Proton Tiara

The Proton Tiara was a Malaysian automobile based on the Citroën AX, built under licence by the automobile manufacturer Protonbetween 1996 and 2000.

[edit]History

The genesis of the Tiara was the result of an agreement during the mid-1990s between Proton's then CEO, Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, andPSA Peugeot Citroën, a producer of Citroën and Peugeot vehicles. Yahaya had expressed wishes that Proton not use Mitsubishiplatforms, and that Proton cooperate with PSA Peugeot Citroën for access to its diesel engines.

Yahaya Ahmad was killed in a helicopter crash in 1997, and Proton returned to using various Mitsubishi-based platforms and developed in-house designed models later. Production of the Tiara ceased in 2000 due to low sales volume; in 2005, the Proton Savvy was launched as a successor to the Proton Tiara.

[edit]Design and market

The Tiara was known as the cheapest used car in its market.^{[verification needed]} Its appearance mimicked that of more powerful Citroën AXs, such as the AX GT, but the grille was restyled to match the existing Saga and Wira models. Other cosmetic differences included different bumpers and taillight clusters. It was only available with a 1.1-litre 45 kW (60 hp) engine.

The Proton Tiara was sold only in the Malaysian market, due to similarities with the Citroën Saxo.

Proton Savvy among top 10 cars in Thailand

BANGKOK: Malaysian-made Proton Savvy has been voted among Thailand's top 10 cars in 2008 by The Nationdaily's car writers.

The Savvy, priced at 469,000 baht (RM44,000), was selected along with some of the most impressive and expensive cars in the Thai market, among them the Jaguar XF, BMW 320D, Volvo S80 3.2, Mini Copper S Clubman, Honda City, Honda Jazz, Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Subaru Impreza STI.

The daily said many would not consider Proton a mainstream brand in Thailand, but with the Savvy, the writers were more than impressed.

"Cheap price, good acceleration and almost go-kart-like handling (thanks to Lotus) made us fall in love with this little Malaysian thing," the daily said of the car, which is distributed by Phranakorn Auto Sales.

The list, which is prepared annually, covers a whole range of criteria, from value for money through to drivability, performance, fuel economy and sheer good looks.

Phranakorn general manager (operations), Apichart Wangsatorntanakhun, said the quality of the car was the main factor for the selection, adding that the listing augured well for Proton brand in the market and its future model launchings in Thailand.

"It's best value for money in the market, with good performance, like handling, plus economical to purchase and operate.

"You can buy a cheap car but if its performance is not good, you cannot sustain in the market," he said, when commenting on Savvy's listing in the top 10.

When Proton made its debut at end-2007 in the Thai market, dominated by the world's top manufacturers like Toyota and Honda for decades, Savvy was the cheapest car priced between 399,000 baht and 460,000 baht.

GEN 2 and Satria were launched at the same time while Persona CNG came to the market last December.

Apichart said in its first year of operation, Proton sold more than 3,000 cars, with Savvy accounting for 54 percent of the total sales.

"During the recent 25th Thailand International Motor Expo, Proton received 863 bookings, with the Persona model, fitted with preinstalled compressed natural gas (CNG), being the top model," he said.

He said Phranakorn planned to have between 35 and 40 dealer centres throughout the country by the second quarter of the year, complete with after sales services. - Bernama

General Mechanics and Specialists

Your everyday mechanic should be a generalist – good at routine maintenance, diagnostics and minor repairs on your overall vehicle. In other words, they should be able to change your oil, replace brake pads, give your car a tune-up and perform a countless list of other services that will keep your car running strong.

It is important to locate a good generalist mechanic and use that facility as your primary car care shop. As they develop a history with your car, the benefits will become evident. They will be better at diagnosing repairs and preventing potential problems down the road. The complete maintenance history of the vehicle will be at their disposal to better serve you and your car.

They should also have a referral network of specialist mechanics that may be necessary to handle repairs outside of their facility. Transmission experts, engine experts and body experts are only a few of the specialists you may call upon to repair your car and extend its operating life.

If you have a good generalist mechanic, their referrals should be very valuable to you. Chances are that they view you as a good customer and would not want to jeopardize that relationship by recommending a shop that is not qualified to handle a repair. They should also work closely with the specialist to diagnose a problem and transfer the history they have on the vehicle – making the specialist’s job easier and more accurate.

Choose the right mechanic

Handing your car over to a mechanic you've never used before can be nerve-racking. How can you be sure of the quality of their work? Are you getting value for money?

*Choosing a mechanic is not a decision to leave to luck so here are a few strategies to improve your peace of mind.

Start small
Take your car in for something minor first, like an oil change. This will give you an idea of the work and service standards of the garage without risking much of your hard-earned money.

Ask around
A recommendation can carry a lot of weight. Ask friends, co-workers and family members about good and bad experiences. See if you can find any opinions on the internet.

