Proton Persona

Simple and functional, but not boring – that’s the impression that the cabin of the Proton Persona creates at first. Compared to the Saga, the Persona looks more premium, which is evident by the choice of materials and better fit and finish levels. A few features inside do easily make it a plusher and more modern place to be in. All the three variants of the Proton Persona are bestowed with an all-black upholstery, with the choice of materials for seats differing in the variants. 

Seats and upholstery

As said above, all the three variants of the Proton Saga have different upholstery for the seats. The base-spec Standard and the mid-spec Executive variants come with dual-tone black and grey fabric upholstery, with both of them getting different patterns and textures. The top-spec Premium variant has plush-looking brown-coloured leather upholstery, which looks richer and blends in well with the all-black cabin, despite its contrast appeal. The Executive and Premium variants are equipped with 60:40 split foldability for the rear seats.

Comfort and convenience

The Proton Persona is offered with ECO drive assist with ECO mode switch, power windows, front centre armrest with console box and manual AC with N95 cabin filter across all the three variants. The higher variants, Executive and Premium, get more features in the form of audio and Bluetooth controls on the steering wheel, a TFT unit for the multi-information display in the instrument console (which is a monotone LCD unit in Standard), push start-stop button and digital display for the AC panel on the centre console. The Premium variant, in addition, also gets a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Entertainment, information and communication

The base Standard variant of the Proton Persona gets a basic-looking 2-DIN audio system, which supports Bluetooth connectivity and a 2-speaker audio system. The other two higher variants in the lineup, Executive and Premium, get a comparatively more modern and floating-style 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone connectivity, which is compatible with a 4-speaker audio system. In the Premium variant, this infotainment system is also equipped with a voice command system, online navigation, online music streaming and online weather forecasting. All the variants of Proton Persona get a USB port for audio streaming and five USB ports for charging in their cabins. 

Storage

The Proton Persona is decently armed with storage spaces in the door pockets, cup holders behind the transmission lever, storage space below the front centre armrest and the closed glovebox on the co-passenger side of the dashboard. However, for a sedan of its category, the omission of the rear centre armrest is a miss. What makes the Proton Persona outshine is its 510 litres boot compartment, which is massive going by the segment standards.

Compared to the previous iteration of the Proton Persona and the Proton Saga sedan positioned below it, the new Proton Persona feels more youthful and premium to look at. It is marginally smaller than the previous-generation version of the Persona but offers a sleeker and more contemporary design, which goes well with the modern taste.

Starting from the front, the Proton Persona has a well-contoured bonnet with smooth curves flowing towards its smile-like front fascia. This fascia is comprised of a sleek-looking curved grille, which gets chrome garnish on its upper and lower edges and gets the Proton logo made of chrome in the middle. The upper chrome garnish extends over the upper parts of the sweptback and curve-shaped headlamps. These headlamps – all-LED auto units on the Premium variant and halogen units on the lower two variants – come integrated with clear lens turn indicators in their outermost corners. The nicely styled housings on the corners of the front bumper come with daytime running LED strips in the Executive and Premium variants.

Coming to the side profile, the Proton Persona impresses with its curvy design language, which looks even better with the door-mounted rearview mirrors having LED turn indicators within them. The curved window beltline adds a sense of flow to the side profile’s design. While the Standard and Executive variants get single-tone silver alloys (15-inch units in Standard and 16-inch units in Executive), the Premium variant gets dual-tone machined 16-inch alloy wheels.

The rear profile of the Proton Persona has sweptback tail lamps placed on the far outer corners of the boot lid, which have modern LED inserts and are adjoined by a body-coloured strip housing the Proton lettering across it. Atop the boot lid, there is a spoiler, which is body-coloured in the Standard and Executive variants and black-coloured in the Premium variant. The Premium variant also benefits with a blacked-out roof and satin chrome garnish at the bottom of the rear bumper, across its width.

