PROTON SATRIA HATCHBACK 2000-2003 Review
Good Points
- Well equipped at the top range
- The 1.8 GTi is fun to drive
Bad Points
- Cramped interior
- Poor build quality and cheap materials
Engines
There are only three engines in the Satria and all of them are petrol. They are a 1.3-litre 74bhp, a 1.5-litre 85bhp and a 1.8-litre GTi producing 132bhp.
Performance & Economy
The 1.3-litre underpowered and so is best avoided. The 1.5-litre is better and is marginally faster, but still fairly slow taking 12.1 seconds to get to 60mph. Both of these engines need be worked really hard to get any decent sort of performance out of them. The 1.8GTi is the engine to go for as it is much quicker going from a standing start to 60mph in 7.8 seconds and manages the same 32mpg as the 1.5-litre, it's the only good engine out of the three.
As for insuring them they prove to be a lot more expensive than you would expect with the 1.3-litre falling into group 9, the 1.5-litre into group 11 and the 1.8Gti falls into group 16.
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Introduction
The Proton Satria is styled around the old Mitsubishi Colt, and as such, isn't a bad looking car. It's just a shame it's no where near as good to drive or as well built as it looks. The interior is dull, the build quality poor, the ride anything but good and the two smaller engines can be pretty much ignored. The 1.8GTi model is a much better car being tweaked by Lotus who provided a much more enjoyable ride and comes with a higher level of kit as standard too.
Exterior & Interior
The Satria isn't the best looking car in its category and the interior isn't much better with limited head and legroom in the back, a small boot and poor quality materials used through out. On the plus side the dash is fairly logically laid out and easy to use.
The GTi model is a lot better than the two smaller models as it comes with a lot more kit as standard making it a more viable choice coming with air-con, alloys and a CD stereo as standard.As for trim levels stay away from the Li as all you get is power steering. The other lower trims add a little more, but if you want a little more go for the higher spec ones such as the LXi and Lux Sport.
Drive
The 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre models aren't just bad engines, but they are terrible to drive as well with the ride feeling jittery on rougher surfaces and poor cornering abilities. It does feel safe enough though as you're never going to go fast enough to ever be involved in an accident. The GTi is the better choice once again as Lotus improved it by giving the suspension some tweaks and rebuilding the chassis making it a lot better to drive. It has sharper handling and better cornering ability. This is all added to the fairly quick engine and makes the Satria a surprisingly fun car to drive.
Faults & Repairs
Amazingly there are few faults to report in the Satria despite is poor build quality and use of cheap materials throughout. The main problems have been with the electrics so make sure to check everything thoroughly, including that the air-con is blowing cold air. The most expensive problem will be a possible head gasket failure, but you can check for this by looking for any water or white residue on the underside of the engine filler cap and for oil in the coolant.
When it comes to servicing and repairs it is will cost more than most of its main stream rivals.
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PROTON Car Blogs | Get Car Finance for a PROTON | Get Insurance for a PROTON | Sell a PROTON | Original PROTON SATRIA review
