Manufacturer Proton Production 2000–May 2011 Body style 4-door saloon | Also called Proton Impian (U.K.) Class Compact / C-segment | |
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Assembly Malaysia: Shah Alam, Selangor | ||
The Proton Waja is a saloon car manufactured by Malaysian automotive company, Proton, first released in August 2000.
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The Waja is the first Proton car to feature a majority of body parts and components which were designed in-house. Although certain key features such as the various engines in the early models were outsourced, the Waja is still best known as the first Malaysian-designed car. More than 300,000 Proton Wajas have been sold, making it among Proton's most commercially successful products.
The name Waja, which means (strong as) steel in Malay has both physical and abstract connotations. In the United Kingdom, it was sold as the Proton Impian, in which Impian was another derivative of the Malay language, meaning dream.
History
The Proton Waja is the first model designed in-house by Proton. However, the Waja's chassis was based on the first-generation (1995–2004) Volvo S40 / Mitsubishi Carisma models. The development of the Waja began at the end of the 1999 together with the Campro engine, however, the development of the Campro engine was still in progress at the time of its launch, and therefore Proton had to source the 4G18 engine for the Waja from Mitsubishi, before switching to CamPro engines in 2006.
It was launched in August 2000, together with the introduction of Proton's new corporate logo. Early batches of the Waja had no airbags, ABS, and came with fabric seats only. In 2002, a 1.6 variant X, was launched.
It was equipped with more luxurious items like climate control, traction control, auto-flip mirror, a driver's airbag, wood grain interior and full leather seats and door trim. Proton made minor changes to the seats by adding rear armrest with cup holder (which the standard Waja lacked), rear seats adjustable head rest and lumbar support for driver seats.
Proton later launched a new Waja variant, the 1.8X, powered by the Renault F4P engine, which is also found in the Renault Laguna. It featured the same interior as the 1.6X Premium, but a passenger airbag was added as a safety feature.
The Waja received a facelift in 2005. The first minor facelift was rear boot spoiler, new alloy-rims, new interior scheme (brown & cream), new instrument cluster, and dual airbags and ABS fitted as standard. Facelifted again in 2007, the Waja received the 125 PS (92 kW) CamPro CPS engine. The exterior was given minor changes, such as a new grille and new tail lights. The 2008 Waja CPS also includes both ABS and airbag as standard for the Malaysian market, which were previously optional equipment.
More than 292,556 Proton Wajas have been sold between 2000 and mid-2012, and of which, the variants powered by the 1.6 litre Mitsubishi 4G18 engine made up for the bulk of total sales, followed by the 1.6 litre Proton CamPro S4PH / CPS and lastly, the 1.8 litre Renault F4P.
Chancellor
At the end of 2005, Proton additionally introduced another variant of the Waja, known as Proton Chancellor. It was used by representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the meeting of ASEAN leaders in the KLCC, shortly before its launch in 2006. The Chancellor had a longer wheelbase and a 2.0 litre Mitsubishi 6A12 V6 engine, similar to that used in Proton Perdana V6. The car was only available with a four-speed automatic transmission.
United Kingdom
Waja sales in the United Kingdom, where it was rebadged as the Impian, did not begin until April 2001, and it has continued virtually unchanged until sales ceased in 2008. The Impian was only available with RHD, while LHD models were available elsewhere in Europe.
Sales were not strong, as it was behind the best of the competition at its launch and virtually all of its competitors were all replaced since. Its decent ride and handling, generous equipment levels, competitive asking price and comprehensive aftersales package are perhaps the only things that kept it going with British buyers.
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. Proton formerly participated in the BTCC between 2002 and 2004 under the official team name, Petronas Syntium Proton (Team PSP). The team in the 2002 and 2003 BTCC seasons was headed by Scottish and English drivers David Leslie and Phil Bennett respectively in two heavily modified BTC-T Proton Impian touring cars. Both drivers were succeeded by South African Shaun Watson-Smith and Malaysian Fariqe Hairuman in the 2004 season. Team PSP proved largely unsuccessful in the BTCC with just 2 wins out of a grand total of 95 races and finally withdrew altogether after the conclusion of the 2004 season.
Safety
The Proton Waja / Impian was the first and thus far only Proton car to be officially crash tested by the Euro NCAP in 2002. It scored a 3-star rating for adult occupant safety, but only 1-star for pedestrian safety. The tested configuration included 4 SRS airbags (dual front and dual side), a configuration which was limited to a handful of developed markets such as the U.K. and Australia. Malaysian market Proton Wajas never received side airbags.
Proton claimed the Impian was the first of a new generation of cars that were designed to Euro NCAP standards, but after the Impian's disappointing performance, Proton promised to improve on future designs. 10 years later, that promised was fulfilled when the Proton Prevé was awarded the full 5-stars by Australia's ANCAP, an organization whose methods closely align with that of the Euro NCAP.
Top Gear aired a segment which featured a damaged Proton Waja alongside a damaged Toyota Avensis to showcase the difference between a 3-star and a 5-star Euro NCAP car after a head-on collision with a deformable steel concrete wall.