Penang Proton One-Tank Challenge Sees Winning S70 Sip Just 3.48 Litres/100 KM!

Proton recently conducted another round of its famed 'One-Tank Challenge' in Penang last weekend where it placed the spotlight on its S70 sedan offering.

In conjunction with its official announcement as title sponsors for the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2025, national automaker Proton recently held its ‘Penang PROTON One Tank Challenge’ fuel efficiency contest last weekend on Oct 11.

Held as part of the district level Hari Sukan Negara celebrations for Daerah Seberang Perai Tengah, it saw 33 eager competitors participating with their very own Proton S70 sedans. Proton had elected to showcase its C-segment sedan offering through this challenge.

Speaking of, a brand new S70 is up for grabs as the lucky draw grand prize of the aforementioned PBIM 2025 run. Said annual marathon across Penang state’s landmark bridge takes place later this year on Dec 15.

A total of 33 eager participants took part in this round, and they were tasked with covering a 'scenic' 110 KM route traversing both the island and mainland, plus travelling across both the state's landmark bridges.

Back to the fuel efficiency challenge mentioned, participants were tasked to complete a ‘scenic’ 110 KM route that charted across the both Penang island and mainland. This also meant competitors had to traverse both of the island state’s landmark bridges.

The challenge was flagged off at Setia Sentral Juru by YB Wong Hon Wai, Penang EXCO for Tourism and Creative Economy and Penang state assemblyman for Paya Terubong, at 8AM. This fuel efficiency contest was slated to run until its cut-off time of 2PM.

At the start of this challenge, competitors were allowed to fill the tanks in their S70s to the brim before their fuel flaps were sealed by officials to ensure fair contest. Like any fuel efficiency challenge, this was a true test of the participating owners, specifically in their ‘hypermiling’ skills.

All participants -and winners - posing for photos with their prize monies after the challenge concluded.

The ultimate winner was the driver who logs the lowest fuel consumption (litres/100 KM). This was calculated precisely by the amount of fuel required to top up the tank upon their return.

In addition to the top fuel economy prize, awards were also presented for best social media engagement (displaying moments with the Proton S70). There was even a colouring contest for young family members of competitors.

Abu Bakar Bin Mohd Yusoff receives his prize from Proton's Acting Deputy Head of Marketing Communications Zulfakar Bin Mohamad Jamil.

By event’s end, it was Abu Bakar Bin Mohd Yusoff who emerged as the winner after achieving a highly frugal fuel economy reading of 3.48 litres/100 KM. For reference, Proton’s official fuel economy average claim for the S70 stood at 6.2 litres/100 KM.

Abu Bakar’s winning hypermiling effort, which saw him win RM1,000 in prize money, also equated to an impressive average consumption rate of 31.61 KM/litre, giving him a theoretical maximum travel range of 1,580 KM from the S70’s 50-litre tank.

The Proton S70 in range-topping Flaghsip X variant as featured in our in-depth review. Proton officially claims the S70 will sip as low as 6.2 litres/100 KM, but all three winners had beaten said figure substantially.

Placing second was Muhammad Syamim Bin Omar Farook who logged in an average of 3.98 litres/100 KM to win RM800 in prize money, whilst Mohd Aliff Bin Sani placed third to claim RM600 in prize money with his average of 4.40 litres/100 KM.

It’s worth highlighting that all three winners logged averages well below Proton’s aforementioned official claim. In turn, this perhaps stands as a solid reflection of the S70 sedan’s true ability at being a highly efficient sedan when in the right hands.

Four variants of the Proton S70 are on sale now priced from RM73,800 onwards.

As a refresher, the Proton S70 was launched back in Nov 2023 with four variants on offer priced from RM73,800 onwards, all harnessing the same 1.5-litre 3-cyl turbo petrol heart and 7-speed DCT automatic powertrain combination offering 148 hp and 226 Nm outputs.

We’ve also sampled the S70 in range-topping Flagship X form not too long ago where we hailed it as a true bargain hero. You can get to grips with the S70 through our in-depth test-drive report by clicking here, or through our feature review video embedded below.