The name Suprima has its roots in the English word, Supreme. The S suffix stands for Sports.
Design
Exterior - The Proton Suprima S lends largely and improves upon the design cues first seen on its sister car, the Proton Prevé which launched 16 months prior, on 16 April 2012. Apart from the fully redesigned rear, the Suprima is almost identical to the Prevé in terms of its exterior design, bar the new diamond-cut seven-spoke alloy rims (17" and 16" on the Premium and Executive trims respectively), revised Proton Wings front grille, front air intake and foglight inserts.The Suprima was designed with more emphasis on sportiness in an effort to appeal to a younger audience.
Proton had previously collaborated with Italy-based Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A for the styling and likeness of the Prevé, which ultimately trickled down into the Suprima as well.The Prevé and to an extent, the Suprima was developed by an international consortium consisting of experts from Malaysia, Italy, France, Germany and South Korea.Additionally, several components of the car are also sourced from Japan, South Korea, Australia and Europe.
The Suprima is the second Malaysian-made car to be factory-fitted with LED position lamps and the first to be offered with LED Daytime running lights (DRL).The LEDs built into the projector headlights on the Suprima Executive trim are identical to those of the Prevé, whereas those on the Suprima Premium variant are true LED DRLs.The LED DRLs may improve the visual appeal of the Suprima, but more importantly help in improving road safety by increasing the conspicuity of the car during daylight conditions.The inclusion of daytime running lights on passenger cars are not compulsory in Malaysia, but they are mandatory equipment for all passenger cars marketed in European Union member states as of 7 February 2011 under the EU Directive 2008/89/EC.The Suprima also features a rear fog lamp which is mounted centrally on the rear diffuser, bringing the car up to ECE R38 compliance.Additionally, the rear lights on the Suprima feature guide lights, another first for Proton.The side view mirrors which sport built-in LED turn signal lights have remained physically unchanged over the Prevé's. However, both mirrors now fold and unfold automatically in the Premium trim, whereas in the Executive line, manual user input is required, though both mirrors are still fully electric in nature.
Interior - The interior of the Suprima has remained largely unchanged when compared to the Prevé's. Nonetheless, several improvements were made which contributed to an overall increase in the Suprima's visual and ergonomic appeal. The new Proton Infotainment System, equipped standard in all Suprimas is an advanced Android OS-powered 7" LCD touchscreen head unit which doubles as a GPS/SatNav system, DVD player and in-car web browser.The system also has Bluetooth, USB, iPod and WiFi compatibility.However, the user can only browse the internet, access YouTube, watch DVDs and play Android-based games when the handbrake is engaged, as a safety precaution.Audio output is channelled to four speakers in the Executive trim, but the Premium trim offers an additional two A-pillar mounted tweeters, bringing the grand total up to six speakers.The whole system is connected to the internet over a WiMAX network under an agreement between Proton and the Malaysian ISP, Yes 4G.A WiFi dongle provided with the Suprima is used to set up a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) within the car itself, thus offering on-the-go broadband with coverage in all major Malaysian cities and towns as well as across the Malaysian Expressway System, with download speeds of up to 20Mbit/s.However, the broadband services may cease if the car is driven into areas without Yes 4G coverage, or into neighbouring Singapore or Thailand. Nonetheless, Proton has made up for this with the ability to divert or bridge an internet connection using a smartphone or another portable hotspot instead.Furthermore, the built-in GPS system does not require an internet connection to function, as it operates independently over Telekom Malaysia's Lokatoo service.The Suprima is the third Proton car to offer internet based services, the first being a limited edition of the Proton Inspira, and the second being its sister car, the Prevé.
The Premium variant of the Suprima comes with exclusive interior kit not offered in the Executive trim, in particular the Anthracite-shade leather seats, front parking sensors and a built-in reverse camera. It also receives several features previously offered in the Prevé's Premium trim, namely the steering-mounted paddle shifters, automatic headlights and wipers, climate control, cruise control and push-start engine ignition.
