Testing times

My first experience of the Proton Exora - the Malaysian car manufacturer's first Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) - was a brief one during its regional launch in Jakarta, Indonesia sometime in July last year.

The test drive then was quite an adventure, with the traffic police driving ahead of us to halt traffic so we could pass through. I felt like some mega VIP but despite all the efforts to clear the narrow roads of Jakarta, it was hard to get any proper driving done due to the immense traffic. I did get to try the Exora on both normal roads as well as on the highway, but there was only so much I could discover about the Exora.

Proton Malaysia extended an invite to us for an intimate session with the Exora - a visit to the Proton R&D Centre and a drive from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca and back.

Opened on 20 April 1993, the main Proton plant at Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, covers 99,400 square metres and houses an engine and transmission factory, casting plant, R&D centre as well as a semi-high speed test track.

We spent the good part of the morning touring the R&D and production facilities like the Virtual Reality (VR) Centre, Component, Material, Safety and Strength (CMSS) Lab and Multi-Vehicle Factory before finally heading to the Test Track.

The test track comprises design and construction of several car testing facilities on about 25 hectares of land adjacent to the Proton plant. These facilities enable Proton to enhance its continuous quest of quality control and long-term R&D objectives for further improvement of its cars.

Completed in October 1994 at a cost of RM 25 million, Proton's semi-high speed test track includes features like a 140-metre long shower and wading trough, a 500-metre long brake test track clockwise semi-circular turning area of 30-metre radius, a circular steering pad of 50-metre radius and a three-storey Control Office Building (COB).

The oval-shaped three-lane test track is 1,650 metres long, with the various testing facilities within the boundaries of the track. Here, a series of testing procedures are conducted on prototypes for Proton to evaluate their cars.

The highlight of the test track is a high-speed drive around the exterior of the track at a top speed of 120km/h on a 45-degree banked curve. The two curved ends of the track - known as banking - are inclined at 45 degrees and are each about 400 metres long. The purpose of this is to test the forces (other than friction) which will keep the car on its designated path.

A banked turn allows a car to travel much faster than it normally would through a flat turn, and works best when a long strip of straight road is placed before and after the banked section. With our helmets on, all of us got into one Exora and an instructor took us for a demonstration. Driving at 110 - 120 kilometres per hour, there was a marked path in yellow that the car had to follow. This path goes all the way around the top of the incline and we could feel the effects of the G-forces as we drove at 45 degrees. To sustain a high speed here requires aerodynamic efficiency of the car, which was evident in the Exora.

After a few rounds of head-pressing turns, we went through some of the testing procedures. We were driven through accelerated hill climbs of different gradients to test the car's hill-climbing ability and its parking brake performance. The car's suspension was tested over different road surfaces like gravel, cobblestone and bricks. We also experienced the Exora's handling as it negotiated a course of cones. Brake performance was testing on dry and wet conditions and the dirt track test for its durability and dust intrusion.

The 1.6-litre seven-seater Exora took the different road surfaces well but the body roll through the cone courses was a tad too significant - don't forget that the car was transporting six passengers including the driver.
Being shown the Exora under these extreme conditions was interesting, as it was my first time at a car manufacturer's test track facility afterall. It was a pity we could not get to try a Lotus on this test track - that would have been a real deal-sweetener!

Credits: Story by Cheryl Tay Photos by Cheryl Tay and Proton