Fast Facts: Proton X50 (Finally) Launched in Malaysia

The wait is finally over. After countless rounds of teasing, reporting, and speculating (there were quarters who guessed that the car will be named SX11, but that’s only the internal code name) the Proton X50 is finally out.

It had a preview in Tanjung Malim and a test drive session in Sepang before it was launched online. The public’s guess was as good as the motoring media in this case, all the “first-hand” or “leaked” prices were proved to be wrong. 

With its flagship model (aptly named Flagship) priced higher than the entry-level Proton X70, it’s interesting to see what Proton has stuffed into the Proton X50 to justify that price tag.

What’s Outside?

Like its big brother Proton X70, the X50 has several exterior changes to mark itself apart from its Chinese twin. The Expanding Cosmos on Geely Binyue’s grille has been replaced by Proton's Infinite Weave styling. Cradling the latter is an Ethereal Bow (in Proton’s words) with red lining. 

Proton’s new circular badge, first seen on the revised Proton X70 with DCT, is used on the X50 as well. The logo is also found on the wheels, which are 17 inches on the Standard and Executive variant and 18 inches on the Premium and Flagship version. 

• LED tail lights 

• Rear roof-mounted spoilers 

• Quad tailpipes (real functioning ones!!) 

• Full LED Headlights (Executive, Premium and Flagship gets auto function) 

• Dual-tone Exterior 

• 6 Colours: Snow White, Armor Silver, Ocean Blue, Jet Grey, Citric Orange, Passion Red

What’s Inside? According to design chief Encik Azlan Othman, the interior of the Proton X50 is inspired by fighter jets, which is evident on the jet-engine like air-conditioning vents. Apart from the Standard variant, all 3 other variants are clad with leather, including the steering wheel. The Premium and Flagship variant comes in dual-tone black and red with a six-way powered driver seat and a red dashboard top. Standard interior fittings include:

• Flat-bottomed steering wheel

• Pistol-style electronic gear lever

• Rear air-con vents 

• N95 cabin air filter 

• Always-on connectivity (1GB/month for 5 years) 

The GKUI 19 system on the Proton X50 has a cleaner tile-based layout. It’s also more responsive thanks to a 64-bit quad-core processor with a dedicated graphics processing unit. Although it doesn’t offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, it comes with Joox, Alibaba AutoNavi as well as QDLink smartphone mirroring. The familiar “Hi Proton” function has a wider range of function in the Premium and Flagship variant that includes opening of windows and remote engine start.   How Fast? The Proton X50 is available with a 1.5-liter turbocharged 3 cylinder engine. It comes in 2 states of tune, the bottom 3 variants come with port fuel injection, while the Flagship version has its fuel injected directly into the combustion chamber. 

The 7-speed DCT is the one found in the revised Proton X70. Tunings were made to suit the weight and output of the X50. According to Proton, it was also tuned to suit Malaysian driving conditions and preferences.  The conversion from LHD to RHD is not as simple as it seems, more than 400 parts were changed for the localisation process, also the suspension has been tuned to be more pliant for Malaysian road conditions. 

How Safe? Apart from the Standard variant, the Proton X50 comes with 6 airbags as standard. Tyre pressure monitoring system and 360-degree monitor are only available in the Premium and Flagship variants.  The key-selling point of the Proton X50 is its level 2 autonomous driving system, which is one notch above its elder brother the Proton X70. Aided by radar and hi-def cameras, the car is able to accelerate, brake and steer the car without the driver’s input. The L2 driving system has the following functions:

• Intelligent Cruise Control (level two)

• Auto park assist with support for both parallel and perpendicular parking (level two)

• Adaptive cruise control with stop-go functionality

• Lane keep assist

• Lane departure warning

• Blind-spot information system

• Intelligent high beam control

• Autonomous emergency braking

• Forward Collision Warning

How Much? The Proton X50 starts at RM79,200 for the Standard variant, RM84,800 for the Executive. RM93,200 for the Premium and RM103,300 for the Flagship. Prices are inclusive of sales tax exemptions, and are applicable until 31 December 2020.  The Proton X50 will be offered with interest rates from 2.22%p.a., first 30,000 bookings before 31st of December will receive a five-time free labour service package.