1998 - 2005 Proton Satria GTI - The Hot Hatch That Time (and Everyone Else) Forgot 

CarVertical: The History Checking Service Use this link or code "JAYEMM" for a discount! www.carvertical.com/gb/landing/v3?b=1e4c9523&a=JayEmm&voucher=jayemm&chan=jayemm

This video is about to go viral....in Malaysia 😊

I had a 2010 Proton Neo with the 1.6 Twin Cam which was 1 year old when I bought it, it was a fabulous car. It handled like a dream, was comfortable and had super cold air-con. I’ve been to Malaysia many times and the taxis are always Proton, and back in the 90s virtually all cars were Proton. I like them a lot, they are well built cars. Malaysia has something the UK lost.. a pride in their national car brand.

I'm a proud owner of Proton Satria GTI back in 2002. I had converted the engine to 4G63T Evo III slight tuned engine marked at 300hp and full time 4wd. Pleasant torque & speed and handling was superb ❤ Painted the car with mix color code Ferrari Red and Mistubishi Red. The color turns out outstanding ❤❤ and i changed the wheels as well 17 inch 5Zigen Heidfeld Gold pretty rare to get those rims back then. Upgraded the suspension with fully adjustable soft/hard Gab suspension which quite stiff but suit my younger days purpose 😅 Had a great time with my Proton Satria GTI 4G63T and thanks for the lovely memories ❤❤🔥🔥🇲🇾👍

Great to see a video on the Proton GTI! I had forgotten it was called a Satrie GTI - always think of it as the Proton GTI. I've always been interested in these on account of having a flavour of a Saxo VTS in the styling, Lotus handling and the Mitsubishi Colt underpinnings. I went on to run a later Colt Ralliart for ten years and miss that car. Perhaps the Proton is a worthy replacement!

the steering should have no bussiness whatsoever being that loose. there might be a problem with the mounting bushes and/or tie rod (inner/ends). it's an over 20 years old car after all..i have both a Gti and base model satria and even that have more direct steering feel than this one. nevertheless what a fine example you got. cant believe there's still good ones like this in the UK. great and unbiased review as always Jay. glad that you find it likeable

I'm in Australia and I had a Peugeot 206 GTi in the mid 2000s. Similar power to the Satria. It was a source of annoyance to me that the Protons held their value better than my Pug!

What a blast from the past, my best friend had this car back in the early 2000's, we use to go on car cruises together and once we raced another friend in his Nissan R33 GTST? on the local twisties and the Nissan could not keep up with the Proton. It had really cool seats as well from what I remember.

This Satria had arguably coming from the best era of Proton, in my Malaysian opinion. However, back home like the Putra and Arena this was priced a lot higher than the Lancer-derived Wira. Despite this it still sold relatively well for a car with only two doors. Today it’s still a bargain second-hand purchase and it often had a 1.3L 4G13 base engine found in many Proton cars. Then there’s the Satria NEO which uh, I’m sure you already know of. Not a lot of people enjoyed the CAMPRO engine which abandoned the Mitsubishi heritage.

We got these in Australia. They were a great little genuinely quick hot hatch for their time. But to put this car into perspective considering it’s basically a Mitsubishi clone; we also got a handful of MIVEC engined Mitsubishi Mirages which had preceded this by quite a few years, and were another level again in performance. It’s a pity they were “Japan only” models brought over specifically for racing. They were like Honda Civic spoon engined cars.

I had one 5 years ago, handling is spot on, decent mid range grunt but they do feel very strangled at high revs. One thing I really liked was how good the instrument cluster looked when it was illuminated at night

I remember there was a Satria GTi living nearby when I was a teenager and I did think it was a seriously cool little car. I really like the looks; it looks proper for a hot-hatch of the era. Glad to see one on the channel as I still have a sort spot for it.

Were somewhat popular here in AU, and yes based on the lancer/mirage badging over here. The plastic flares were the bomb! Had a friend who modified one and set of headers helped the top end a bit. Popular to get the 4g93 upgrade from the CC GSR lancer or the big boy 4g63 from an evo conversion back in the day. THere was also a MIVEC (mitsi's VTEC) swap option. Also shared commonality with the proton Jumbuck - a small ute variant

If you ever come to Malaysia you should definitely try and get your hands to sampling stuff like the Neo R3, GTI R3 and so on. Not much English reviews on them either

There is a limited R3 version of this car that is under 1000kg with a lot of carbon parts and welded chasis. This car has a lot of mod potential for handling and even keeping the 4g93 in NA form. a total track beast. Nowadays if you own one in malaysia regardless if it's stock configuration or modified, they are stressful to own because people will steal the car. So driving it out and parking it will just fill you with endless worries.