First impressions
Obviously a garage is going to have dirt, but a semblance of neatness and order will indicate the establishment is competent and professional.

Specialties
Find out what make of car they service. If you have invested in an expensive vehicle, it's best to find a mechanic that specialises in that make.

Ask questions
Be aware that you are buying a service and have a right to ask questions. Insist on having your questions answered in layman's terms and find out about labour rates, parts charges and guarantees. Always get a price quote before the work is carried out and ask to be contacted if this quote increases.

Prepare yourself well
If you have had indications that there is something wrong with your car, be prepared to express these symptoms and any concerns you might have to the mechanic in as much detail as possible. Making a list is always helpful.

Service manuals, schematics, documentation, programs, electronics, hobby ....

I hope this web site will be useful for all technician, working in the field of electronic repairs.

CLICK HERE

Car Repair: Which Options Do You Have?

When it comes to car repair you basically have two options; you let others do it or you or do it yourself. In this article we will focus and the last option; Do It Yourself car repairs. A vehicle breakdown can happen any time and, dependent on where and when it happens, it can be a really bad experience. So it is smart to be prepared for doing a little auto repair work by yourself.


The easiest way out is of course to use other people to fix your car. But what if it stalls in the middle of a desert? Then the service of an auto club (AAA) comes in. If you haven't already, you can register with one and always remember to keep their phone number in your car. If you cannot solve the problem yourself, an auto club suddenly becomes very convenient. If you join a good auto center they will appear promptly with a tow truck if necessary, taking your vehicle to the nearest repair shop for a decent price.


Nevertheless, it is good to have at least some knowledge on how to troubleshoot and fix your vehicle, so here are a few things that will help you get the necessary skills.


Educate yourself to become as a 'Do-It-Yourself' Mechanic
This will indeed help you to tackle the problem, not only to identify it. Begin trying your hands on some little repair and maintenance work now. Join a car repair website for guidance and instruction. This is particularly important to the vital parts of your vehicle so as not to fail. You will be happy you did when next you have a breakdown.


Carefully read your car repair manual
Get yourself a well detailed and well illustrated auto repair manual, and familiarize yourself with your auto parts, systems and their functions. These are the basics of Do-It-Yourself car repairs jobs. Study the parts dealing with troubleshooting vehicle engines very well, so that you can smoothly discern what happen when your car breaks down, and you know where to go to fix the problem. You can check for your specific service manual here.


Keep some vital car parts in your vehicle
You can purchase and keep some necessary, highly susceptible to breakdown car parts and accessories in your car, such as plugs, fan belt etc, and you can just find them and use them to replace faulty ones instead of wasting your time buying another one.


Keep some vital tools in your car
Get a little toolbox, with necessary repair and maintenance tools and never go without them. You can get the details of the tools you need from your vehicle repair manual. You can't fix anything without the right tools, and with them Do-It-Yourself auto repair can get as easy as it can be.


Have some cash on you when you're driving
If your car should break down, it sometimes requires that you need to buy car parts and accessories. Money can in fact bail you out, so always keep some cash on you.


Last but not least: Your mental preparation
If a breakdown should occur you are sitting there half shocked and wonder; 'what the heck shall I do?'. In such cases it is very easy to be caught by panic, especially if you don't have any particular or general knowledge of vehicles or car repair skills. What you can do to prevent panic and immobility, is to follow the tips above and visualize yourself practicing the knowledge or skills you have learned and everything will go just fine.

www.buzzle.com

F1 1Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will have its own team in Formula One next year.

A Lotus-powered racing team, to be called the 1Malaysia F1 team, will take on giants like Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Renault in the premier motorsports event next year.

The team will join Force India-Mercedes as Asia’s representatives in F1, along with old-timers like Toyota.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has accepted Malaysia’s bid to enter the 2010 and future Formula One World Championships, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced yesterday.

The 1Malaysia F1 team will be a partnership between the Govern-ment and the private sector, including investors led by Datuk Kamarudin Meranun (AirAsia Deputy CEO), Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes (AirAsia CEO) and SM Nasaruddin SM Nasimuddin (Naza Group CEO).

The Malaysian-owned team will also mark the return of Proton-owned Lotus, the prestigious constructors who left F1 in 1994.

Najib, who made the announcement at the Ministry of Finance yesterday, said the team would be based at the Sepang International Circuit, making it the first to be located outside Europe.

“This is where the cars will be designed, manufactured and tested. It will be ‘Made-in-Malaysia, by Malaysians’ and of course, the pit-stops will be run by Malay-sians,” he said.

“This is a meaningful development and I hope that it will further raise our country’s profile on the world stage.”
The team will have a Malaysian technical and pit crew, totalling some 200 people, to be managed by former Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne.

