About Proton Waja

The Proton Waja is a saloon car designed in-house by Malaysian automotive company, Proton, first released in August 2000. The Waja is the first Malaysian-designed car. The name Waja, which means "tough (as steel)", reflects the strength of the steel used for the Waja compared with the previous models. The name was chosen partly to counter the perception in the domestic market that Proton cars were less strong.[citation needed] In the United Kingdom, the Waja is sold as Proton Impian, "Impian" being another derivative of the Malay language, meaning "dream".

Performance

In its initial years in the market, the Waja was originally powered by a Mitsubishi 4G18 SOHC 1.6 L engine. Also made standard since the introduction of the Waja are multi-point fuel injection and brake configuration (front ventilated disc brakes and rear disc brake). All Wajas (excluding the Waja Chancellor) are also available in both manual (5 speed) or automatic transmissions (4 speed).

In 2002, the 1.8 L variant was introduced, powered by the same engine used in Renault Laguna II. The 1.8 L model incorporated drive-by-wire technology and variable valve timing (VVT) technology. However, the 1.8 L model suffered from poor sales because Malaysian customers were more familiar with Japanese engines and were less confident with European engines. As a result, the 1.8 L variant was phased out in the following year.

By January 2006, the Cam pro engine was finally used to power the Waja. Although the engine is similar to the engine used in the Proton Gen-2, the DOHC Cam pro engine used in the Waja has higher power and torque, probably due to the remapping of the ECU and also a different air intake system. The 2008 Proton Waja is now powered with a Cam pro CPS engine with variable valve timing, which was not available in the previous Waja Cam pro models.

The Waja Chancellor, which launched 2006, featured a longer wheelbase and was powered by a Mitsubishi 6A12 2.0 L V6 engine similar to that used in Proton Perdana V6, also sourced from Mitsubishi. The car is also available only with a 4-speed automatic transmission.