Facts you need to know about Proton Gen-2 Persona

Here's my though about proton persona

The Proton Persona (known as the Proton Gen-2 Persona in the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
and Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
) is a small family car manufactured by Malaysian
Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
national carmaker Proton since August 2007 and is the successor to the Proton Wira
Proton Wira

The Proton Wira is a automobile manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton , released as a four-door saloon and four-door hatchback beginning 1993....
.

Design

Body
The Proton Persona is essentially a saloon based on the Gen-2
Proton Gen-2

The Proton Gen-2 is an automobile manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton , and was launched in the third quarter of 2004. The Gen-2 uses a platform which is mostly Malaysian-developed....
hatchback introduced in 2004, and inherits the Persona name from rebadged Wiras
Proton Wira

The Proton Wira is a automobile manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton , released as a four-door saloon and four-door hatchback beginning 1993....
sold in certain countries. It addresses several main flaws of the Gen-2, although the Gen-2 itself remains in sale.

The most noticeable difference of the Persona from the Gen-2 is the a separate, larger boot, making it better suited to the local market, as Malaysians prefer saloons (an obvious fact overlooked by Proton's former management). More importantly, the roofline slopes less, addressing the many complaints on the lack of rear headroom.

Interior

The interior was redesigned to incorporate a glovebox
Glove compartment

A glove compartment or glovebox is a compartment built into the dashboard, located over the front-seat passenger's footwell in an automobile, often used for miscellaneous storage....
at the dashboard, an accessory that was not available in the Gen-2. The obtrusive analog clock present in the Gen-2's dashboard has also been replaced by a digital one that now resides in the digital display on the instrument panel. In addition, the door trims and panels were modified to feature more ergonomic window switches and door handles, and the pseudo-racing seats were replaced by more conventional and comfortable ones. Fit and finish is noticeably improved a lot and so are the suspension setting as well because it is tuned more to comfort.

A revised version of the Gen-2 launched on March 3, 2008 also incorporates the interior trims of the Persona.

Engine
The 1.6 liter Campro engine
Campro engine

The Campro engine is the first automotive engine ever developed together with Lotus Cars by the Malaysian carmaker, Proton . The name Campro is short for Cam Profile....
in the Persona is the same unit used in other Proton models but with an improved cast aluminum oil pan
Crankcase

:For the Transformers characters see Crankcase .In an internal combustion engine, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder block....
design that reduces the chances of damage. A transmission control unit
Transmission Control Unit

A transmission control unit or TCU is a device that controls modern electronic automatic transmissions. A TCU generally uses sensors from the vehicle as well as data provided by the Engine Control Unit to calculate how and when to change gears in the vehicle for optimum performance, Fuel efficiency and shift quality....
re-calibration on models with automatic transmissions reduces the hunting of gears and improves gear changes in an attempt to mask the dip in the torque curve
Torque

Torque is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis . Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
in the lower and middle rev ranges. It has been announced that in early 2008 the Persona will be equipped with new Campro engines that incorporate a new variable-geometry intake manifold
Variable Length Intake Manifold

Variable Length Intake Manifold is an automobile engine manifold technology. As the name implies, VLIM can vary the length of the intake tract in order to optimize power and torque, as well as provide better fuel efficiency....
module (Campro IAFM engine
Campro engine

The Campro engine is the first automotive engine ever developed together with Lotus Cars by the Malaysian carmaker, Proton . The name Campro is short for Cam Profile....
) which improves low-end torque and high-rev breathing.

Reception
With a more attractive price tag that ranges from RM44,999 to RM55,800 (about RM10,000 cheaper than the equivalent Gen-2), demand of the Persona continues to outstrip supply. Over 2,000 pre-launch bookings were made. Within two weeks after launch, the figure increased to 11,000 bookings. Demand hit close to 19,000 bookings barely 2 weeks later. Originally intending to produce Personas at a rate of 4,000 cars per month, Proton has pledged to ramp up the production to 8,000 units per month to meet the unforeseen demand.

As a result of the Persona's debut, sales for the Proton Waja
Proton Waja

The Proton Waja is a sedan car designed in-house by Malaysian automotive company, Proton , first released in August 2000. The Waja is the first Malaysian-designed car, with a chassis derived from a Mitsubishi Carisma and a Volvo S40....
and the Proton Gen-2
Proton Gen-2

The Proton Gen-2 is an automobile manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton , and was launched in the third quarter of 2004. The Gen-2 uses a platform which is mostly Malaysian-developed....
significantly slowed down, causing Proton dealers to offer large amounts of discounts up to RM 9,000 to sell off the remaining models of Waja and Gen-2. This has been somewhat offset by the release of the new CPS engine in the Waja and Gen-2, which attempts to place the latter two models in a slightly higher market segment.

Export market
On 10 March 2008, Proton UK announced the new addition of the Proton Persona sedan to the British market, which is known as the Proton Gen-2 Persona, while the Personas sold in other countries (such as Singapore
Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
) retain the name Persona. Besides UK, Proton also uses the name Gen-2 Persona for the Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
n market. The Persona was launched by PROTON Holdings Berhad Managing Director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 22 November and in Egypt on 24 November. The Gen2 model was also jointly launched in Egypt.

Awards
During the 2008 Asian Auto - Bosch
Bosch

Bosch is a popular surname in Catalan language and Dutch language; it means forest. It may refer to:Places*Bosch, Buenos Aires, Argentina...
Fuel Efficiency Awards, the Proton Persona won the first place of the Family Car category, with the reported average fuel consumption of .

2008 Proton Persona SE
Proton unveiled in Malaysia a Merdeka special edition of the Proton Persona called the Proton Persona SE on the 26th of August 2008. The Proton Persona SE has a bodykit, different alloy wheels, matte silver door handles and front grille, a leather interior and a GPS navigation system.