Here is our latest video folks! As stated in an earlier article, where I featured Malaysian Rally Champion YS Khong's review of the 2019 Proton Saga facelift I was in the midst of preparing Motoring Malaysia's video of the first drive experience in this A segment sedan. I must say this this is the best A segment sedan on the market today in terms of how it drives.
Watch the video to see what I think of it. The 2019 Saga is essentially a facelift of a compact sedan first launched in 2016. This is the third generation Proton Saga and it gets the usual facelift stuff - which usually means a nip here and a tuck there.
Exterior wise, it gets new bumpers from and back as well as a new grille. The bumpers as I've stated in the video looks like they came from a Mercedes-Benz A Class Sportline edition. The grille takes after its bigger sibling the X70 SUV and the overall outcome is a fresher looking compact sedan that aspires to be more than it is. This is a good thing as in any budget car category, we have to dream bigger than what is actually is.
Interior wise the Saga gets a new floating infotainment screen which features quite a good audio system. It has lots of clarity and great separation of sound (you can tell which instrument is what). It may lack some mid range bass, but this is expected as the Saga is a bread and butter model and not scones, whipped cream and strawberries. But still, better than those budget cars that have tinny speakers. Aside from them, it is also more ergonomic to use as the infotainment screen is designed for right hand drive cars in mind and the driver can just reach for the volume button with just his or her outstretch fingers. However, being an entry level car, the talking 'Hi Proton' function is left out. But not that I missed it actually.
The instrument cluster is also better with a larger LED information display between the rev counter and the speedometer. The whitish LED lights are also used for the fuel and temperature gauges. All is better and it is more legible than ever. Other changes which are nice touches include the Volvo-esque front seat headrests which are so much better than the usual square blobs on the pre-facelift car. It makes the new Saga look better.
Aside from that, there is also the use of tricot headliner which is a more premium feeling material. It does make things a little better inside with its use.
So if you watch the video, you can tell that YS Khong and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the new Saga. It is extremely chuckable in the corners. The 'Chuckability' factor according to YS Khong is high and this made the new Saga still and enjoyable drive.
To me, it did felt stable at most speeds, even up to its 165kmh mean maximum speed (it will show 175kmh or thereabouts on the speedometer due to the usual 5% plus minus error margin built in). It was also confident through corners and while the steering has been engineering to be a tad bit lighter by Proton's engineers (for ease of parking and lower speeds), it was easily to get used to once the miles pile in.
The test car did suffer from a bit of dead travel in terms of the brakes. It did have larger discs and drums which came from the Proton Iriz and Persona B segment cars. Parts sharing and rationalisation by Proton is being done here but it did make the Saga have one inch bigger brakes all round. However, in the test car, it did have that extra millimeter or so before the brakes started to bite. Of course, there was some lack of consistency in terms of modulation. Most likely an early production issue with the test car. Overall still a good drive experience especially when you factor in the comfort, refinement that make this Saga a better car.
It easily soaked up the B-road we took it through. It seemed to be as quiet as a larger B segment sedan. Proton claims to have improved the Saga in terms of NVH levels and the overall car itself. It does show. The over 220 parts they've changed or upgraded shows. The biggest change is the new 4 speed automatic gearbox. The 1.3 liter engine may be the same, but because of this new gearbox, the car seems more refined. Yet is still quite economical. We managed about 6.4liters per 100km and even if you say that this is a little ambitious, add another liter and it still is pretty economical. Even with two heavy footed motoring journos at it.
One other thing about the video was that I touched on the fact that there was a reinforcement piece situated right beneath the accelerator pedal. According to Proton this was to ensure that the driver's foot does not get pushed under the accelerator pedal in the event of a crash. Of course, that piece was there ever since the Saga was launched and not something Proton just added. I vaguely remember this being so when I drove the pre-facelift Saga. Anyway, it does not snag my foot or anything like that. It still allows full acceleration so it is just a minor inconvenience. Other people may not be bothered by this little detail.
One other thing about the video was that I touched on the fact that there was a reinforcement piece situated right beneath the accelerator pedal. According to Proton this was to ensure that the driver's foot does not get pushed under the accelerator pedal in the event of a crash. Of course, that piece was there ever since the Saga was launched and not something Proton just added. I vaguely remember this being so when I drove the pre-facelift Saga. Anyway, it does not snag my foot or anything like that. It still allows full acceleration so it is just a minor inconvenience. Other people may not be bothered by this little detail.
Watch the video folks! It is 20 minutes long for a reason. I wanted to show off the car, its good bits and its bad bits. More good bits actually. And it is the best A segment sedan to buy in 2019. Better than some B segment sedans too. You can actually but this car at under RM40K and save some money.
Proton has come a long way since this Saga was originally launched. It shows in this Saga.
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