Najib added that the team hoped to announce its two drivers by Oct 31.
“Currently, six local and international drivers have been shortlisted for evaluation,” he said.
“Our F1 team will also have technical experts from outside Malaysia to ensure that we are ready to compete on the world’s most prestigious racing stage.”

Malaysia hosted its first F1 race in 1999 at the Sepang F1 Circuit and Alex Yoong was the first Malaysian to race in the championships in 2001 and 2002 for Minardi.

The Prime Minister had earlier launched the exchange programme between employees from the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) as part of the Government-GLCs Cross-Fertilisation Programme.
He handed letters-of-trust to 47 government and GLC staff taking part in the programme.

Sumber : The Star Online.

Proton Gen-2

The Proton Gen-2 is an automobile manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton, and was launched in the third quarter of 2004. The Gen-2 uses a platform which is mostly Malaysian-developed. Loosely based on a mid-90s Mitsubishi chassis, the platform has been extensively developed by Proton and their partner Lotus. The Gen-2 was initially codenamed the Proton Wira Replacement Model, hinting that the car was to replace the Proton Wira. The name Gen-2 is an abbreviation of 'Generation 2', to symbolized the 2nd generation of the very successful Wira as the 1st Generation.
The Gen-2's platform is also used by the Proton Satria Neo (with a shortened wheelbase) and the Proton Persona (with an extended rear hang to form a more sedan-like body).

Current generation (2004-present)

]Performance
Proton owns Lotus Cars which was involved in the development of the car. The Gen-2 is the first Proton model to use the new Proton/Lotus developed Campro engine. The Gen-2 has a competitive 0-100 timing of 10.5 seconds for the 1.6 manual, which makes it a highly spirited drive. Even though the S4PH 1.6L engine, the first capacity fitted to the Gen-2, is contemporary in maximum power output, it suffers from poor mid-range torque.
This is due to its torque dip in the crucial 2,000 to 3,000 rpm operating range, where the torque actually decreases slightly before picking up back to its peak torque at 4,000 rpm. This torque characteristic can clearly be seen in manufacturer published engine performance curves and is widely attributed to the missing Camshaft Profiling System (CPS) technical feature that the engine was named after, but which was dropped from production allegedly for cost reasons. The original (non-CPS) Gen-2's ECU's Engine and Automatic Transmission mapping has been modified many times since the car's launch to improve perceived driving characteristics, but the upgrades do not improve what they expected. This undesirable torque dip was eventually corrected by Proton in 2008 with the introduction of the "new" Campro engine, designated Campro CPS, which finally can deliver camshaft profiling (variable valve timing) as part of the engine specification.[1]
Competing cars
In Malaysia, the car goes head-to-head against the likes of the locally-assembled Hyundai Accent (Verna) and Kia Rio (Pride), but undercut these by about 20 percent. Against the ASEAN-made Honda City and Toyota Vios, the discount is even greater, at about 30 percent. Proton's price advantage in Malaysia can be attributed to a discriminatory tax structure that an ASEAN trade agreement was supposed to disallow by 2005. However, the Malaysian government preferred interpretation of the this deadline was 3 years later, by loose application of a 3 year exemption it once negotiated. However, even the 2008 deadline has been ignored as of this writing (April 2009).
Changes and facelifts
In 2005, a lower-spec version of Proton Gen-2 powered by 1.3L Campro engine was made available in Malaysia with automatic transmission option only at RM46,000.00. The 1.3 version is famous of its underpowered characteristics due to the car's heavy body weight and is made worse with the torque-dip genes of the Campro.
In December 2007, a new facelifted Proton Gen-2 was unveiled in Thailand in conjunction with the carmaker's entry into the Thai market. It also marks the first production Proton with the Campro CPS engine installed in the engine bay. The CPS variant is a High Line model only, producing 127 horsepower (95 kW) compared to a normal Campro's 110.[2]
On the 3rd of March 2008, the facelifted 2008 Proton Gen-2 was launched in Malaysia. Two variants are available. The medium line variant is powered by the Campro IAFM engine, while the high line version uses the more powerful Campro CPS engine. Exterior changes include a new front bumper and rear spoiler, while the interior gets a new dashboard incorporating a glovebox, new door panels, and leather seats for the high line version.[3]
Variants
Special Edition
Proton Gen-2 Special Edition
Manufacturer Proton
Sometime after the launch of the standard Gen-2, comes the special edition. It is fitted with a full body-kit, leather seats and lightweight sport rims. Handling is slightly better with the broader tires fitted and it is more aerodynamic. Comes in Matt Black and Chilli Red colour.
R3 Concept
Proton Gen-2 R3 Concept
Manufacturer Proton
Race • Rally • Research (R3) unveiled a prototype concept of the Gen-2 R3 at the Dreamcars Asia Motorshow 2005 on July 7, 2005. The close-to-production concept was developed to gauge public response to its styling and performance.
[edit]EVE Hybrid Concept
Proton Gen-2 EVE Hybrid Concept
Manufacturer Proton
Engine(s) 1.6 L Campro S4PH I4 (combined with a 30 kW, 144V electric motor)
At the 2007 Geneva Motor Show from 8 to 18 March 2007, Proton and Lotus unveiled the concept model of the hybrid version of the Proton Gen-2. The hybrid concept is codenamed as EVE (Efficient, Variable, Environmental). The concept model will retain the same Campro engine as the main powerplant coupled together with an electric motor system to form the hybrid powerplant (See also Campro engine#Hybrid Campro engine).
Proton Persona
Main article: Proton Persona
On August 15, 2007, Proton launched the Proton Persona, essentially a Proton Gen-2 with an extended boot and cosmetic changes. While the Gen-2 was originally intended to replace the Proton Wira, the Persona is currently touted as an actual replacement of the Wira, which size is roughly the same as the Persona. The Wira was coincidentally exported to the United Kingdom under the Persona name; therefore, the 2007 Proton Persona is rebadged as the Proton Gen-2 Persona in the UK.
[edit]Proton Gen-2 ecoLogic
On August 2007, Proton UK launched the bi-fuel variant of the Gen-2 for the British market, known as the Proton Gen-2 ecoLogic.[4] This variant is designed to be used with both gasoline and LPG. The ecoLogic variant also applies to the Proton Persona as well, as the Persona is considered as the sedan version of the Gen-2.
Rebadges