The contemporary Golf GTi would have come in a few flavours around this time. 2.0 8v(!) n/a 115bhp, 1.8 20v n/a 125bhp, 1.8 20v turbo 150bhp and 1.8 20v 180bhp. The Proton was certainly up there in terms of power when compared to the Golf.

I drove one of these many many years ago - I don't remember the steering being quite as bad as you demonstrated, or even close. Maybe its rose coloured specs tinting my memory but at the time I was driving a 205 GTI and I don't remember the steering offending me THAT much compared to a 205, is the owner sure the steering is ok? I live rurally myself so I drove it on country roads very similar to the ones you're on in this video and to my (admittedly vague) recollection the car seemed very responsive steeringwise.

Can't say it's forgotten here in Germany, but just unknown. I guess because they didn't sell it outside of the UK i assume? I can't even find one on the biggest German Marketplace. That said, it's always fun to learn about Cars that i never heard of. Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps

This was my first car after i got my drivers license. Absolutely loved it! Had to sell if off unfortunately as i got into alot of trouble with the Malaysian police whilst driving this car. They would try to find any kind of fault with a young kid driving the GTI. The moment i switched to a honda accord, the problems with the police stopped lol.

As a young lad growing up in Malaysia during the early 2000's , I can say the Satria GTI is one of my dream cars to ever own. It has that aura about it, the same way young people craved for a Supra or a Skyline R34 or even a Honda Civic type R back in the day, and even until now. I had own a basic 1.3 liter Satria with a 4G13 engine before (2nd hand) , but have to part ways with it because it was too much gone to be restored. However , I can tell you that the basic Satria is no where near the pedigree of a Satria GTI, because the GTI was simply made better. If anyone in the European region want to find parts for the Satria, try to look for parts in the Malaysian market, we still have a scene for them here, and it is still one of the most popular car for young people , and even a popular choice for entry level racing car.

Actually there were only 3 good Protons and they all had the same 4G93 in them. The 2 door Satria GTi, the 2 door Putra coupe and the 4 door 1.8 Wira with the mitsubishi evo1 rear wing.

Perfect start to the weekend with a JayEmm upload !

I lived in Malaysia in the late 90s- mid 2000s, this car was so lustworthy :D An honorable mention is the Perdana V6, a very decent saloon

These cars were quite popular in Australia in the early 2000's 👍 They have that lovely torquey 4G Mitsubishi engine. Completely the opposite of the high revving Hondas 😆 European hot hatches were much more expensive locally....

I had one of these in Sydney, brand new in 2001 it cost $30K. It was a great first motor! Had it for five year and enjoyed every minute of it. I sold it for $10K and then got a Ford XR6T Ute.

I owned a Proton Impian for several years and it was great. So no, not the only good Proton!

Im very happy that Proton cars such as this get international recognition. Epic My uncle used to drive this car,but switched to a Honda City some years or months later. Good memories

From where I'm from, these little hatchbacks gave the community to explore themselves into multiple racing scenes; from circuit racers, cross-country, mountain-touge enthusiast, highway racers to your typical Uncle's car., usually the typical Black Sheep of the family. It's a bit unfortunate for what happen when these got exported for the EU market. I still don't think it's worth for the price for performance but with it being a quirky oddity with low surviving units around, it does make sense I guess. We had an abundant of early gen Satria's and it was affordable back then. They would often be reborn with Lancer engines, ie the Mivec of the same period or received a full engine swap with the 4G6x engines from Mitsubishi (early Lancer Evo's, Mitsubishi SUV & trucks). These were really affordable and has a healthy modification scene for it to this day. For what it was here, it left a good legacy and gave everyone's their first when it came out, especially it was locally made. Thank you for making these reviews❤

In New Zealand we did get the Sedan or coupe Lancer with the 1.8L engine. I assume it's a similar sort of situation. We also got the Mirage Cyborg which had a 1.6L with 170hp though it never lived up to the reputation of the Levin, Civic and Pulsar for some reason.

Regarding the "Handling by Lotus" badge, apparently the parts that were changed over from the regular satria to the GTi share part numbers with the Evo 3 meaning that lotus had nothing to do with them. Was essentially just a marketing exercise by proton saying "Hey, we own lotus by the way".