Safety
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- ANCAP -
- MIRA -
- MyVAP -
Like the Prevé, the Suprima S has also been developed to house a maximum of 6 SRS airbags, an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Traction Control (TCS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC).However, unlike the Prevé, all Suprima units came standard with all of its engineered safety features at launch, whereas the MDM Prevé Premium trim was only offered with a maximum of 4 airbags with all electronic safety equipment, and the MDM Prevé Executive trim models were only fitted with 2 airbags without BA, TCS & ESC at launch.However, the MDM Prevé has since been updated for the 2014 model year and currently offers all of its engineered safety features as standard across all trim variants, without a hike in pricing.Additionally, the Suprima Premium variant offers front parking sensors, a reverse camera, Hill-Hold Assist, an Electronic Gear Shift Lock and brighter LED daytime running lights (DRL) which help contribute to an overall increase in safety standards.
Prior to the launch of the Suprima S and Prevé duo, Proton cars suffered from a poor safety reputation. The Proton Jumbuck infamously scored one star out of a potential five in its ANCAP test in 2009.Proton responded by raising safety standards significantly during the development of the Prevé and Suprima S. The REinforced Safety Structure (RESS) frame was developed specifically for the duo.Proton employs the use of Hot Press Forming (HPF), a process which was pioneered in Germany, during the Prevé's and Suprima's manufacturing stage.Twelve HPF components help in the reinforcement of the passenger compartment for improved occupant safety.The end result is an increased tensile strength and torsional body rigidity of 19,000 Nm/degree.The usage of HPF in the manufacturing process also helps in weight-saving, which translates into improved fuel efficiency, handling and performance. Proton is the only Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in South East Asia to use Hot Press Forming in their manufacturing processes.
As of January 2014, Proton has prioritised safety as one of their main unique selling propositions (USP) and has been aggressively promoting their achievements with the Prevé and Suprima S.The company has promised that all new Protons launched from 2014 onwards will come with extensive safety equipment and feature a 5-Star ANCAP rating.
The Suprima S borrows most of its ride & handling attributes from the Prevé, which was tested in various weather and road conditions during its development phase such as ice & snow in Sweden as well as intense heat in Spain.The suspension system consists of MacPherson struts for the front and a multi-link with stabiliser bar for the rear.The suspension setup, the result of a retune of the Prevé's was wholly done in-house by the local Ride & Handling team, and was subsequently approved by Proton's British sister company, Lotus during a short joint-test with the testing team. Unlike the Prevé, the Suprima S displays a Lotus Ride & Handling badge on the bootlid, whereas in the former, no such badging is offered, but Proton Ride & Handling is nonetheless used in the Prevé's promotional media.
Powertrains
The Proton Suprima S is only offered with the 1.6 litre CamPro Turbo I4 petrol engine which has been indigenously designed by Proton and Lotus.The CamPro Turbo was previously known as the CamPro CFE, in which CFE stood for Charged Fuel Efficiency. Proton opted to rename the engine in favour of clarity & conciseness.The CamPro Turbo incorporates a low-pressure intercooled turbocharger that delivers 138 horsepower (103 kW) at 5,000 rpm and 205 Nm of torque between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm.Proton claims the turbocharged 1.6 litre CamPro Turbo is equivalent to a naturally aspirated 2.0 litre engine, and it has also been designed to conform to Euro V emission standards.The CamPro Turbo in the Suprima is mated to the Belgian-made seven-speed Punch Powertrain VT3+ CVT, also known as ProTronic, Proton's version of a manumatic transmission.The VT3+ transmission has been refined and revised to offer a sportier and more spirited driving experience.The CamPro Turbo and VT3 CVT were first used in the 2011 Proton Exora Bold and 2012 Proton Prevé Premium respectively.
Proton is currently developing an all-new 2.0-litre turbocharged engine for the Prevé and Suprima S duo.A six-speed manual transmission option is also in development.
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