The Proton Waja is a 4-door saloon from Proton, built from 2000 to 2011, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 1.6 L 4G18 SOHC I4.
The background
The Proton Waja is a saloon car manufactured by Malaysian automotive company, Proton, it was launched in May 2000 by fourth Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. 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. The Proton Waja was heralded as the first indigenously-designed Malaysian car upon its debut.
However, it was later revealed that the Waja's chassis is a modified adaptation of the Mitsubishi Carisma / Volvo S40 platform. Furthermore, early Waja models were powered by Mitsubishi and Renault engines, as the development of Proton's own Campro engine did not complete in time for the Waja's launch frame. Over 292,556 Proton Wajas were sold between 2000 and 2012. Waja 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.
The engineering
Power comes from 1.6 L 4G18 SOHC I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1215 -. It shifts through a 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2600 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Proton Inspira; assembly was at Shah Alam, Selangor (PONSB), Malaysia. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Honda S2000, the Škoda Auto Škoda Fabia — show what else the money bought that year. Its Proton stablemates include the Proton Perdana and the Proton Arena.