Proton Motors is on the global offensive with its new vehicles. They've made use of resources they've obtained from being one of Geely group's shareholders. It's worth mentioning that the Geely group acquired Volvo and Lotus over time and naturally, as you'd expect, some performance technology has filtered into Proton's cars. You can read our reviews on the cars here.
Related: Proton X70 vs Mahindra XUV700 vs Mazda CX-5: Here's our winner
Available in South Africa at the time of publishing, Proton offers their X50 and X70 SUV model ranges. The X50 is a sporty, youthful crossover SUV whilst the X70 is a more mature and luxury-orientated SUV. Two different flavours to suit different drivers. If you're already sold on a Proton, then you can search AutoTrader for the latest used and new offerings for the X50 and X70 models. If you want to sell your current car for a Proton, consider trying out our Instant Offer tool.
Which engines are on offer?
There are two types of engines available for the Proton range locally and although they are quite similar in format, there's one key difference; the method of fuel injection. In the standard and medium X50 and X70 variants, you'll find a 1.5 litre 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that utilises standard multi-point fuel injection. However, in the top-of-the-line X50 and X70, you get the same engine except it utilises Direct Injection Technology, resulting in a power bump. Both models use the same 7-Speed Dual Clutch Automatic transmission.
| 1.5T Multi-Point Injection | 1.5T Direct Injection | |
| Power | 110 kW | 130 kW |
| Torque | 226 Nm | 255 Nm |
| Claimed Fuel Consumption | 6.5l /100km | 6.4l /100km |
Verdict
The Direct Injection variant of the 1.5T engine proves to be more powerful than the standard Multi-Point 1.5T. With this in mind, we can say that the Premium variants of the Proton X50 and X70 are the fastest Protons available locally. If we're going to be splitting hairs however and add weight to the equation, the X70 weighs 1675kg whilst the X50 is at 1370kg. Lighter generally means quicker as you're lugging less weight around. However we don't have officially comparable 0-100 km/h times between the 1.5T engines, only the flagship engine has a recorded time of 7.9 seconds. With all this in mind, we can say that the Proton X50 in Premium guise is the fastest Proton available locally.
