Official launch is just moments away, but find out what our first impressions are, first

Well, today’s the big day for Proton… again. Remember the schedule as we reported here? The Persona’s launch is part of a tightly-packed three new car launch assault from the company to reinvigorate its sales. And not too long ago we were given access to the vehicle, given a chance to drive it (at the Proton test track, no less), and walked away with an encouraging first impression.

What is it?
It looks smaller, but that’s okay really. Because a) it is now sized like the B-segment that it was always supposed to be, and b) it doesn’t feel too cramped in here.

The real achievement is the dance Proton had to do to balance the car’s price point yet make it safe, good-looking (is this price related? In a way, yes), and well-specified. On the one hand that is not difficult. The first-gen Persona – itself a Gen2 with a boot – was barely on par with its segment-mates back in 2007 when it was launched. By 2015, it was way behind.

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Exterior
Nothing from the old Persona is shared with the new car. Instead, the Iriz is its equivalent from a design and powertrain angle. Width, height and wheelbase are exactly the same between the two with a 467mm difference in length. The Persona’s headlights look really nice but due to a difference in how it is shaped, won’t fit into the Iriz.

Interestingly, the increase in size has the opposite effect on weight. The new Persona is 1155kg on the scale, compared to old Persona’s 1170kg. You can thank advances in construction technology for that, such as the use of Hot Press Formed (HPF) steel.

Gone is the streamlined look and replaced by a 2.5-box construction. But then again, Proton now knows that looks alone won’t sell cars.

Interior
This is coming from a person who has a Persona as one of the family car – the new car offers marginal increase in cabin room. At least that’s how I see it. You see, in the driver’s seat there is not much difference in width space (after all, the variance between the two generation is just 3mm). Any feeling of a large interior mainly comes from the vast increase in roof height which in turn adds much more glasshouse area.

I must stress that it does not at all feel confined; the rear passengers also get more knee room. My only concern is that the competitors may have the upper hand here. Still, I will need more time with the car to give a more definitive answer.

Build quality is sensible for what it is (read: price). Some materials and tactile feel of knobs/switches are not quite there yet and that’s something Proton must work on. The Malaysian public has been waiting too long.

The 510 boot is big and can be opened using a button at the tailgate, something the old Persona did not have. The higher spec variant (Premium) gets three USB port, good news for those who have an ever present need to charge their gadgets.

Driving experience
The first thing noticed was the quieter cabin. The car takes off while filling the cabin with very little amount of gearbox whine, unlike the Iriz which is, errr, very vocal. Proton took deliberate actions to tackle this such as increasing noise insulating materials. But the most important was the re-tuning of the transmission.

Now, power goes out smoother than in the Iriz. In my opinion, the greatest benefit – other than the lower NVH – is a throttle response that is kinder to modulation. Previously, it had more of an Off/On nature; particularly in comparison to the old Persona.

Okay, so that one had a different engine. This mill too has been dolled up, and the way it behaves on the road is complementary of the gearbox. Smooth and quiet is the order of the day, it seems.

Not much to report on its suspension though. It is a test track, after all. But being a Proton, we don’t have much to worry about that.

The question is, how will the public react? We hear that since the car was open for booking, up to 1000 buyers have signed up.

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