Persona SE

In conjunction with Merdeka, Proton has launched the Persona SE which is actually a rebadged Gen-2 with some upgrade kits. What I failed to see is the point of Proton engineers trying to release a new version of their cars without actually changing the chasis or even the engine of the car! What I am more surprised is that the supposed to be new engine of the Persona SE, is actually a Campro IAFM CPS engine which could be found in the Gen-2! What on earth is this? Well, to be fair, buyers of the Persona SE would get some interior upgrade kits for free. You have window mounted GPS, cruise control and CD-player among other things. I think there is no need for people to buy the Personal SE if you already driving a Wira or the Gen-2.

The earlier Campro engine which you could find in the Gen-2 is the first version where it lacks Torque. I have driven in one of them before. I would have to say that the response of the engine is way much better than the Wira which I used to drive back then. The Wira 1.5 automatic only has three speed and an overdrive gear. The Waja and Gen-2 both have four speed automatic. Well, I have to say that with the launch of the CPS engine for the Gen-2, people might want to buy the Gen-2 right? Not really! Why? Considering that the Persona SE is a tat RM10,000 cheaper than the Gen-2, why would people want to buy yesterday's technology then? Would it be better to buy a new model which cost a tat cheaper than the old model? Think about it.

That is why dealers of the Waja and especially the Gen-2s are dying to sell their old stock by giving massive discount. I think it is just right now for people to buy Gen-2 and Waja because you do get good discount. I hate to say this but the Waja's engine suffers from low speed performance. If you were to drive at around 80 km/h and then move down to around 30 km/h and then tried to speed up again, you will see that the engine takes longer time to response. You would be ending up pressing the accelerator too much to cause the rav meter to 4 or 5000rpm. That is the problem. The Gen-2's engine is much better but still having minor issue when the driver tries to speed up from 30 km/h to 80 km/h. With the launch of CPS engine, I think it has solved the problem.

In the end, what are you waiting for? Persona SE is worth buying... Well, think about other cars in the same segment. Kia perhaps? Honda is out of the question because they are quite expensive. What about Toyota then?