Proton Campro turbo engine by 2010-2011

Proton managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin told the Oman Economic Review that Proton was developing a turbocharged engine set for introduction by the years 2010 to 2011, just in time for a facelift of the 2009 Proton MPV which could see the introduction of this turbocharged engine.

The turbocharged engine would be in line with the current market trends of having a small displacement engine but forced inducted to produce the equivalent horsepower of a larger motor, usually with more torque, and more fuel efficiency. The engine will have the power output equivalent to a 2.0 liter engine. We could be looking at a 1.6 liter Campro turbo or Campro CPS turbo engine producing about 150 horsepower and perhaps 240Nm of torque.
 
Proton is also set to spend RM5 billion over the next 5 years on R&D efforts, which is about RM1 billion a year. Other efforts (as quoted in the report) include developing a small competitive car, acquiring diesel engines licensed from an international OEM (Fiat? Peugeot?) because of their popularity in markets such as India, hybrid and electric technologies, the possibility of a joint model with Lotus (spiritual successor to the Lotus Carlton based on a Proton maybe?), and the reduction of weight of Proton models.

Artist gone nuts: Perodua Myvi Cabriolet

This set of photoshopped images confirm that our resident graphic artist Theophilus Chin is a crackhead I suppose if Nissan and Mitsubishi can create drop top versions of their tall-ish B-segment hatchbacks (the Micra C+C and the Colt CZC respectively), it’s probably not too insane for Theophilus to dream of a drop top Perodua Myvi… or not! But seriously, Theophilus had nothing to do so he whipped up these photoshopped images just for fun. But what do you think? Would anyone buy something like this?