Whenever I go to Malaysia I see these with turbo mitsu swaps. Some actually look cool.

Get ready for an influx of Malaysian commenters. It seems the Satria GTI really hit the sweet spot everywhere. A pity they didn't make a follow up Satria GTI based on the Satria Neo model.

The later Lotus-fettled Satria Neo seems to be also forgotten as if someone actually went and erased its existence from history.

*Fellow Malaysian, Our National Car Brand has been recognized.*

I do remember there being a buzz around these cars at the time and the comparisons to cars like the 106 GTI you mentioned. It's great to see that the owner of this rare car has been sympathetic with regard to keeping it going and in near factory condition. The built in sneeze factor in the steering may not be all that uncommon for the period. I know that like the Ford Ka we had years ago for example had very quick steering but my mk1 Mégane coupe is eager enough to change direction and grips well but does seem to require a bit more steering input than my modem daily, I'm not sure if that's down to.the rack or simply a slightly larger diameter steering wheel.

The main reason to buy one 5 years ago was price, I used to see decent examples with MOT advertised for 500 pounds in the UK owner's group, similar prices or less here in Australia. They've really shot up in the last year though, one in rough shape sold for close to 20K AUD a few months back.

These were very popular in Australia. Many were used as cop cars for pursuit. They also had square or triangular tailpipes - can't remember which. But they were always misaligned!

Engine was from a Mitsubishi Lancer GSR without the Turbo and it only came in silver. This engine was a good option because it meant the engine was designed for a lot more power than it had and was very robust. In Australia it came standard with a Blaupunkt stereo that could be heard from a suburb away if you cranked it up 😄 In Australia Proton really tried to sell the car and it was priced competitively at $28k which was cheaper than the VTEC Civic (which looked great on the exterior but had a bland shopping cart interior) and it was cheaper than the Peugeot 206 GTi (which looked svelte and French on the exterior but poorly made on the interior and lacking those Recaro seats) I can remember that when I had a problem with the stereo which they simply replaced and a week later they sent me a box with a key ring, watch and sunglasses all branded with the GTi logo and of decent quality. One year later at the Sydney Motor Show when I told the salesman I had one he immediately went away and excitedly showed me the new front badge for the car which had a lion rather then the more prosaic star logo mine came with. When I said I liked it, he simply gave it to me for free. The exhaust that it came with was poorly engineered and sounded uninspiring. However, if you fitted a custom exhaust with redesigned headers the exhaust freed up some mid range torque and power and added some lovely noise. Plus with a custom exhaust you got rid of those horrible square exhaust tips. Fast 4s magazine in Australia did a special on the car where they fixed a number fo small things which dramatically improved the overall package. Copying their exhaust set up I fitted a nice system that was 2.5 inches the whole way, with rubber bushings on each bracket (front wheel drive motors move east west not north south so the exhaust can bang against mounting brackets the rubber bushings meant there was no metal on metal clanging), and a polished muffler in the back and two nice 2.5 pipes curving out on each side. It handled well but at the limit it was prone to transition without warning and I can remember it snapping from understeer to power oversteer without warning. Fitting adjustable sway bars and front strut brace helped to dial out some of snap transition once adjusted to your taste. Came with some of the best Michelin tyres I have ever had on a car but unfortunately their price come replacement time was well outside my budget. The Recaro seats were fantastic, however the silver middles were very easy to stain and once stained cleaning them was almost impossible so it was definitely a no eating car, plus it was my first introduction to metal gearknob and the pain these deliver to your hands when the car was parked outside on a hot Australian Summer. I had four years of reliable motoring with the car and the only negative was the brand saw people turn up their nose, but it invariably only took one drive in the car for them to change their mind and realise it was a good car that made you smile on an affordable budget

I had one of these! Great car, very light compared to the Corolla T-Sport I have now, and very reliable. I did 150k miles in it with no issues apart from the fuel pump. I don't know how many miles it had when I got rid of it as the odometer died but would have been around 230k. Was pretty worn out by then and it was rear-ended unfortunately so had to go. I never modified mine but there are options thanks to its Mitsubishi heritage, I think someone put early Evo mechanicals in theirs. They're a fun little warm hatch if you can still find one.

Yes Jay! An old friend of mine Rallies one of these here in Wales.

If my memory serves me correctly, Humberside Police had at least one as a 'pursuit' vehicle back around 1999/2000.

