Proton has finally joined the fraternity of forced induction (turbo) and to mark this momentous occasion they’ve placed one into their spacious 1.6L all-Malaysian Exora MPV and have dubbed their top variant the Proton Exora Prime 1.6 Premium!
Breathing new life into the Exora, literally, Proton seem to have made some significant changes to their S4PH Campro CPS engine block that produces 125bhp at 6,500rpm and 150Nm of torque at 4,500rpm in order to accommodate the turbo unit, earning itself a new name; the Campro Charge Fuel Efficiency (CFE) engine.
The new 1.6L Campro CFE engine now produces an additional 13bhp and 55Nm of torque to settle at 138bhp at 5,000rpm and 205Nm torque from as low as 2,000rpm effectively transforming it’s engine performance into that of a 2.0L Naturally Aspirated engine. The Campro CFE engine is available in the new Exora Bold Premium and the top-of-the-line Exora Prime model that comes equipped with a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) which is most probably from the VT3 gearbox of Punch Powertrain (published maximum torque tolerance is 215Nm). In any case, having this will definitely keep power delivery smooth all the way till red-line whilst helping you save additional fuel, as the Exora gets a better power-weight ratio from the Campro CFE engine.
“The combination of the Campro CFE engine and CVT transmission not only gives the Exora Bold Premium and Exora Prime greater efficiency and fuel economy. Boosted with the more efficient 1.6L engine, customers will experience powerful performance which is comparable to a 2.0L engine, with much lower fuel consumption. The additional power kicks in to provide more pulling power when accelerating or overtaking. In short, it’s what you can aptly describe as a ‘pay-as-you-go’ engine, which gives you more ‘vroom’ for every litre of petrol used,” said PROTON Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
The Exora Bold, however, is offered in either an Executive or Standard trim, both powered by the naturally aspirated 1.6L Campro CPS engine, just that the Standard trim only gets a manual transmission instead of being provided a choice of either a manual or automatic transmission.