The Proton Exora has been launched and it won’t be long until the car is handed out to members of the media. An MPV is quite a different animal from a regular car.
People buy it for different reasons, and most rational people just want a big box to move people or stuff around. I don’t have a bunch of kids to lug around as of yet so perhaps it is better if you guys share with me, what would you like me to check out in a write-up of the Proton Exora? Please do share your questions in the comments section of this story and I will try my best to answer all of them in a future test drive story.
Please keep the comments here to questions only. To share your opinion or showroom experiences of the Proton Exora there is the launch story.
Proton has sent the Proton Exora for crash testing using the Applus+ IDIADA facility in Spain. The tests were required to engineer the Exora to meet Euro NCAP 4 star standards, which Proton claims the Exora will be able to achieve based on its tests conducted at IDIADA according to Euro NCAP test specifications.
In this story are tables listing the tests - note that P0 and P1 denote two different stages of prototypes, so the earlier P0 car would have failed some tests which the P1 car passed later because of revisions to the prototype specs.
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The Exora was designed to be able to achieve a 4 star Euro NCAP equivalent of crash safety but of course you can’t just rely on your engineering data for that, you have to actually crash it and see what happens, and if it doesn’t go as to what you predicted, go back to the drawing board and fix it.
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A total of 32 Proton Exora crash test vehicles were destroyed in various tests including a rollover test. The cost of these vehicles amounted well into a Ringgit figure that is 8 digits long, because at the early developmetn stages you are essentially making a few nearly one-off parts, so when things are not produced in volume they are very expensive.
These videos have already been inserted into the launch, specs and price story that I published right after the Exora launch ceremony, but here they are again after the jump for those who missed them.
This is the other concept Proton Exora which Proton Design whipped up in conjunction with the Exora’s launch. The Proton Exora Prestige converts the Exora into a VIP chauffeured car with a lounge behind where one can either continue to work on the move or relax on the way home after a stressful day.
There is of course a bodykit which includes a double fin front bumper grill, warp-around chrome foglamp garnish, a front lip, side skirts, rear apron with integrated quad exhausts, a rear roof spoiler, chrome glass trimming, chrome side protector moulding, a customised smoked rear brake lamp, tinted glass, and 18 inch wheels with 224/40R18 tyres.
In the interior, the first row is separated from the rest of the vehicle via a glass panel to give the boss at the back some privacy. The rear passenger can communicate with the driver via an intercom. This privacy glass panel includes a 19 inch LCD TV.
The VIP seats have electric adjustments, a massage system, and a built-in working table. Other creature comforts include a nice sound system including two 8 inch subwoofers to match the 5.1 channel DVD player, a stow-away footrest and a cooler box.
During the media preview and drive event for the Proton Exora MPV last week in Cyberjaya, Proton had a whole room dedicated to a tech exhibition showcasing the technologies that went into the new Proton Exora. Of course alot of these stuff isn’t exactly cutting edge but are unique at this price segment for this model, and alot of them also represent their first time of usage in a Proton. I wanted you to feel like you were there so I snapped photos of as many slides and items as possible. Look after the jump for a full gallery of the Exora tech exhibition.
Proton Design showcased two modified Proton Exora MPVs at the launch of the Exora yesterday evening. Some of you may have already seen these cars during the live telecast on TV1, but here is a closer look at the two vehicles. This is the white one called the Proton Exora Prime. Here’s the stuff that Proton Design added to the Exora Prime:
- Pearl White Exterior
- Double Fin Front Bumper Grille
- Corporate Graphic At FR Door Trim
- High Gloss Black Side Mirrors
- High Glass Black Roof
- Wrap-around Satin Galvano Foglamp Garnish
- Customised Side Skirts
- Customised Rear Apron with Integrated Exhaust
- Customised Satin Galvano Glass Trim
- Clear Rear Brake Lamps
- Tinted Glass
- 17 inch Wheels with 215/45R17 tyres
- 2-DIN DVD player with integrated GPS
- Rear view mirror with integrated LCD for reverse camera
- 1st and 2nd row pilot seats with integrated LCD and mobile theater system
- Cooler box for the floor console
Look after the jump for a full gallery of the Exora Prime concep
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We’ve seriously come a long way and it has been a long wait for this vehicle which will be Proton and the country’s first ever affordable people mover, at under RM80k for a vehicle that can decently move 7 adults and some minor luggage. We first knew this vehicle simply by the name Proton MPV until its name - Proton Exora - was handpicked by a contest winner and unveiled a few months ago.
Stay tuned for 1030pm tonight where this site will unveil plenty more juicy details on the new Proton Exora. There was a previous report on a test drive experience of a prototype car, I hope you’ve all read that already otherwise please check them out in the linked related posts in this story. Some interesting BCM details in those stories!
Other than the specs and price of the Proton Exora I will also share with you my initial driving impressions of the actual production car, instead of the previous drive session which was with a prototype. So come back later tonight, it’s a decent product and I am as excited about writing the story as you hopefully are about reading it!
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This is the latest and probably one of the most final in a series of teaser images released by Proton of the Proton Exora 7-seater MPV. If you visited the Proton Technology Week they held sometime back you would have already seen this in real life, but this version shows some of the different metals used in the structure.
The single-piece front end module is made of plastic (but reinforced by metal in some areas) and the front subframe uses a hydroformed sub-frame technology that contributes to helping the Exora lose a few KGs, which means the CamPro CPS will have less to lug around. Being a single piece, it will be easier for the assembly line workers to install the front end module.
This is how part design can affect quality - other than the actual quality of the component itself, if a component is easier to install there is a higher chance for the assembly line works to always get it right the first time around.
Proton’s first 7-seater MPV the Proton Exora will be launched on the 15th of April 2009, if everything goes well. That is very close, less than a month from now!
Proton has pulled many unexpected but welcome and pleasant moves with the launch of this MPV. The first is of course letting a few journalists try the MPV out. Another is actually letting customers who have taken the leap of faith and placed a RM1,000 deposit for the MPV without even seeing it yet, actually see it!
Yes, a few customers who have placed bookings were invited to Proton’s test track sometime ago for them to sample the MPV that they will soon own. One such customer had a very amusing reason for buying the MPV, as can be read in Business Times interview with some of the buyers:
“I originally wanted to buy a Proton Satria Neo CPS for my wife, who likes driving fast. But to curb her interest for her own good, I decided to get her an Exora. She doesn’t know that I’m buying her the car. If she doesn’t like it, I may have to buy her the Neo CPS,” said T.K. How from Puchong.
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