Proton Savvy dubbed "My First Lotus"
In what appears as an attempt to either boost the alure of one company or dilute that of another, Proton CEO Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff (we'll just call him Tan) has recently referred to the new Savvy, a small hatchback, as "my first Lotus". Proton owns Lotus and claims certain elements have been engineered into the car that give a taste of what it's like to drive a Lotus, widely considered to be the best handling vehicles in the world. Lotus has contracted out its handling expertise before, but we're pretty sure nothing short of a miracle would be required to make a 74-hp hatchback feel like an Elise.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
...woa woa woa, hold on, This is Crazy talk! Nothing with 74 horsepower even deserves to be related to lotus, let alone be considered "my first lotus"....
I dont care who helped design this econo-toy, it's still just that, an economy car, not a sports car by any means.
Then again i could be wrong, that's just my take.
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rwcmick 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
the savvy doesn't look so shabby, better than some other small hatchbacks...needs more power tho...as for the "my first lotus" thingy--isuzu used to use the tag "tuned by lotus" on some of their cars. i never felt that it was an incentive to buy one. sigh, too bad the isuzu impulse looked far better than it ran.
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Joseph Willemssen 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
The first Porsche 550 had 70 horsepower.
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Rence 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Mind you, Lotus turned a Lada into a proper drivers car :) (cost 100,000 pounds though)
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Swade 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I think if they wanted to really use that slogan, they'd need to add "and my last" in parenthises.
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Non-Bizarro Adam 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Actually, the first Porsche 550 had 125 horsepower boxer four with twin sprak plugs per cylinder. You might be thinking of the 8 prototype racecars that were built two years before the street legal versions, but they had 78 hp, and I didn't think we were talking racecars here.
But it matters little if car "X" had so many horsepower in 1952, and matters more that we should be expected to have the same level of performance today. I have never driven a 1952 550, and while I'm sure it would be fun, I can only imagine that tooling around in a modern 911 turbo would be a lot more fulfilling.
If you are satisfied with the 67 hp in your Honda, so be it, but the rest of us might enjoy something a little more spirited, and expect something more than a 74 hp econobox to be associated with a prestigious name such as Lotus.
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Joseph Willemssen 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Well, Adam, since the company owns the name, they can pretty much do as they please with it, can't they?
As for horsepower and driving enjoyment, I can see where some people think that putting one's foot on the floor and going fast is "fun". Others may look at a car's limitations as a challenge to push the vehicle and see what it can do.
I learned that lesson a long time ago when my friend, in a weak little Ford Escort (with two people in it), put a Porsche 944 (with one person in it) to shame in city traffic.
It's not what you have but what you do with it.
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iQuack 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Sometimes when looking at a megabuck, 7 Series BMW, I think of the shitbox Isetta from the late 1950s.
Yes, this piece of dreck was indeed a BMW:
http://tinyurl.com/d4tcz
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ebm14 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I would not buy a proton if it had a BMW engine. The Prime minister of that country is Anti-Semetic and probably anti-American.
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Mo 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Tan Sri is just an honorary title like Sir or its equivalent.
@ebm14
It was the ex Prime Minister.And so what?what does the car have to do with the Prime Minister?If just mere speeches and talks are hold against someone and called a racist then i consider Bush a racist for talking against Iran and half the other countries he has been bad mouthing
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cxvargas 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I remember in the 80's Isuzu used to have a Lotus badge on the Impulse and the I-mark. Those were the days of GM ownership and the Lotus Elan with an Isuzu engine. Proton should be careful not to damage the Lotus brand name and be happy they have access to the technical expertise from Lotus to improve their mass produced cars.
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Charles S 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Personally, I don't understand the obsession in cars that can go fast, or accelerate in under X seconds. Every car out today probably can go 100+ mph, and most cars can out run an 18-wheeler once the tires are rolling.
In real life, for daily driving, that special $25,000+ for the ability to go from 0-60 in 5 seconds is WORTHLESS. Even if people will swear up and down that it's useful in certain situations, I'll say that it'd be used once a month at the most.