With a length of 4366 mm, a width of 1722 mm, a height of 1564 mm and a wheelbase of 2555 mm, the Proton Persona is marginally bigger than the Proton Saga but is a bit smaller than the other sedans in its category.

The Proton Persona is not an enthusiastic driver’s-oriented car, which is very evident from the way its steering and suspension have been tuned for a more comfort-oriented setup. The Persona has Macpherson struts with a stabilizer bar at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. While the Standard variant rolls on smaller 185/55 R15 tyres, the other two higher-spec variants get 185/55 R16 tyres. What makes the Proton Persona a breeze to drive in the city is its hatchback-like turning radius of just 5 meters, which along with the light-weighted steering, makes it very easy to putter around in the city traffic.

The only engine option which has been made available in the Proton Persona is the 1.6-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which it shares with the Proton Iriz hatchback. The only transmission option available in all the three variants of the Persona is a CVT gearbox.

This petrol engine produces quite modest figures for a 1.6-litre petrol engine – 109 PS of maximum power output and 150 Nm of maximum torque output, which make the Persona a decently powerful car, if not thrilling to drive. Even the CVT gearbox is tuned for maximum efficiency and a smoother driving experience, rather than offering a thrilling experience behind the wheel. The Proton Persona returns a fuel efficiency of around 15.2 kmpl (as tested in the NEDC cycle), which makes it around 12 per cent more fuel-efficient than the previous model of the Persona.

All the three variants of the Proton Persona are decently equipped with all the safety essentials like front and side airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, brake assist, electronic stability control, traction control and hill hold assist. The Executive and Premium variants are further equipped with front parking sensors and a reverse camera. The Proton Persona has already scored a commendable 5-star rating in the ASEAN NCAP crash tests, which is a testimony to its fantastic value engineering which does not come at the cost of safety.

 Warranty

Proton offers a standard warranty of five years or 150,000 km (whichever comes earlier) on all three variants of the Persona. In addition, the Persona is also available with a five-year data package (1 GB/month) for the online functions in the infotainment system in the Premium variant and three free labour services.

Proton Persona vs the competition

The Proton Persona is a premium compact sedan, which with its bigger size and engine specifications, takes on the lineup of executive sedans from one segment above. There are three prime rivals to the Proton Persona, all of which are slightly pricier than the former:

Honda City – The City has always been the highest-selling model from Honda in Asian car markets, and it continues to be the same in Malaysia with its fifth-generation model. With this version, the City has become slightly bigger and more expensive in size, thus making it more premium than ever before. The only engine option available in the Honda City is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, apart from the exclusive and expensive hybrid powertrain in the range-topping RS variant.

Toyota Vios – The Vios is to Toyota, what the City is to Honda. This executive sedan is one of the key volume bringers from Toyota in Malaysia and is known for its terrific reputation in quality and reliability for a car of this class. The Toyota Vios is available with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which is offered with both manual and CVT gearbox options.

Nissan Almera – With the new iteration, the Nissan Almera has completely transformed from being a boring and functional-looking sedan to a youthful and attractive-looking one. The new curvaceous design language of the Nissan Almera makes it a stunner, while also gaining a host of new updates in terms of features and powertrain. It is now powered by a brilliant 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which like the Persona is offered with a CVT gearbox as standard.

 Final words

While one would expect the Proton Persona to be dramatically more premium than the Proton Saga due to its higher positioning, well, that’s not the case. Yes, the Proton Persona is dimensionally bigger and packs in a bigger and more powerful engine. But while it offers a slightly more premium styling and cabin layout, it is not a drastic upgrade. The Persona still lacks the finesse and modernity of its pricier rivals. But at the price range in which it is available, it offers an equally good package considering practical parameters like space, performance, fuel efficiency and ride quality. It could have more features for a small premium pricing, but even if it’s not the case, the Persona ranks as one of the most practical and affordable sedans available in the country. And that’s the reason why it consistently ranks as a best-seller in sales charts of the Malaysian car market every month.