Proton Satria Neo Turbo

Satria Katana

When Proton decided to build her own engine, one thing that interest me is it generally have the same
mounting point like a Mitsubishi engine

Why a lot of people love Japanese cars? As I borrow the words of Paul Walker from the Fast and the
Furious movie franchise, he said that Japanese cars are like Lego bricks. It is not over engineered thus
making it easily customizable. I have to agree with his statement, especially this guy have a large
collection of Japanese cars in his garage.

It is a blessing that Proton, our first Malaysian car brand made Mitsubishi as its technical partner.
Mitsubishi produces a huge range of engine from tiny K-Kar engine to huge turbo diesel engine for
trucks and Proton are able to tap into their engine warehouse. If you guys remember, the early
generation Proton, especially from the 1990s is recipients of many types of Mitsubishi engines. Proton
cars at that era was powered by the 4G13 and 15 engines, the new 4G92 and 93 series and even the
4G63 for the first gen Perdana which of course later received the 6A12 V6 engine. Heck, Proton even
gets a diesel engine for the short lived Wira Diesel model!

When Proton decided to build her own engine, one thing that interest me is it generally have the same
mounting point like a Mitsubishi engine. This advantage is taken by those who loves a Proton car, but
not with her Campro engine.

Just look at this insane looking Satria Neo which doesnt surprise me when I saw a Mitsubishi engine
residing in her engine bar instead of a Campro engine. The engine of choice is the 4G93 turbo GDI
engine that came from a Lancer GSR front clip. This Jap spec engine has a displacement of 1800cc which
complies with local law that prohibits all Proton cars, other than Perdana not to have engine bigger than
1800cc.

This engine might not as powerful as the 4G63 engine, but hey, like the Malay proverb kalau tiada
rotan, akar pun berguna, we have to make do of what is available (in this case, what is legal). To extract
more power from this small engine, the cylinder head is replaced with the cylinder head salvaged from a
4G92 MIVEC RS engine which gave this engine variable valve timing capabilities. The head is ported and
polished and put on the shelve as the work on the engine block is still ongoing.

The engine block saw significant upgrade as all factory pistons are replaced with a set of Wiseco 82mm
pistons with Duratec conrods. The main engine bearings are replaced with ACL Race bearings. The
MIVEC cylinder head that Ive mentioned earlier is then attached to the engine block and tightened into
place by ARP studs. The engine pulleys are also being upgraded with ZerOne lightened pulleys.

Next in the upgrade list is off course the turbocharger. The 4G93 engine is supplied with a TD04 turbine
which is rather small and rather useless to make huge leaps in horsepower. That is the main reason that
it is replaced with a Garret GT30BB turbocharger mounted to the engine on custom manifold made by
Tonnka. The turbine is the attached with a Tial 38mm external wastegate to regulate boost level and
cooling it is the job of a front mount Evo VIII intercooler. Hot exhaust gasses exits the engine through
custom made 3 inch exhaust pipe and a Blitz Nur Spec muffler.

Custom stainless steel pipes are use to mate the turbo with the intercooler and also the oversized
Super90 throttle body. The stainless steel pipe is also the perfect place to mount a GReddy Type-R blow-
off valve. The intake manifold has been replaced with Velocity manifold which works really well with the
oversized throttle body. Walbro fuel pump supplies fuel to engine which flows through a Velocity fuel
rail with pressure regulated by a Turbosmart fuel regulator and squirted into the combustion chamber
by FIC 850cc injectors.

Engine cooling is the responsibility of a Mines aluminum radiator and Works water reservoir tank. The
engine management is now handled by a Haltech Sprint 500 programmable ECU with all the ignition
coils being replaced with MSD coils. Boost is controlled by a HKS EVC V electronic boost controller which
is tuned in tandem with the programmable ECU.

Power is transferred through the front wheel and that put a lot of burden to the gearbox and clutch. The
original 4WD gearbox is ditched in favour of a 2WD gearbox from a Mitsubishi FTO. The gear ratio is the
customized to suit the power band of a turbocharged engine which gave this Neo break neck
acceleration and decent top speed. The clutch is a set of Quarter Master twin plate clutch that eliminate
slip during hard acceleration.

Controlling this beast out of hell is a set of fully adjustable HWL shock absorbers which is tuned for
maximum control over the tarmac. The brakes are upgraded with OEM Evo III twin pot brakes at the
front with the stock Neo disc maintained at the rear. Gluing the car on the hot asphalt is a set of Dunlop
FM901 205/50 which sits on Volk Racing TE37 16 inch alloys.

Enhancing the look of this Neo is a set of Neo R3 Concept bodykit inspired by the bodykit used by Proton
R3 Division for their concept vehicle. This bodykit gave a no holds barred look to the front mount
intercooler which gave the dont mess with me look for other drivers on the road. The bodykit is
further enhanced with the addition of carbon fibre front hood and rear spoiler. A Honda EG6 sunroof is
also added to give this Neo some JDM treatment.

The inner sanctuary of this Neo is pretty much close to standard with the only notable upgrades done is
to the front seats which now has a pair of SSCUS buckets and a Momo Race steering wheel. Additional
gauges used are a Pivot tachometer, an APEXi RSM and Defi gauges.

I think Mr. Paul Walker should consider a Satria Neo as one of his collection. This Lego brick from
Malaysia is the perfect complement for his collection of Skyline and Supra, dont you think?