User Test Drive: Progress of Proton Struck Me - Proton X50

Basic Information about the Car

2020 Proton X50 1.5T

Time of Visit: 1:00pm 27/10/2020

Dealer Name: Proton 3S Kelana Jaya (HZN Engineering Sdn Bhd)

Dealer Location: Ss 6, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: RM93,200 (Premium) without road tax and insurance

Discount: N/A at the moment

Vehicle Delivery Time: Tentatively first quarter of 2021

Why did you make a visit to the dealer?

The sole purpose of visiting the dealer is to have a close up look and feel of this much hyped Proton X50. To be frank, currently my family already has enough cars for us to use and commute. Purchasing another extra car is not in our mind especially during the current times.

Exterior Description

The exterior of this (Premium) variant looks authoritative. Even though this isn’t the Red color of the (Flagship) variant, we can notice that the contrasting body panels and the red accent line on the grill gives it a very distinct touch. This grey color will be one of the favorite color for those that doesn’t enjoy a very striking color.

From this angle, one can notice that the foglamp are in rectangular shape, it is running LED foglamps. The headlamps for this (Premium) variant are LED as well. The front skirting is easily noticeable with it angling towards the front.

From this angle, the red color brake calipers of the front wheel are visible. This specific design detail makes the car looks much sportier and it gives a racy kind of feel with no extra money needed for after market modification. The wheels are 18inch for the (Premium) and (Flagship) variant with Continental’s Ultra Contact 6 tyres (215/ 55/ R18). The sport rims are in dual tone finish. There are chrome linings beginning from the A pillar elongating towards the back of the car until the C pillar via the outside of the driver and passenger windows.

The rear view of the X50. Instantly just by the first glance one will be amazed of the twin double holed exhaust pipes. This design itself has really made the car very sporty and lively. It exudes the feel that it is a serious vehicle and its performance is top notch. Personally I like the Proton name on the long chromed panel in the back stretching towards both sides of the taillamps. The rear foglamp is placed in the middle. In essence, the design is simple yet striking. This sort of looks will be pleasing to the mass and it is easily acceptable by any age group.

From the side, overall we can see a very clean design, not complicated with many angular linings or many body arches. It is very compact as well which gives the maneuverable and nimble feeling.

Interior Description

The front seats of the X50 from the passenger’s side. Personally, I adore how they implemented the leather seats’ color for the (Premium) and (Flagship) variant. The entire seat is wrapped with black leather but then the side of the front seats have this maroon-ish red accent lining, which personally I think it is a very nice touch. From this picture, we can see that the cover/ armrest for the center compartment box is the same red. This brings a very cohesive and eye pleasing interior for the car. There’s a small panel of the vehicle’s doors with the same design touch. To me, this brings the interior of the car closely towards Mazda’s territory or maybe even some Continental Vehicle brands. Proton nailed the X70’s interior, I believe they’ve done the same as well for X50.

This picture is taking while I was sitting in the rear passenger seat. One can notice that they are air vents in the rear and 2 usb charging ports above them. This will bring the question of how many vehicles in Malaysia at the price of Rm93,000- Rm104,000. Yes some would say that Honda City has already done that since 2014 but in terms of the quality in this specific Proton X50 interior. I genuinely believe it is one par above some of the Japanese and Korean make. The center console is clean and simple, all the buttons that needs to be used are aligned properly behind the gear knob, it will be easy to reach but I do encourage owners and potential buyers to spend some time reading the user manual of this vehicle to grasp and understand specifically what each button does.

From here itself, we can see that the dashboard is the similar red leather too. This brings a certain level of sophistication in the overall interior design but not too much. Trust me, this is a vehicle that will attract many professions and lay people as well.

The center console. There is like a barricade in the left side probably designed as such to prevent the passenger from accidentally engaging the gear knob which may be a possible hazard but it doubles as a sculpture design as well.

