Proton Exora Reviewed: The best MPV in Malaysia?

After many months of waiting and being teased by taped-up test mules. rumour mill and Proton's pre-launch ads, Malaysia finally got a sight of the Exora after the homegrown MPV was launched by PM Najib on 15 April.

Touted as the 'first wholly Malaysian-made MPV", the Exora took only 18 months to develop from design to production, a record for Proton.

For a competitive price of RM 70,000 - RM 76,000 (manual version available around RM60,000) you'll get seven seats for an MPV that's longer and wider than the Toyota Innova, Avanza and Nissan Grand Livina. It's powered by the 125bhp Campro CPS that already sees service in the Waja, Gen-2 and even the Satria Neo, paired with a gated shifter. Nevertheless, there is also a manual variant. Outputs match anything that rivals can muster with 125bhp but a closer look at the numbers show a power and torque curve that is very peaky.

While this isn't critical in a passenger car, however it can severely affect performance in an MPV especially when it's carrying a full load of passengers and luggage. The gearbox meanwhile is the four-speed automatic that you'll also find across the Proton range. Needs to remember that Proton hardly had a choice in the matter of finding the suitable engine for this MPV. Buying in an engine from a foreign partner would have added on a considrable cost and to make one will cost Proton a bomb.

Design is simple and quite pleasent to the eye. Although, you can see the "Grandis effect" on the design, this Exora is a car that you can say neither beautiful nor ugly. The dashboard is built properly (maybe Proton's first proper dashboard for a long time). The steering is nice as well as the easy-to-read speedo. But, there is complain which accuse the dashboard that isn't really match the modern look of the exterior.

As for seating layout combinations, the Exora does pretty well in this regard too, with six different seat folding configurations. Granted, with the rear seats up, there's little cargo space, but with the third row seats fully flat-folded and the second row stored forward the load-carrying space becomes very convincing. Ingress to the third row is by means of a single-lever seat-folding mechanism on the second row, and in use getting in and out is accomplished easily enough.

Standard equipment across m-line and h-line include ABS with EBD, immobiliser, Bluetooth and MP3 capable stereo with steering buttons, electric folding wing mirrors and LED tailamps. The H-Line adds on leather upholstery, an overhead DVD player with LCD monitor and SD/MMC/USB ports, sat-nav, cruise control and tited glass. On the outside, it is a recognisable lamp and a rear spoiler.

The Exora comes in six colours , Ginetic Silver, Tranquity Black, Haze Blue, Solid White, Gaia Blue and Pyrite Brown. The Gaia and the Pyrite are the newcomers for Proton range.

In a nutshell, the Exora really is a genuine MPV with an amazingly pleasing balance of space and efficiency. You will also find that the Exora is really a Proton's hard work in order to achieve success and dodge all the bad says towards Proton quality problem.

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Posted in: .Special Car Reviews, Proton