Always liked these gtis. My old man had a proton way back when and as i recall it was a decent motor.

I remember Tiff Needell testing this on Top Gear (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_06v4jgAUJk.html).

Satri in english meant knight for anyone wondering

They seemed to sell pretty well in Australia, but I've not seen one in years, was cheaper than the any gti car here at under 30k new. Now I'm going to look it up.

Good old Days when proton export their good car to the United Kingdom.

I'm thrilled to see your appreciation for Malaysia. As a proud Malaysian myself, I couldn't agree more. Proton is truly remarkable, with so much to offer.

Is this for sale?

In Melayu language (that is Malaysian and Indonesian), 'Satria' translates as 'Knight'. If I were a knight in shining armour driving a base Proton Satria (used as old ratty taxi here in Indonesia) to save a princess from a fire-breathing dragon, said princess would have sent me away in disgust and I would have needed a consultation and counseling with said fire-breathing dragon about how to cope with heartache and rejection. If it's this one, though, I would not mind a rejection. Looks like a pack of fun, the Satria GTi.

I've heard that a fair few of the GTi's in the UK have been converted to road or gravel rally cars.

My dad’s friend bought 2 of these brand new for racing, he took me for a ride on the racetrack, and it performed well against the more powerful cars. Loved them since.

I'd only recently learned about Proton, and I have to say they have some cool and interesting cars. Didn't know they were also sold in the UK, because they weren't sold anywhere else in Europe as far as I know

Its got that early 2000's GTA / Burnout unlicensed vehicle look

glad to see some people in the UK still appreciate this car.

A reason to buy one?: Being based on the 7th generation Mirage/Lancer platform, Lancer Evolution I,II,III mechanicals easily fit

I totally agree with your conclusion. Since when did us car people buy a car for logical reasons? Never! We buy cars that appeal to us in a primal way, even with and often despite the knowledge of the particular car's flaws and foibles.

There is a company in Malaysia that restore Satria GTI to factory condition and sell it. When it was introduced it was during the late 90's economic crisis and Proton wasn't sure if it will sell. Lotus badge aside people did buy it coz there was no hot hatch equivalent then. It was launched together with Proton Perdana V6 (a rebadged Mitsu Eterna) ang both were selling very well which caught Proton by surprise. It was Proton's first foray into hot hatch and mid size car with V6. Till now people are pinning for the return of Satria GTI but don't think it will happen as Proton is part owned by Geely now.

Thank you very much bro, the Satria GTI is a Malaysian Legend 😎

In Australia you still see these come up with 4G/Evo engines. Alway wanted one

Sorry to break it to you, this marvellous car is just a Mitsubishi with a good Mitsubishi 4G93 engine. I don't really know what part Proton allegedly "built" or "designed" except for slapping on their emblems and engine covers lol but just keep in mind anything created in Malaysia is anything but good or creative.

I had one of these back in yhe day. Great car and cheap .

Four of the most reliable cars I've owned since 1977 Mitsubishi Lancer and Colt Proton Emerald and concept

I remember in about 2005 a friend turned up on my doorstep in a Satria. Not a GTI. I rather likes it. The "bodykit" styling looked good. I still like the look of the car. The pea-shooter exhausts, though, not so much. Almost comical.

I wonder how a Mitsubishi Colt Gti 1992 would compare to this? I think it had about 138bhp.

Loved our little Satria, the wife's first car about 10 years ago. It drove really really well, felt a bit flimsy but never went wrong during 3 years of ownership.

I worked at a Fiat and Alfa dealer back in the 00s and we took on Proton and Ssangyong for our sins . The Proton Wira was dismal but I fondly remember running a Satria GTI as a demonstrator for a few months and it was an absolute hoot to drive . Great to see one on the road again

Too bad they don’t make this good hot hatch anymore.

I owned a 92 colt gti for 11 years, absolute fantastic car, bullet proof. The proton satria is a cloned colt gti. Same car. Lotus done the tracking, mitsi did everything else.😂

These look peak 90's basically a modernised but lower powered Colt Cyborg R . Also unfortunately Vauxhall/Opel are no longer GM they are Stellantis owned now so basically Peugeot's now.

Actually Opel is now owned by PSA (Peugeot) or “Stalantes” group what ever they call the PSA and Chrysler Fiat alliance thing

I think it still looks pretty good 👍

Not many left in UK now and i have one stashed away!

We never had much of a choice until this showed up in Malaysia. It was ‘affordable’ and ‘rather nippy’ …. The Lotus badge helped to push sales.