The steering wheel. Unfortunately, I can’t remove the cover due to hygiene purposes. The car wasn’t turned on as well therefore we couldn’t witness the fully digital instrument cluster. The steering wheel’s shape for me is just nice. It is compact and easy to grip. Which make the drive feels more aggressive like sort of in a go cart. There are several buttons for it with that are easily accessible to the driver while driving.

The right/driver’s side air vent. It is compact sort of a square but not entirely squared shape. There are several buttons below it, one is to turn of the traction control. One is for the brightness of the instrument cluster and one I believe it is for the leveling of the headlamps.

Summary

Pros & Cons of the Car

Pros

• Powerful

• Compact, easy to handle.

• Full of tech and driving assist

• Competitive price point

Cons

• Boot space is on the low side

• Rear passengers may have trouble getting out of the vehicle

• Reliability of the car as a whole, only time can tell.

My overall feelings toward the car

This is the first view and the first impression of the all new Proton X50 for me. At first glance, it struck me with how far have Proton came from before after that giving us the X70 and now X50, granted that these two vehicles are “developed and built” by Geely. However, this particular X50 is locally assembled from the get go. No doubt that the quality is on par with Japanese and Korean car manufacturer counterparts if one is being humble, but I believe it is arguably up a par from some locally assembled Japanese and Korean models. The variant I’ve viewed are the (Premium) and (Flagship) variant. Both their interiors are similar other than the sunroof missing for the (Premium) variant and some of the ADAS2 driving assist are omitted.

I love the interior very much. Perhaps this can be subjective, but as I mentioned above and I would like to reiterate that the interior is generally pleasing to the eye, its not complicated but with certain sophistication to bring in the mood inside the cabin. I believe many can accept and many will love it.

The infotainment system, sadly I did not get to fiddle around with it, this was due to the fact that the queue for the test drive is long. I need to be considerate to the other test drivers as well. However one thing to note is that when driving, once we engaged sport mode, the instrument cluster will turn in to a more aggressive display and we can see the rev counter like the traditional analog style which is a nice touch for me personally.

To the drive now. I only get to test drive the (Flagship) variant, yes this is the variant with the full beans. 177PS and 255NM of torque. When I first sat down in the driver’s seat, I can feel that the seating position is just right. The driver seat is a 10 way powered adjustable seat if I’m not mistaken. The steering wheel is tilt and telescopic adjustable too. Hence we can find and locate one specific adjustment that suites us the most. Towards the first turn I can instantly feel that the steering is rather on the light side. It feels much assisted, I am not very sure whether it’ll stiffen up during high speeds cause I did not get to drive it for a very long time.

The car is predictable. It feels compact and it doesn’t feel cumbersome to drive. Easy to handle, easy to maneuver. The throttle response is good in normal settings but when we engages the sport mode, the response sharpens up so much that a light touch on the gas pedal will see the rev builds up and the car just goes. Due to the fact of the 7 Speed DCT, the gears are closely packed and the odd and even gears are already separated in their specific clutch housing. This makes the gearshifts seamless during normal driving mode and in sports mode it gets very aggressive. It shifts in higher rpm but the gearshift still feels seamless, no “jerk” feeling as compared to the conventional torque convertor automatic. This is the genuine characteristics of a DCT.

From as low as 1,200rpm the full amount of torque is almost reached at about 1,800-2,500 rpm the car just goes and goes up to 4,000rpm the power is still there. This car can really get up to speed very quickly. Coupled with its not too long wheelbase, it is lively and nimble. Although some may prefer the steering to be a bit less assisted during the highspeed to get the more engaging feeling. Personally it was a very short drive for me to give further comments. Details of our test drive and our readers' opinion about X50 can be seen in the video below.

In a nutshell, I would recommend this car to my friends and family if they are looking for a new vehicle for the price tag of not more than 105,000 or something from 80,000- 100,000. It is a no brainer for me. However, the caveat is can one overlook the Proton badge in the market of many reliable Japanese cars? One big note too will be how will the car hold up after 5 years?

This will be answered soon enough I believe.