In some cases, the extra horsepower end up to be problems with inexperienced drivers, or just plain idiots. I don't know how many times I've seen morons with SUVs or rear-wheel drive cars, doing fishtails and losing control of their high-powered vehicles.
A good car is about good handling and quick response to the driver's command. A balanced design (wheels placement, weight distribution, etc) is better than some big mean looking super car with lots of horsepower.
All this talk about having "fun" in a car, people should just wake up and realize that cars on city streets should be about transportation and SAFETY!
If 76 hp is too little for you, go drive a go-kart and see how much *FUN* 10-15 hp can be.
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iQuack 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I agree with Charles S. So long as a car is adequately powered--for me that means that it moves as fast as it's safe to go in nearly all situations.
Some people then say that when that tiny percentage of times occurs that it's necessary to nearly fly to avert a crash, I say that such a necessity is unlikely to occur for drivers who know their cars and don't take inordinate risks.
I think that people with overpowered cars are MORE likely to crash because they take risks that the rest of us do not.
My '04 Accord EX-L has 4 cylinders and the same zero to 60 time as a '72 Buick Skylark 350 cu. in. V8 I had: 9.0 seconds. Any added speed is a waste IMO. And the Accord 4 cyl. will cruise effortlessly at 80 MPH while averaging about 33 MPG.
Considering how crowded the roads are around San Francisco where I live, I laugh when I see over-powered cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic and moving at the same 25 to 30 MPH as everybody else. Then, suddenly, they scoot around a bus or make some other stupid move that saves no time at all and just increases the risk of crashing.
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bummerboy 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
First the CEO says Waja will be the BMW of its class, now Savvy is your first Lotus. DOES he know ANYTHING about cars? Is everyone so blind NOT to question his credibility in running a car company when he says the DUMBEST thing.
As a Malaysian, I am proud of the effort, but totally dumbfounded by the stupidity of the whole R&D, product planning and marketing strategy. What's worse is the intolerable quality problems that plague these new self-developed cars.
A company is the sum of its employees. A leader so screwed up and a development team that is so clueless together will sink the company in no time. If this carries on, I foresee a future where Proton will have to sell off Lotus to pay for its debt. Be on your toes, Lotus is the BEST BUY in the auto industry. Lotus REALLY can create miracles with cars, just short of saving its completely misguided parent company.
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mr.tomato 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
yeah since u guys know a lot bout cars n especially lotus i just wanna ask, have any one of u drove a lotus car before....??? an elise maybe...hmm yeah i tot so...none rite
so wats the problem here...??? proton owns lotus n have every right to use its expertise in whatever area that they feel would be best...n guys for your information lotus cars has never been about big horsepower or raw speed...they have always been about ride n handling, steering feel, being the best handling car out there...so wat proton is really referrin to is the way the car ride n handles...n if it does go fast well then its an added bonus rite....
im sorry if any of u feel offended...its your opinion i understand but please get your facts right...hold your jugement untill u have driven the savvy, n maybe just maybe its the closest thing u have ever experienced to driving a lotus...
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myloh 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
i think some of you people out here are being really "nice".. could you guys at least give a word of encouragement??i mean look at it.., proton has been up for only how many years.. donot compare it with bmw.. are you bollocks out of your bloody mind.. i mean how thick could you get to start an argumanr based on things on the extremities of the spectrum..
another thing.. lotus is reknown for handling and not so much about its engine.. if you are so in to it.. its from renault.. so why not ask them why so puny the ponies there put in it..another thing.. if lotus is ever related to power perhaps the espirit.. but it was the handling that awwwed the crowd.. just ook at the k-series that rolled out at the twlilight years of lotus.. it was pathetic with jitters and it coughs like there's no tomorrow in street.. not every one runs it on autobahn you know..
design wise its not too much and it proved subtle and simple.. like the gen 2..
lastly for you punks who worte how bad this car can get.. try opening a car company and see wat you make of it..
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