Owner Review: “Alternative to Mitsubishi Lancer”- 2002 Proton Wira 1.3 GLi Aeroback

Basic information about my car

2002 Proton Wira 1.3 GLi Aeroback

Reasons why I bought this car

I inherited this car from my parents. I mainly use it for my daily transportation needs together with the occasional long distance travels.

Car Selection Process

• I had a budget of 0 ( I’m currently in University, so as a 0 income full-time student, I’m grateful that my parents gave me this car )

• Model(s) that I have considered include: None

Originally, this Wira belonged to my mom, she bought it back in 2002 for around RM 45,000, back then I was still quite young, so I grew up together with this car. That’s partly the reason why I’m so attached to this car. I have a name for it and it’s called Wira~chan: 3.

User Experience

• I have already done more than 50,000 km

Before I start, I would like to offer Wapcar my sincere gratitude for providing the opportunity to review my car. It's always my dream to become an Automotive Journalist soon, so I am very grateful to Wapcar for providing me with this opportunity.

Every Malaysian knows the Proton Wira whether if they're petrol heads or not. To many, the Proton Wira is known to be a cheap and reliable car back when it was released. To petrol heads, the Wira is seen as a budget alternative to the legendary Mitsubishi Lancer, hence the term Wira-lution, because it is not uncommon to see some Wira owners converting their car into Lancer Evos.

As a proud owner of a 2002 Proton Wira 1.3 GLi Aeroback myself, I have a few praises and criticism that I would like to share during my 5 years’ experience of owning my first ever car.

My journey starts when my mom decided to give me her Wira when she had bought a new car back then in 2015. I learnt to drive in this car, learning the ropes of the manual transmission along the way.

Right after I got my license, my family immediately went on a road trip to Hat Yai in this very car. Because I was just a P driver at that time, I was quite nervous about driving in some foreign country, but eventually, I slowly gained my confidence and it was a memorable trip overall.

As time passed, I learnt to appreciate and love the Wira. The most enjoyable thing about driving the Wira is the manual gearbox itself. It shifts like a short shifter and every time, you shift, there’s always this satisfying click that comes along.

Sure the Wira I’ve owned is only a 1.3 variant with a total of 74 BHP, I can say that it’s not underpowered at all. The 4G13 engine from Mitsubishi under the hood is a peppy little engine. On the highways, I can easily cruise at 120KM/H without any problems and going uphill is not a problem either. Who needs horsepower to have fun?

On the other hand, it’s pretty fuel-efficient for an almost 20-year-old car. I can manage around 300-400KM on city driving and around 400-500KM on the highways on 1 tank of petrol.

Handling wise, The Wira is easily the best car I have driven around tight and twisty roads so far. The steering is just perfect. Not too light nor heavy. It’s quite direct and you’ll get the feel of the road. Because it has an all-round independent suspension, I can confidently drive it around the tight road and bends without worry.

Unfortunately, the ride is quite stiff and the ride height is quite low. There are multiple occasions where I scraped my bumper entering/exiting shopping malls car parks ramps. But overall, I can say that it’s a good handling car.

Interior wise, it’s ok for me. I got the one with the plastic wood finish on the centre console together with the leather-wrapped steering wheel. The seats are fabric and they’re comfortable for long journeys. As for the back, if you’re a tall person like me (180CM), it’s going to be tight because of the lack of legroom at the back. Overall, they’re pretty decent for an almost 20-year-old car and it looks better than some new car interiors out there.

As for practicality, it’s a very practical car. Since it’s a hatchback, I can easily fit 2 big luggage and a small one in the back with room to spare. For long items, you can just fold down the rear seats and your problem is solved. Did I fail to mention that a couple of years ago, a bunch of thieves got busted for stealing 4 cows in a Wira? Go Google it, its real XD.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Quite fuel-efficient for a car of this age

• Very reliable and durable

• Design have aged quite well compared to other cars from the same era

• The “Proton Aircon”

Cons

• Lack of spare parts. Have to either go for recon or original Mitsubishi parts which are very expensive.

• No. 1 most stolen car in the country

• The “Proton Power Windows”

• Zero safety features

Ratings

• Total Score: 5

• Performance: 4

• Quality & Features: 3

• Space: 4

• Ride Comfort: 3

• Fuel Economy: 4

• Price & Cost: 5

Summary

Overall, the Wira gets the full score of 5/5 in my heart. This is easily the best starter car to go for in my opinion if you just got your license. It offers the power and the practicality that no Kancil/Kelisa or Axia can offer and it’s cheap too. You can get one easily off the second hand market for less than a brand new Iphone but then, there’s the issue of the lack of spare parts which I had mention in the cons of the car. All and all, the Wira is definitely a great car and certainly one of the best cars ever released by Proton.

Something to Add

I have big aspirations for my Wira, I planned to make it into my project car. Swap out the engine for a more powerful one, maybe an Evo engine? Swap the tyres, the rims, basically, I’m going to overhaul the whole car and transform it to a FWD Evo. We’ll see how things go in the future. But one thing is for sure, I’ll be definitely keeping this car for as long as possible XD.