/ 31 January 2006

A sleek little gladiator

Last year Proton, made its debut in South Africa with the Gen2, an attractive four-door sedan. The company has now signalled it wants a larger slice of the cake with the arrival of the Arena, a small pick-up designed to take on the likes of Nissan’s 1400, Opel’s Corsa, Fiat’s Strada and the Ford Bantam.

On looks alone, the Proton has as much going for it as the others, if not a tad more. Sleek, masculine lines are very much in evidence, while the load area measures a generous 1 636mm in length, 1 349mm in width and 415mm in height. A nice touch is the removable tailgate, which is able to support loads of up to 300kg. Colour-coded bumpers and mirrors are standard.

All models are powered by a lively 1 468cc four-cylinder motor that produces 64kW at 6 000rpm, while torque is quoted at 126Nm, made at 3000rpm. Power is fed through to the front wheels via a very smooth five-speed gearbox.

Proton’s engineers have not followed the traditional path of using a monocoque chassis. The Arena uses a combination of ladder chassis for the load area, while the cab uses monocoque. These are joined using a transfer torque box, and my guess is that, given mechanical reliability on the engine/gearbox side of things, the Arena should prove to be a very durable workhorse. The torque box is a valuable safety innovation, helping to dissipate energy and shield occupants from the force of side impacts.

Total load-carrying capacity is 645kg, making it a true half-tonner, although it is outdone by the Strada, which will lug 715kg. The rear window has a protective grille to prevent cargo from entering the cab in case of a frontal impact.

The Arena comes in three derivatives — a standard 1,5i, the GL, and the GLX. The standard model is exactly that: steel wheels, vinyl seats and remotely controlled external rear mirrors, although all models get power steering. Moving up a slot to the GL gives you the roll-over bar, central locking, a rear step and aircon. In the case of the GLX, you add a CD/radio, six-spoke alloy wheels, electric windows, cloth seats, tonneau cover, electric mirrors and plastic load liner to protect the cargo bay. All models feature a full-size spare wheel.

The interior is spacious and well laid-out. What I liked was the ”soft form” dash. On a practical level, the Arena offers ample storage, including a glove box, door pockets, central storage space and room for a toolkit or briefcase behind the seat.

The Arena is very car-like to drive, and the ride provided by the solid rear axle on a single-leaf spring and McPherson struts upfront proved comfortable enough. Braking was more than adequate, thanks to discs upfront and drums at the rear.

My demo model proved a little sluggish, but a few more kilometres on the clock should eliminate that. Proton claims a modest top speed of 155kph and the zero-to-100kph dash of 13,7 seconds. Fuel consumption figures were not quoted, but 8,5 litres per 100km around town won’t be far out.

The standard Arena model costs R79 995, compared to the similar Strada (R77 900), Nissan 1400 (R75 740), Bantam (R77 542), and Corsa (R78 240) offerings.

The GL, at R99 995, is also costlier than its rivals, but the GLX, at R112 995, is significantly cheaper than Ford’s 1,6i Bantam (R127 943).