with a “certain” German automaker would have at least temporarily offset the problem but unfortunately it never did take off.
Another crucial point the people considering to utilize the Exora as a full 7-seater is its fuel consumption. After covering over 400km’s of city driving, highway cruises, hill climbs and coastal runs on the Exora, the Auto returned a figure of 11.2L/100km on average driving speeds (90km/h – 110km/h). The worst figure indicated by the trip computer was 16.2 L/100km when pushed hard with a full load along the back roads of the PD-Alor Gajah coastal route. My Mazda Lantis does the exact route with a rate of 9.7L/ 100km/h while a another trial in a rival MPV with an 1.8 engine got me around 14.8L / 100km. The 1.6L engine does require some high revving, hence the slightly high fuel burn rate, but you also take into account the characteristics of the CAMPRO CPS engine as well as the sheer weight of the Exora. On the bright side, with the 55L tank, I estimate a that a range of 550-600 km could be attained on a full tank.
Verdict
The Exora is almost certainly never going to win any standing start races, or fuel economy runs or hill-climbs. An excellent vehicle mated to a very 1 dimensional powerplant and with a slightly unbalanced gear ratio is never going to win many fans in any market. Proton does thou, somehow manage to pull it off thanks to its attention to other details that bring it up to mark against its other rivals. Boasting a very affordable price tag for a ton of features that comes as standard on the H-Line , the Exora certainly has to be in my opinion the best Proton yet. If you have the urge to get an MPV in the near future, I'd suggest you hold onto your horses till Proton releases its turbocharged version of the CPS engine, hopefully by the end of this year or early next year.The Exora will always be the last kid that arrives at the party, but when it arrives it tends to be the main attraction of the party since it probably ferried half the crowd there along with all the items for the party. With a price tag of just over RM 75,000.00, Proton just may have among the best budget MPV’s for the road today. Lets all hope the guys from Quality Control are in tune with Proton’s new vision on building quality national cars for the new decade
Pros : Maxed out with features, looks good, does the job adequately, Best value for money MPV in the market now.
Cons : Doesn’t have a turbo, build quality still not perfect, did i mention it needs a turbo?