The Proton GEN-2 was one of two models (the other being the Proton Savvy) that MG Rover was looking to rebadge when it entered talks with Proton's parent company in the mid 2000s. Both Auto Express and Autocar published shots of the car with a digitally recreated Rover grill. With MG Rover's decline at the time and its eventual purchase by the Nanjing Automobile Corporation, such plans have presumably been cancelled.
In July 2007, Proton signed an agreement with Youngman Automobile Group Ltd Co, in which Youngman will import 30,000 complete built up units (CBU) of Gen-2s and resell them under their own EuropeStar brand (known as the EuropeStar RCR), with plans to eventually develop a new range of made-in-China cars using engineering services provided through Proton's Lotus.[5] Proton had previously done business in China (specifically, Guangdong[citation needed]) but withdrew due to poor sales.[5]
Pre-launch Controversy

Shortly prior to its launch on February 2004, a well-publicized leak of the Gen.2's undisguised photos taken in the factory were leaked into the internet. The source of the leak was an anonymous user of Autoworld.com.my, who posted the said pictures in the website's photo album section. The incident prompted Proton to lodge a police report, which saw Autoworld's then-editor Chips Yap called in to provide information for investigation.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry

Why does a car engine overheat?

There are many different reasons that can cause an engine overheat, but they all have in common three aspects. The three aspects which all engine overheat factors have in common are that they cause that the heating system can not get rid of heat, they cause a loss of coolant or they directly cause too much heat in the engine.One first problem which might be the cause of an engine overheat is a problem with the radiator cap and the pressure it holds. If the radiator cap does not hold pressure correctly then coolant could boil and therefore the engine would overheat. Another reason might be caused by thermostat failures; it is recommendable that you check it.The car engine might also overheat due to coolant leaks such as those from the radiator, the hoses, the water pump, the freeze plugs or any others. Also, problems in the water pump could be the cause and therefore you should check it and replace it in case it is needed. Some other reasons by which the car engine could overheat are problems in the exhaust system which you can discover by checking vacuum readings, pipes and converter. Besides, you should also make sure that the radiator hose has not collapsed and the ignition timing is working properly.You should also check the electric cooling fan by making sure that the fan motor, the relay and temperature are correct or otherwise it could cause the engine to overheat. Besides this, you should also check the radiator in case there are any debris in it as well as you should check its hose in case it has collapsed. It is also recommendable that you check the antifreeze concentration which should be 50/50 in order to be correct, otherwise it could cause the car engine to overheat. If you do not find why your engine does overheat, you should ask a mechanic or an expert for advice. You should not try to fix this if you do not have the proper tools and general car knowledge necessary for it.

The New Upcoming Proton Waja : A Gimic or Real?

We received a picture of the well said to be the new generation of Proton Waja. This new Proton Waja face lifted has a touch of of new front design, with well designed headlamp. Proton Waja are well known for a higher middle class person than Proton Wira. The Proton Gen2 is well to be the replacement of Proton Wira, so the new facelift generation of should be a great great better and comparable to the new Honda City or Toyota Vios. By looking at the picture, we 99% think that this no more than edited picture.

The last time we blog about the upcoming Proton Perdana replacement model. However, we will wait until Proton announced whether there will be any of both replacement models.