The Proton X70 has been a runaway success for the Proton and now the 2022 update sees the best-selling SUV in the country getting a smaller 1.5-litre turbocharged 3-pot engine shared with the X50. Granted, for those who think small doesn’t mean better, there’s still the turbocharged 1.8-litre 4-cylinder for the highest variant.

Even with one cylinder removed and being smaller in displacement, Proton claims that the X70’s new engine (177 PS/255 Nm) is superior to most of its rivals including the Mazda CX-5, at least the 2.0-litre variants (162 PS/213 Nm). Of course, some of those rivals are naturally-aspirated and despite having a bigger size, they can’t hold a candle to the turbocharged 1.5-litre unit in the X70.

Ditto its turbocharged rivals too as Proton also showed that the 3-pot X70 outguns the Peugeot 3008 1.6 THP (165 PS/240 Nm) and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4 TSI (150 PS/250 Nm). Admittedly, the only turbocharged unit that the X70 couldn’t compete with is the 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo (193 PS/243 Nm) found in the Honda CR-V.

The main goal for the smaller 1.5-litre 3-pot isn’t performance though, but rather efficiency. Compared to the 1.8-litre 4-pot (184 PS/300 Nm), the smaller unit is 7% more fuel-efficient and 43 kg lighter. We’ll check out how much more fuel-efficient the 2022 X70 is in the real world in our review soon.

Also read: What’s the Proton X50’s tested fuel consumption?

Over 100 key engineers and designers around the globe helped to contribute to the development of the 1.5-litre 3-pot engine. Some solutions made to the engine include a turbocharger with a low inertia turbine for reduced turbo lag and a dual-mass flywheel with absorber to dampen excess vibration from the engine.

Also read: 3-cyl engines a flop in China, 2022 Binyue switching to 4-cyl, what about Proton X50?

To date, the 1.5-litre TGDI engine has been used in over 750,000 vehicles within the Geely Group which includes models from Geely, Lynk & Co, Volvo, and Proton. Despite being a foreign unit, the 3-pot engine is now locally-assembled, upping the total local content of the X70 to 70 percent.

Also read: 2022 Proton X70 facelift (MC1) ups local content to 70%, thanks to locally-assembled 1.5L engine

The smaller 1.5 TGDI 3-cylinder engine is available on all variants of the 2022 Proton X70 except for the range-topping 1.8 TGDI Premium which uses the larger 4-pot unit. The 4 variants of the X70 1.5 TGDI range from RM 93,900 to RM 117,900 while the sole 1.8 TGDI variant starts from RM 121,800.

Also read: New 2022 Proton X70 MC launched in Malaysia, new 1.5 TGDi, priced from RM 94k

Thanks to it being a Proton, the X70 is far cheaper than its chief rivals. The Mazda CX-5 is priced between RM 132,000 to RM 174,000 while the Honda CR-V is priced between RM 139,913 to RM 162,910. All prices stated are exempt from SST which is valid until 30-June 2022.

Also read: Wee: SST exemption benefits auto industry, extension depends on Finance Ministry