2009+ Proton Exora

Badges? We don’t need no steekin’ badges!

The tiger on the badge is no relation to Tony the Tiger, I'm pretty sure. Don't quote me on that.

Photoshop special? From the manufacturer...? Okay.

Malaysian car manufacturer Proton barely deserved the moniker. From the very beginning in the mid-80s, they sold nothing more than rebadged Mitsubishis. That was until the 2000 Waja (sold as the Impian in the UK), which began a long line of less than distinctive designs that mimicked rather than forged new ground. Even that model was not entirely original, as it was based on the Volvo S40/Mitsubishi Carisma that we examined just the other day here on REVolution.

According to Wikipeedonmyshoe, Proton is a “Malay acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sendirian Berhad (National Automobile Company Private Limited)”. I know, it’s a stretch, but don’t tell me you haven’t heard worse.

It wasn’t until 2004 that Proton actually designed a car from the ground up and even then it was with the assistance of Lotus. That vehicle was the bewilderingly stupidly named Gen-2 and it came in one form; a 5-door hatchback. That’s not a typo; that’s actually the name of the car. I’m not kidding. I know I do, a lot, but in this case I’m not pulling your leg. Or am I…? I’m not. But I could be. Seriously, I’m being serious.

As Bobinott pointed out the other day, we Americans just can’t seem to get it together when it comes to station wagons; we want the utility, but we don’t want the shape. I overheard this from an admittedly non-enthusiast source, “I guess I could buy a station wagon…if I never wanted any attention from the opposite sex.” If you’re like me, you want to immediately slap that person across the chops for being so stupid. But I don’t condone violence, so let’s all just calm down. Breath in, breath out; nice and slow.

Okay, so that person is a moron, but then again, it appears that American buyers are too in their rejection of the most useful and yet compact form of transport, the station wagon. Not so in other countries and Proton has one that caught my interest, the 2009+ Exora. Billed as a “compact MPV”, you and I know what it is – a vertically stretched station wagon.

Looking nothing like a Mazda5/Matrix-Vibe (cough cough wink wink nudge nudge), the Exora is built on the homegrown P2 platform, which is not related to the Volvo P1/Ford C1 platform to my knowledge. It’s interesting to note that the Proton P2 was created in collaboration with LG, makers of seemingly every electronic device, including phones, televisions and other nefarious cultural hypnosis mind control devices.

Engines range from a bottom-feeder 1.6 four-cylinder that motivated the roughly 3300 pound vehicle with just 125 hp and 150 torques. A turbocharger was quickly added to address the need for speed and that bumped up power all the way up to 138 hp and 205 torques. The zero to sixty blurred by at around 13 seconds or 11-ish, depending on which motor you chose. Depending on variant, you could get a 5-speed manual, a 4-speed slushbox or a CVT that is sure to be a real adrenaline-pumper.

Love that smooth fitting material on the headrests.

MPG hovers somewhere in the 20 combined range and MSRP for a 2016 runs from $16.5K up to around $21K, based on a Malaysian Ringgit to US dollar conversion. Nice and cheap! Reviews actually gave the Exora thumbs up, stating that it was good value for the money.

Is that fake carbon fiber trim I see? Gosh, I hope so.

The interior on these things really recalls the simplicity of Asian cars in the 90s…and not in a good way. It’s pretty bad; check it out and decide for yourself. At least it’s all logical and it’s probably really easy to live with; no owner’s manual required. When was the last time you sat in a new car and could say that?!?

Prognosis is bad regarding the Proton Exora ever coming to the States. It’s underpowered and behind the times. Not to mention that nobody here has ever even heard of Proton, so there’s no brand recognition and this sort of arena is currently dominated by the South Koreans. That’s too bad because we need more cheap wagons to choose from. But that isn’t going to happen, now is it?