Alright, after two and a half months of owning and testing my baby around the roads, I'm finally able to give my views and thoughts on my baby Sapphire which is the Satria Neo CPS. I've actually wanted to write a review on the car for quite some time as there wasn't many detailed review to be found and knowing that there are still many Satria fanboys and car enthusiast alike out here wanting to know more about the car.
Well first of all, I would like to say that I'm very fortunate to be able to own and drive one (cheaper sports car) which still not many can afford considering its priced close to 60k. Not to say that people here aren't rich but the rich do have their own "toys" as well for example, the Type-Rs, the Lancers, the Subarus, or if you have more money to burn, you could say a VW Scirocco, Porch 911 Turbo, Lambo Gallardo, or even go for a Ferrari.
Anyway, lets talk about the cheapest sports car on the local market right now. Having driven it around for almost up to 3000km now and also the experience of taking it all the way up to Genting, I would say this is a pretty decent car and it definitely won't disappoint you.
Starting off with the exterior, with the new CPS body kit and the white paint job, the car does actually look quite attractive on the roads. Honestly speaking, I do get a lot of head-turning drivers checking out my car. I remembered once (and this is only one of many stories) when I drove and parked my car in front of a dim-sum restaurant, I was sitting right in front of my car and I had this uncle walking up and checking it out with that "this car looks awesome" look on his face. Some might even call this is a "chick magnet". Well, a cheap "chick magnet" I would say.
Okay now besides that, how does the car actually drives? If you ask me, I can definitely say this is a driver's car as in its much much thrilling and fun to drive then say, a car the likes of a Honda City which is obviously a family car made for comfort. The Neo does handle pretty nicely and it gives you full confidence heading into a corner. Some might say its because its a hatchback and its a two door car but I do believe that it was all down to Lotus tuned ride and handling and it is not just a marketing gimmick.
Under the hood of the car you have a Campro CPS engine which is currently the best engine you can get from Proton. The 1.6 engine is not the best in terms of fuel efficiency and a full tank of 40liters will probably give you around 450km max on the road which is pretty sad compared to a 1.5 Honda City which can give 600km on a full tank. The engine itself is actually quite good but its still lacks a bit on the lower end torque. One particular feature about this CPS engine is that it has two lifts, the low and the high. The low lift is of course just for your everyday eco-drive on the roads while the high lift is where you want to chase some Merc or BMW down. The high lift or activation point of the CPS is at 4,400rpm and I gotta say it does feel pretty awesome when it activates and the power kicks in. However, it does drink up a lot of what's in your fuel tank but still I gotta say its very addictive.
As for the transmission, there are both auto and manual to choose from. Most would recommend the manual and I strongly agree with that mainly because I've tested out the auto which really sucked. In "sucked" I mean the car just feels kinda normal, lazy, boring and uninspiring to drive (no offense to auto CPS owners). Before getting the manual CPS, my parents was like "are you sure about this?", "do you still know how to drive a manual?", and most notably "the jam will KILL YOU". Anyhow, I still got the manual CPS and at first it was tough on me cuz I've never driven a manual since getting my driving license which was about more or less 3 years ago. Embarrassingly, when I first took my car, my engine died 4 times on the way home. I must say my engine died frequently in my outing for the first few weeks. Now I'm pretty much used to it or should I say I'm actually obsessed with it. I do miss my car a lot when I drive the others.
Not to forget, the interior of the car has been enhanced with leather seats and leather wrapped steering as well. According to my friends, front passenger seats are actually quite comfortable however, the same can't be said about the back. Yes, it is leather seats as well but there just isn't much space to be sitting comfortably. I guess this car was really meant for two passengers only.
Okay, I just noticed I've written too much and I myself am getting kinda tired here so I'll just make it short and simple here for now. Overall, its a pretty awesome car and with that price, I would have given it probably a 4.5/5 but then it just falls short on that. It's not that the car is lousy but its just what Proton is famous for, DEFECTS. I was really angry that after getting the car, I had so many problems with it and I had to go back and forth about 2-3 times just to get the car all fixed up. Even when I first got my car, the back number plate light wasn't working, the interior light wasn't working, and the worst was my wiper malfunction which scratched my windscreen. After that, I had problem with high speed where I could hear wind sound coming through, problem with my power window and even my tire had a defect so good job to the guys a Proton. Keep it up!
It's just bullshits with Proton wanting to improve and compete with the big boys. I know we should support our local brand but damnit people, don't you see how bad the quality of the products are? You know why people like me bash Proton? Your answer is exactly the above. I do like my Neo CPS and I think its a great car but the troubles I've been through is just disappointing and I wouldn't even want to look at a Proton in the future if I could afford others.
