NEW!!!!

Saga (2003–2008)

The 2007 Proton Saga was the second iteration of the re-released Saga.

The first edition of the Saga LMST (introduced 2003).

As a loose successor to the Saga Iswara Sport, Proton gave the Iswara a new facelift and renamed it back to Saga (or know as Saga LMST by local car community) in 2003. The interior has an entirely new dashboard, door panels and an instrument panel with a digital display consisting of an odometer, a fuel gauge and a temperature gauge. Meanwhile, the exterior received new headlights and taillights and colour-coded bumpers and wing mirrors. Proton retuned the 1.3-litre carburettor engine, and fitted a new exhaust system, increasing its power rating to 83 bhp (62 kW). It is only available with the 5-speed manual transmission.

On March 5, 2007, Proton launched the 50th Merdeka Anniversary Promotion in Malaysia, where the announced new price of the Proton Saga at that time was RM26,999. Advertising campaigns for the Saga Aeroback used a notable rendition of Justin Timberlake's hit single SexyBack, with the lyrics changed to "AeroBack". The promotion was made as a support to Malaysia's 50th Merdeka Day and also to thank Proton's customers for their support since Proton Saga was first launched,^[3] receiving several minor cosmetic changes. The move was also an attempt by Proton to steal potential sales from Perodua's then-forthcoming budget supermini, the Viva. That year, the Proton Saga became the second best selling car behind Perodua MyVi and the best selling saloon car in Malaysia, with over 15,000 orders.

Generation Of Iswara

Saga Iswara (1992–2008)

The saloon variant of the Proton Saga Iswara.

In 1992, the Saga was given a facelift and its name expanded as Proton Saga Iswara (also known in short as Proton Iswara), after a species of butterfly in Sarawak. Modifications included slimmer headlights, plastic bumpers, side mouldings, coloured door handles, grooved taillight clusters and rear number plate repositioned to the bumper. This particular model is used as taxis in Malaysia and some are converted to NGV. Due to the modification, boot space was reduced by half to accommodate the NGV tank and there are only a few petrol stations by Malaysian oil-giant Petronas in the Klang Valley that sell natural gas, although there are plans underway to increase the number of stations selling it at various locations around Kuala Lumpur.

Models exported to Singapore and the United Kingdom were available with multi-point fuel injection and catalytic converters to meet Euro I emissions standards. This model was known as the Proton MPi in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the Proton Persona in 1993 replaced the corresponding models in the Saga range in the United Kingdom and this continued until the entire range was replaced in 1996.

In 2001, to regain sales and be competitive with Perodua, Proton introduced a special edition of Saga Iswara Sport based on the Aeroback version which included a new bodykit, metallic rear wing, jewel-effect headlights and Altezza lights, among other changes. It was only available in silver, with a manual transmission and a 1.3-litre engine. The original Saga Iswara Aeroback was still available in a 1.5-litre engine.

performance and engine.

Engine and performance

The new Saga is powered by the same 1.3-litre Campro engine (which was co-designed with Lotus) that is fitted to entry-level Gen-2s. Besides the 1.3L engine option, the 1.6-liter version is also available as an exclusive engine option for taxi operators before being offered to regular customers.^[8] Like other Proton models powered by Proton's own Compro engine, the 1.3-liter engine is rated at 94 hp (70 kW; 95 PS) at 6,000 rpm and 120 N·m (89 lb·ft) at 4,000 rpm, while the 1.6-liter version (not including the Campro CPS engine which is not being used in the Saga) produces 110 hp (82 kW; 110 PS) at 6,500 rpm and 148 N·m (109 lb·ft) at 4,000 rpm. Both engines feature the new Integrated Air-Fuel Module (IAFM) which varies the airflow into the engine to improve efficiency, smoothening out the problematic dip in the torque curve in the lower and middle rev ranges. Its output matches that of a 1.3-litre in the Satria Neo. Power delivery characteristics in both cars are remarkably different. The torque could be felt after 2,500 rpm and all the way to 4,000 rpm. The car feels peppy to drive and acceleration to highway speeds is good. The 5-speed manual from Aichi Kikai is not geared towards the ultimate refinement at cruising speeds, but it does offer a good spread of torque everywhere, not to mention good overtaking power anywhere from 80-120 km/h. Suspension setup consists of MacPherson struts and a stabilizer bar up front with a torsion beam in the rear. Its Lotus designed torsion beam suspension enables it to turn in sharply, hold its stance well through corners, understeering to a sizeable extent. Fuel economy is very good, ranging from approximately 6 L/100 km (47 mpg_-imp; 39 mpg_-US) for the manual transmission to 6.2 L/100 km (46 mpg_-imp; 38 mpg_-US) for the auto and is considerably less when traveling at 80 km/h (50 mph) in fifth. Top speed is around 160 km/h (99 mph) and 0-100 km/h time is about 16 seconds. The electrical system has also been updated with coil-on-plugs instead of the traditional ignition cable system, eliminating power loss.

effect of car to global warming!!!