Top Gear did a great film featuring rally versions

Still one of my favourite cars ever made by Proton, alongside the Putra. It's a shame that we aren't seeing this kind of car anymore because most people prefer high-riding SUVs.

I have drive many cars. Japanese and Continental. From low to high end (other people cars of course). Satria Neo was the only car I wish I can drive again, the handling in country road was superb.

I owned a Satria Neo 1.6 Twin Cam, and it was far superior to the MG ZR that it replaced on my drive. They were both disapointing though, in comparison to the Golfs, Leon and S3 I had around the same time. Defo not worth 10k today, even for the Lotus engineered GTi. 2.5k maybe.

I used to own one in 2006, it was a fun car and one of the best ever. Had so much fun in it. I had mine lowered and the steering wheel is heavy when you driving slow and when you go fast the control is good 👍🏽 .. it’s also manuel car which is awesome , racing through traffic on the highway was fun but now you can’t because cameras everywhere

Satria Neo R3 Lotus Limited Edition comes with Lotus livery,carbon fiber hood & fender,shock system by Ohlins,Engine had been tuned for more performance,Brakes from AP Racing...so much goodies...u should try it...

Please keep this original stock car. The price went really high since there is rarely to find a stock GTi now in Malaysia. High price high risk to get stolen.

This and the mitsubishi cyborg 😮👍🏻

Lovely traditional looking car that, and was fairly successful in the clubmans rallying world too.

Another good proton would arguably be the impian, and it is a mishmash of interesting things. Lets see: -90s volvo S40 chassis -90s mitsubishi 4G engine -getrag 5speed manual -90s volkswagen jetta design inspiration Alot of 90s stuff… but released in the year 2000😅 But yeah, reliable engine, solid chassis, slick gearbox. All in a compact 4door sedan. Mine now lives with my aunt, so its still in the family i guess. 20 years old and 407,000km. Good car.

I don't trust proton satria chassis. It's not safe and fragile when collision accidents happen. It's a cheap car chassis bad quality build. Just buy another car bro like Vw scirocco is the best option considered cheaper than this fragile Satria so called "Gti"

Our 🇲🇾 favourite car... Thankx for review our great automotive memory.

Hey the proton perdana is also good, the 4g63 version. The v6 is also good tbh, but mechanics just suck at fixing transverse v6 in general, or just hate doing it so they charge much more.

Great review - I remember these in this era I ended up with a 206 GTi that you mentioned (and later px'd that for my CTR)

I believe our funny little city had something of this sort frequent our streets, a substantial amount of time ago 😄

it’s hard to find GTI fully original state nowadays..🙌👍..and there’s 1 more proton car that hard to find nowsday is proton PUTRA

produk proton paling aku minat gila smpi skrg satria gti selain proton putra..

I own one of these babies here in Queensland Australia. They're a great fun hot hatch that no body knows about.

The steering is typical 90s mid 2000s non Evo Mitsubishi!

haha "colt classic"

I remember almost a decade ago, my best mate managed to find a W Reg Proton Satria GTI for £1500. He wasn't a petrolhead and was offered it to him by his mechanic friend who was in need of cash. Back then I had a Gen 7 Celica 190 and I found the Satria to be quite the fun nippy car in the back roads of Dorset. Wasn't far behind in terms of real world performance to my Celica, given that the Celica was quite lardy in comparison and you really needed to keep it in its powerband. He foolishly sold it to get a Mk V Golf 1.4 TSI

This is our proud and joy as Malaysia when it was first release in 1998. Lotus ride and handling does the wonders!

I don't know if anyone notices this - GTi's silver is a different kind of silver that I've never seen other manufacturer did. It has this warm tint to it with this sort of bronze sheen. The nicer silver on a car like if you see certain reds on the road that are beautiful to look at.

I've seen a handful in my life. There are some still around here in South Africa

Jubilee anniversary🎉🎉 Congrate Proton .. Satria GTI is a hot hatchback in Malaysia....210kmh...whoaaa powerful...excellente.Supremo. BELLISSIMO!!😂😂

It's a Mitsubishi Colt with a Proton Sticker on the bonnet. Pros: Low center of gravity, light-weight car with big engine bay, manual gear Cons: Front-wheel drive, comes with the weakest stock engine in the world

Loads of these on Irish roads from the early 00s until a few years ago. We all loved them as teenagers because you could insure it as a normal starlet and get away with it 😅