After the New Saga had been launched, I believed many local (Malaysian) auto fans had shift their attention to the next model that will be launched by Proton, the Proton MPV. Until the date of this writing, there is still no spyshots or details information available on the internet for this model. But if you googled hard enough, there are bits and pieces here and there but most are based from hearsays. There was a reliable source, a blog owned by the chief designer of the new mpv himself. However about few days ago, he decided to block his blog from anybody getting in. I do not know for what reason he did that, but it should be a very good one.

The Project:
A little bird told me that the project had started a while ago, starting on par with the development of Persona. By now it should have reached quite advance stage of development process. There are news that says few clay models have been completed. The Chassis is ready now and structurul rigidity is still being fine tune to get better crash rating standard. The target product launch date is somewhere in the 1st quarter of 2009. So, we might see spyshots of this mpv on road test starting from Jun 2008 onwards.

The Engine:
There are few engine option under testing and consideration. One of it is the standard campro 1.6 cps engine, secondly, the supercharge campro 1.6 cps with added vvt mechanism and lastly the Mitsubishi 2.0 V6 engine currently used in the Perdana. For the first option, I think the CPS version might be able to pull the load with 2 or 3 passengers but for fully loaded and climbing hill? I don’t think so. From waja to the latest model, Proton is well known for its heavier chassis and body which contribute to its magnificent handling. The third engine option is too outdated already and more expensive in terms of maintenance. It’s not going to appeal to the targeted market. So I think the best choice would be the second engine. Why? Because it can deliver the best power to weight ratio at minimal price. As quoted by Si-Fu, one of the regular visitor to PT blog: “The system above, provides good consumption at low speed, good low end and high end torque and most importantly power only when u need it.

The Chassis:
The only choice proton would have is to start from the Waja Platform base. It was mention a long time ago that the Waja GX platform would spawn to many type of vehicles and one of it is an MPV. Based from the below data, The Chancellor platform is the best bet. This is also support the above statement regarding roomier cabin and storage space compared with the Wish. Waja w/base: 2600 mm Dim: 4465 x 1740 x 1420 (L x W x H) mm Chancellor w/base: 2850 mm Dim: 4715 x 1740 x 1420 mm Wish w/base: 2750 mm Dim: 4560 x 1695 x 1590 mm
The Interior:
The news says that the interior are going to get the utmost attention especially on quality and praticality. Seems that dark color theme will be chosen as this is the prefered color by most Malaysian. The Dashboard, central console & steering wheel design will be something fresh and totally new. There will an extra aircond blower for rear passengers and the third row seats will be able to fold flat, just like the persona’s. There will be lots of cups holders as most MPVs and also not forgetting grocery hooks. As a whole, the interior quality will be on par with the best of the Japanese makes.

The Exterior:
For the exterior design, it is said that the Toyota Wish is it’s primary benchmark. The new Honda Stream and Mazda 5 are also included. So expect the body curves to be as stylish as this three models but slightly longer as to give better space for last row sits and luggage area. The front face might be taking some cue from the Lotus APX but overall, from afar, somebody could mistake it for the Toyota Wish.