PROTON GOES DOWN THE GREEN ROUTE.

STAFFS. ROAD TEST – PROTON GEN2 EcoLogic
THE price of fuel might be coming down - for now – but motorists are still concerned about running costs might be tempted by a new version from Proton that works on both unleaded and LPG.
The crucial thing about this car and the element that might make it work is that there is no price premium for having the duel-fuel option. Traditionally manufacturers have charged such a premium that you would have to do a lot of miles to recoup the cost. With the ecoLogic, as it is called, there is absolutely no price difference between it and the conventional car.
The only downside is that the tank takes up a bit of room in the boot with the floor being raised by a few inches and the spare tyre installation is a bit messy. Staffordshire Proton dealer, Platts of Stoke on Trent, will instead offer a tyre inflation kit.
The car starts by using petrol but then quickly reverts to LPG mode, after about 20 seconds. The driver can switch manually between the two via a little button on the centre console where an LED display also shows how much fuel there is left. Should the LPG tank run dry the Proton will instantly switch over to unleaded.
As an aside, North Staffs just happens to be something of a hot spot for LPG filling stations so there should be no trouble filling up locally and even nationally it is not a huge problem with more than 1,400 stations around the country.
The benefits of LPG are clear – it costs half as much as unleaded which is a factor and because it is a bit cleaner there is a slight reduction, of around £20 a year, in annual road tax. In driving terms there is no difference, in practical terms. A real expert might notice a tiny drop in power and LPG gives slightly worse mpg than unleaded because it has less energy than petrol.
The transition between petrol and LPG is done automatically and smoothly so to all intents and purposes you might as well be driving a normal car.
Elsewhere, I still think that the Gen-2 is one of the motor industry’s better kept secrets. The Lotus-developed chassis rides nicely and the car steers and handles well, the finish is generally good and now that the interior has been improved, this pretty little hatchback (or its Persona-saloon stablemate) deserves a bit more recognition.
Proton could be on to something here. Several manufacturers have offered dual-fuel cars before but have charged too much for them. With no price difference between this and single-fuel versions, it means that drivers can start to save the first time they fill up.
A final clincher is the residual value which at the moment is currently running around seven per cent higher for the LPG versions.
On a lot of fronts the Proton EcoLogic makes financial sense.
Our thanks to Staffordshire Proton dealers, Platts of Stoke on Trent, for the loan of the car used in the test.