Now that Proton’s first-ever SUV has finally
received its name, the question on the minds of most Malaysians is why the
model is being called the X70. The national carmaker previously organised an online
poll inviting the public to vote for the name of the Geely Boyue-based model.
At the time, four choices were available – X7, PX7, X70 or X700.
During this morning’s media preview of the X70, it
was revealed that almost 90,000 people took part in the poll, of which 60% voted
for X70. The fact that the name won by a majority isn’t just a demonstration of
democracy in action either.
The new model will be sold through qualified Proton
sales outlets only, and bookings can be made beginning September 8, 2018, with
a deposit of RM 1,000. To start, there will be four variants on offer, starting with the
base Standard 2WD, Executive 2WD, Executive AWD and Premium 2WD. All variants
will feature a 1.8 litre TGDi turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine
producing 181 hp and 285 Nm of torque.
Design-wise, it’s pretty much the same as we’ve come
to expect, seeing the number of times the X70 has been leaked. Up front, it
gets a unique winged grille design with three horizontal bars that converge
into the Proton badge, and the entire piece is encased in thick chrome
surrounds. Very little cosmetic changes have actually been made, because the
bulk of work has been to convert it from left-hand drive to right-hand drive –
the Boyue is the first Geely model to be converted to RHD.
For now, the X70 gets keyless entry (with active
touch sensors on the front door handles) with push-start, electrically foldable
wing mirrors, LED projector headlights with LED DRLs, LED fog lamps, 18-inch
alloy wheels with Hankook Dynapro HP2 (225/60 R18) tyres, and dark-tinted LED
tail lights. As with all recent Proton models, both the head- and tail-lights
feature Proton lettering.
Inside, things remain fairly similar to the
Geely Boyue facelift, on which the X70 is based on. There’s brown Nappa leather
on the seats, door card inserts and steering wheel (on the Premium model, Exec
get black synthetic leather), automatic dual-zone climate control and a
widescreen 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system (1,920 x 720 pixels) with
4G connectivity. Auto headlights and wipers are also on. There’s also voice recognition support as well as a fully-digital and configurable instrument panel. Also on are the “Smartphone Remote Control” and
“Smart Air Purifier” features, the latter in reference to the “Air Cleaner”
system that can be found above the rear air-con vent between the front seats. A
tyre pressure monitoring system is also on the equipment list, and safety kit
will include six airbags.
