1998 Proton Tiara GL 1.1 review from Malaysia

Left-front window would not close properly.

Seat height adjuster lever broken after one year.

Some lamp fuses were loose and had to be tightened.

Left drive-shaft seal broken at 30,000 km.

Like so many who have put their comments about this car here, the Proton Tiara (Citroen AX) is a really great car that has had a bad reputation even before it was launched. All the bad hype can be contributed to the Japanese-based car industry here in Malaysia as well as the competition.

Ride-comfort and performance earns my best remarks for this compact wonder. It's 1.1L engine by Citroen churns out almost the same amount of power as those used by Proton Iswara 1.3L. The standard Tiara only needs a little modifications to go that extra mile eg. good spark plugs, a heat-sheild for the air intake, and better tyres than the standard 13" ones. I managed to find an AX 14" rims and it has done a great deal of difference. For enthusiasts, you can try sourcing a AX 1.4L GLi engine that can churn out a whopping 100hp that will give you 0-100km/h around 8 seconds.

I travel a lot and that's a big reason why I bought this car. The car is very steady and comfortable. Cabin noise is also very low and is an ideal car for audio enthusiasts. Fuel consumption is at an acceptable level.

For those who are interested to make this car go faster, you'll need to invest a lot of money and time looking for rare parts, mostly from the UK of France.

Maintenance is easy and still within the affordable range. As for spare parts, you'll need to find a friendly mechanics who can source cheaper parts for this car.

My biggest disappointment is the amount of commitment shown by Proton. The after-sales services was pathetic. Not only did they abruptly discontinue its production, even spare parts were not made accessible. The lack of sales of the Tiara is so much the fault of Proton as they did not address a lot of demands i.e. four knuckles on the wheels, tachometer etc. Worst of all, their irresponsible decisions have left more than 30,000 Tiara owners in Malaysia frustrated about the drastic depreciation of its re-sale value.

All said, the drop in price makes the Tiara more accessible to the lower-income range. The Tiara is a great car and even after what I've said, I have no regrets about the car. I have plenty of fond memories with that tough hot-hatch!