PROTON dishes up a fresh new light-car serve with its all-new Satria Neo three-door coupe. Backed up by claims of vastly improved quality, greater body strength and much higher safety levels, the new Proton is a good-looking, Barina-size hatch that offers comfort for at least two and presents a level of handling finesse rare in this price category thanks to the company’s associations with Lotus. The good looks are backed up by a better-presented interior with a degree of tactility to the controls that unfortunately doesn’t go past a certain superficiality. Hard plastics and silver paint abound. Headroom doesn’t though, and while the driver’s seat is height-adjustable, the steering wheel moves up or down only to compromise the driving position for taller people. The 1.6-litre DOHC Proton engine is lively enough but does nothing special even if 95 RON fuel is recommended. The ride-handling compromise might be among the best in class, but that’s about it.