Proton nearly dropped out of the UK market altogether a few years ago when their increasingly expensive and dated cars started to look completely outclassed by the opposition. However, having bought Lotus to provide some engineering expertise they have tried to relaunch themselves with a new generation of models spearheaded by the Gen-2 (subtext of the name: this is a new type of Proton not to be confused with the old models).
If only. Although there have been improvements in some areas, the Gen-2 has actually managed the near-impossible task of being a retrograde step overall. The main reason for this is the build quality, which is so bad you cannot believe anyone would think it acceptable in today's market. To see just one example, check out our little video of the fuel filler cap vibrating in the breeze like a piece of tin foil. Okay, a fuel filler cap is not vitally important, but how about the driver's door panel that had come adrift from its mountings, the bonnet that was visibly askew, or the trim on the rear seats that had apparently been cut to shape with a blunt Stanley knife... These were just the bits you could see, so how badly assembled were the out-of-sight mechanicals? The disturbing graunching sound from (we guess) the thermostatic fan bearing provided little reassurance on that score.
Assuming that you are prepared to take a three wise monkey's approach to the build quality - see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil - how does it actually drive? First of all, you have to get past the driving position, which is just plain wrong. For taller drivers the seat is way too high relative to the steering wheel, meaning the wheel ends up between the drivers knees - a bit like some Japanese cars of the 1980s. On the plus side, the gearbox is quite nice, but that is about all you could say in the car's favour. The engine is reasonably powerful on paper (110 bhp from 1.6 litres is quite respectable), but pretty unrefined and thrashy if you want to extract a decent proportion of the available performance. The handling and steering are OK but, lets face it, no-one interested in dynamic performance would come within a country mile of this car.
The overall impression of the Gen-2 is that is has been developed on a different planet to almost any other mainstream model on sale in the UK. The engineering is lowest common denominator and the build quality is a throwback to the days of the Austin Allegro. The only modern aspect of the car is the price, which is well beyond merely optimistic. The top of the range GSX we tried was £10,995 at the time of writing, or over 80% of the price of a base Focus. Factor in the depreciation that has traditionally afflicted Protons (one guide quotes the trade-in value of a three year old Gen 2 at a catastrophic 26% of its new price), and the Gen-2 is actually as expensive over three years as mainstream models which are vastly superior products. Unless you happen to live next door to a Proton dealership, whose owner is a family member, you would be better off buying something else. In fact, almost anything else.
In a world full of extremely competent Skodas, Hyundais and Kias, there is really no need to choose something that feels like a latter-day Lada.