Ride, handling, comfort: The Proton X90 was benchmarked against the Mazda CX-8, Hyundai Santa Fe
Sanjay Β· Jul 27, 2023 02:12 PM
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Like how the Proton X90 rides? The benchmarking work has got a lot to do with it, as the car was measured directly against the Mazda CX-8 and Hyundai Santa Fe during development.
Mazda CX-8
The facelifted Hyundai Santa Fe. It never made it here, and has since been discontinued in Malaysia
"This is a D-segment car, for our benchmarking we used the Mazda CX-8 and Santa Fe. These two are our main competitors. You can feel the difference between these two cars, and us," explained the X90's Vehicle Chief Engineer, Zabani Bin Hj. Yaakob.
These are high aspirations, and the investments were necessary to bring the X90 more to par with the named models. Hence, one of the biggest improvements included the changing of the rear suspension array to a multi-link setup.
Trivia - Malaysia is the only market to gain rear multi-link suspension for the model. All other Geely Haoyue-based cars (whether sold as it is or as the Okavango elsewhere have the cheaper, simpler torsion beam).
This was echoed by Hazrin Fazail Harron, Head of Group Engineering at Proton in a prior interview. βIn terms of the torsion beam and multi-link rear suspension. Originally it was torsion beam, but it is evolution."
"When we looked into the Malaysian market, the driveability and value that the customer sees in this D-segment SUV, as well as all the competitors that we see all have multi-link rear suspension. And hence the decision to go for multi-link for better driveability.β
The Proton X90 retails from RM 123,800 to RM 152,800 in Malaysia. All four variants are powered by a mild-hybrid (MHEV) system that pairs a turbocharged 1.5-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine to a 48V belt-driven starter generator. The system produces a combined output of 190 PS and 300 Nm and is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT).
With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.
