[AceVentura]

I just got my Satria Neo 1.6 Auto H-Line last Friday (20.10.2006) from a
car dealer in Miri, Sarawak. I am not a racer so the auto suits me fine.

Observations:

1. Sometimes after shut off engine, the radiator fan would continue for a
few minutes. Is this a standard feature?

2. Initially the right-side wiper spray no water come out, when I check
under the hood, found the plastic hose connector that connects the small
water tube for the wiper jet broken. I am in Bintulu now and will only get
back to Miri next week.

3. When starting, they seems to be an initial gurggling sound (similar to
the one reported before this on loose gearbox mounting), but after startup
no more sound. Will complain to the PE workshop.

4. The bonnet doesn't sound sturdy when closed, unlike old Satria. Maybe
because the plate number was not glued/cellotaped properly.

5. The fuel consumption sucks. It is as bad or worse than Wira 1.5 Auto.
The meter says 8 to 12 liter/100 km. That is 12.5 to 8.5 km/liter. Very
bad.

6. The manual says the only recommended engine oil is 20W-50. 20W-50??? A
range was provided similar to older protons but 20W-50??? I want to use
Synthium 5000 0W-30 but worry it will void the warranty. Synthium 5000
proven for me to cut fuel consumption.

7. I really hate the car seat. The head rest is too far back. You cannot
seat up straightly properly.

8. There are THREE head rest provided at the back. Does Proton think
buyers of Satria want to carry people around all the time? I am a father
of 4, I use the car primarily for commuting between Miri and Bintulu (420
km return). I buy the car really because I prefer 2-door. If 2-door what
for design THREE head rest at the back? Proton design engineers boleh baca
ke tak?

9. This is serious. When emergency brake, the brake pedal seems to flap.
What is the reason? Flap flap flap in quick succession. I hope it is
nothing bad. Maybe need run in.

I am only in sub-1000 km run now, not yet first service. So see how lah.
The power I am not too impressed, just like a Gen2 I guess as I drove Gen2
1.6 for three weeks back in August. Hantam 100-120 km/hr feel like
nothing. Okay for me.

Another factor why I bought this package because for RM56K (Miri price), I
get dual airbags, ABS/EBD, cruise control, automatic, safety features. I
like Honda City but the cheapest Honda City is RM82K. I bought my wife a
Citra so win-win situation I guess.

I like replies/answers to my points above from all of you.

[rikeys]

3. When starting, they seems to be an initial gurggling sound (similar to
the one reported before this on loose gearbox mounting), but after
startup no more sound. Will complain to the PE workshop.

- someone else also has this problem but could be powersteering motor or
leaking pwr steering fluid pls check.


9. This is serious. When emergency brake, the brake pedal seems to flap.
What is the reason? Flap flap flap in quick succession. I hope it is
nothing bad. Maybe need run in.

- sounds like ABS working fine to me.

6. The manual says the only recommended engine oil is 20W-50. 20W-50??? A
range was provided similar to older protons but 20W-50??? I want to use
Synthium 5000 0W-30 but worry it will void the warranty. Synthium 5000
proven for me to cut fuel consumption.

- too new to use super thin oil. wait for later after engine bedded in
nicely.

[freeBSD]

AceVentura,

The campro Auto is not known to have a super duper quick pick up and good
FC. If you wanted good FC you should get the manual version. The FC might
gets better once you run in the car, but hmmmm dun expect too much lar.

[Tourist]

6. The manual says the only recommended engine oil is 20W-50. 20W-50??? A
range was provided similar to older protons but 20W-50??? I want to use
Synthium 5000 0W-30 but worry it will void the warranty. Synthium 5000
proven for me to cut fuel consumption.

- too new to use super thin oil. wait for later after engine bedded in
nicely.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I beg to differ. If you want engine to bed in properly, use mineral oil and
NOT Fully Synthetic oil. You need a little bit of friction to do that and
FS might be too slippery and not providing enough friction. Viscosity is
not the issue.

And yes, I find it very strange for manual to recommend only 20W50 oil.
Call Proton careline up and seek to talk to the engineer about this most
unusual recommendation.

[AceVentura]

Thanks for the reply guys. This is my fourth Proton car.

1. Wira 1.5 Manual 1997 - sold off in 2000
2. Wira 1.5 Auto 2000 - still maintained
3. Satria 1.3 2002 - sold off last month

*HAPPY* to note that there is still some rattling noise in the dashboard,
both left and right hand side.

The left handside was because the actuator to open the dashboard laci was
not connected: QUALITY ######ING CONTROL? You tell me.

Also there seems to be some electrical problem. The right hand speakers
will turn off if the rear wiper is turned on. Funny? Occurs a few times
already (not all the time).

I appreciate the replies here. I already tried www.satrianeoclub.com but
my membership there not yet approved (maybe cuti raya?) so I could not
post anything there.

Also the auto gearbox doesnt seem to shift down correctly at times. When
you let gas pedal off, at certain speed, the gear will shift down. Jerky,
sometimes.

Why I still trust Proton? I actually don't trust Proton. But at RM56K, it
is one of the better buys on the road.

[gummyone1]

u always travel back 2 miri on fri or sat? wat color ur neo? maybe if c
u, i'll race wif u.

[AceVentura]

I travel back to Bintulu laaa.

[Tourist]

If I were you, I will ignore the 20W50 oil and use something like 15w40 or
10W30. Would be better for your engine and you may even feel more "power"
from the engine with the lighter oil. Go to independent Proton service
dealers who can be more accommodating, if you know what I meant

Btw, when you are there, ask to see what`s the Gen2 manual said about oil
weight. Would be interesting to find out.

[AceVentura]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

This morning I sent the Neo for 1000 km service, the Proton Edar Miri (JL
Motors Workshop, actually), asked me to use Castrol Magnatec 10W-40
("Synthetic Technology"), cost RM98.

1. What??? However, hopefully with thinner oil, fuel consumption becomes
better.
2. They poured all the four liters in. FOUR LITERS? No more balance of the
oil left to take home. They said Campro engines all like this.
3. The Service Executive (only one service executive, by the way), said he
fixed already most of the problems that I mentioned, but surprise!
surprise! Some new rattling noise came in! Will have to drive around first
so that this rat-noises die naturally, quickly, hopefully.

I think the front tires are off-balanced, the service exec said I have to
timbang the tires myself. Huh?

[nazirmz]

aceventura, care to share your neo realworld 1.6A FC? From what I read
around the net, it's quite high averaging around 9l/100km(to me la), even
for the manual version. Not sure though whether it's because of new engine
(still tight) or probably because it's tuned for performance(higher FC).

Other Neo 1.6 owners are welcomed to give feedback. Right now
considering "heavily" on Neo 1.6A purchase, test drove it already and
like it, only thing now concerned of unusually high FC figures quoted.
Good FC is quite a priority for me, since this car will be used for daily
100km highway commuting.