I have a friend, P, who is a bit of a diet freak. When we first met, I was amazed by how she carefully counted all the calories she was ingesting with every meal, snack and bite she took, and would never allow herself to exceed a certain limit. When the Atkins diet started to become popular, she switched from counting calories to counting carbs instead. And this year, she is counting something new yet again – and it has nothing to do with food. These days, P counts carbon. “Counting carbon” first gained popularity when more and more people are started to take notice of how the excessive emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has been contributing greatly to global warming and other resultant environmental problems, and decided to start examining and then making modifications to their own living habits and lifestyle choices in a bid to reduce their individual impact. It involves recording and restricting the amount of carbon dioxide one emits, the way calorie-counters record and restrict the number of calories they ingest (or the way carb-counters record and restrict the volume of carbohydrates they ingest). More often than not, it causes one to discover just how much one’s actions actually contribute to the phenomenon of global warming. At the top of this list is the act of driving; according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, driving a car is the single most polluting thing that most people do. This is because driving involves the combustion of petrol, a reaction whose primary by-product is carbon dioxide. As we all know, the Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of radiation. Some of this energy is reflected back into space, but carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases in the atmosphere trap the sun’s energy, causing the Earth to heat up. For the Earth's temperature to be in steady state, the absorbed solar radiation must be balanced with the energy reflected back into space. However, a human-driven increase in carbon dioxide is causing more and more of the sun’s energy to be trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere instead of being reflected back into space, causing the Earth’s temperature to rise excessively and resulting in global warming. Cars account for about 10% of anthropogenic, or human-caused, greenhouse gas emissions globally; in industrialized cities, this figure rises to more than 50%. Experts on greenhouse gas emissions have calculated that every time a car burns 1 litre of petrol, it releases around 3 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as well as a smaller amount of methane, nitrous oxide, and various other toxic gases. This figure is shocking in more ways than one. One litre of petrol weighs less than 1 kilogram. So how in the world could it release such a huge amount of poisonous gases – almost 3 times its original weight? Is this all just some mumbo jumbo conjured up by alarmist environmentalists to hoodwink us into joining their camp? However, upon more detailed analysis, it all starts to make sense. In actual fact, this seemingly extraordinary phenomenon is the result of a very ordinary chemical equation that many of us learnt when we were in secondary school – C + O2 -> CO2. Petrol is almost entirely made up of carbon. When driving, petrol combusts, and every atom of carbon in the petrol combines with two atoms of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide. So factor in the original kilogram of carbon, combined with more than 2 kilograms of oxygen, and there you have it – each time you use up a litre of petrol, 3 kilograms of CO2 are launched into the atmosphere, helping to trap solar heat and causing the Earth’s temperature to rise drastically. How then can we help to reduce these emissions? Because of their increased fuel efficiency relative to petrol-powered vehicles, diesel-powered cars are sometimes seen as an improvement. However, diesel emits more soot than petrol, and black carbon, contained in soot from the combustion of fuels, may be responsible for around 16% of the gross warming the planet is currently experiencing. According to testimony provided by five scientists before the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, black carbon may be the second-most significant global warming pollutant after carbon dioxide. Once soot warming is factored in, it is obvious that switching to diesel is no solution at all. Instead, according to Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, Prof. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Atmosphere/Energy Program, Stanford University, “[a] more certain method of reducing global warming caused by both fossil-fuel soot and carbon dioxide is to convert vehicles from fossil fuels to electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, where the electricity or hydrogen is produced by a renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar geothermal, hydroelectric, wave, or tidal power.” The 2.5-litre Volvo V70 Cross Country, for example, annually produces 13 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. A more lightweight hybrid like the Ford Escape would cut greenhouse gas emissions over the same time period to 9 tons. But with a lighter hybrid , like a Toyota Prius sedan, this could be further reduced to 5 tons. Recent news reports have shown that hybrid cars now account for some of the most popular car models in Hollywood. The Toyota Prius tops this list, counting such A-listers like Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carole King, Billy Joel and David Duchovny in its list of famous owners. This seems to have sparked off a trend where more and more consumers now opt for hybrid cars with much lower contributions to global warming than traditional petrol-powered cars. And we approve.

Fact About Proton

Consider that the original Proton Saga has been on sale for 23 years. It was the car that kick-started the Malaysian automotive industry, with only two minor facelifts in between. That's astonishing, for something based on a 1982 Mitsubishi Lancer. Amidst staggeringly expensive "CBU" imports where a Mercedes-Benz S350 might cost nearly a million Ringgit Malaysia these days, one could have one of these Lancer-clones for a little less than today's equivalent of RM21,000 (prices adjusted for inflation). It never had much to offer - a basic 1.3 or 1.5-litre engine, five-speed manual with the option of a three-speed automatic, a rough, noisy ride and great instability above 100km/h. However, it was still very, very cheap and because it sold so well, it became the motoring identity of Malaysia. It brought mass vehicle ownership to everyone's doorstep, even if they lived in a wooden atap hut somewhere in the forest. This was important, considering the geographical size of Malaysia, and the general lack of public transport that went along with it - something most Singaporeans take for granted even till this day. Such was the phenomenon then, that you could almost say something like "you're Malaysian, so you must drive a Proton!" and get away with it. Fast forward to the turn of the 21st century, and things weren't looking too rosy for this national carmaker. Despite their acquisition of British performance carmaker Lotus, government funds and national protectionism meant a lack of innovation amidst increasing car prices. Other locally produced cars licensed from brands such Kia (Naza Sutera, Bestari, etc.) and Daihatsu (Perodua Kancil, Myvi, Kembara and so on) effectively took the lead in sales. The hammer finally fell not too long ago, when the Malaysian government announced it's withdrawal of funding and protection. This meant that prices had to rise, and Proton was a hundred per cent susceptible to the rigours of competition. Hence, the significance of the new Proton Saga - this Malaysian icon has no other choice but to return to the fundamentals of what it once was as a Malaysian carmaker. It has to cough up a car that the majority of Malaysians need, and not want - a budget-priced, economical sedan with no frills and spills.