A quick glance at the Red Book used car guide confirmed my suspicions: Proton's S16 is, for the money, one hell of a car. In 1992, almost 20 years ago, Holden were selling the 1.3 litre Barina for $11,990, plus on roads, plus extras. That was the three door. The five door was a tad over $14,000. Proton is now selling it's 1.3 litre S16 G four door for $11,990.

 

Today, the four-door Malaysian-built 1.6 litre Proton S16 GX sells for $12,990 drive away. Given the rise in our wages in that period the Proton represents incredible value-for-money. It puts the A back into Affordable. So, what's it like to drive? In a lot of ways it's like stepping back to the Barina example. It is basic motoring. The engine is noisy, the five speed gearbox a little notchy, it's no Lotus when it comes to handling, the plastics are cheapish and there's not even a vanity mirror on either sun visor.

 

But, do you know what? On the way to the Gold Coast Airport this week I passed a woman driving a Mercedes Benz E55 AMG. Like any other premium car owner she would have dropped more than the S16 is worth the moment the Mercedes was driven from the showroom. Let's face it, at $12,990 all up you will never have to worry about devaluation on the S16. The other aspect we like is the three year, unlimited kilometre warranty. Flick the car after two years and buy another one leaving the new owner with 12 months to run on the warranty. Easy, and giving the second owner 12 months warranty should ensure a reasonable sale price.

 

Firstly, the list of what the S16 GX manual hasn't got. We've already mentioned vanity mirrors and to that add cruise control, driver's foot rest, padded arm rests, no 60/40 split rear seat or interior access to the boot. It's a five seater but the rear seat centre passenger only gets a lap belt and no headrest. The external rear vision mirrors are operated manually, as are the windows on the rear doors. There's no ABS brakes or the crash-saving Electronic Stability Program.

 

What the S16 does offer is a willing 1.6 litre four cylinder engine that cheerfully works around town and on the open road at the speed limit. The engine noise invades the cabin actually making it seem as if the car is going faster than the speedo indicates. Some drivers will like this. They will also like the combined fuel economy of 6.3 litres/100 kms.

 

The car's front seats are quite comfortable and the driver's all-round vision is good. The car's interior is light and airy, despite the overwhelming amount of grey. The car is fitted with five cup holders – one for every passenger – and there's lots of handy storage areas in the doors, console, back of the front seats and even under the steering column. Even at this level the S16 has remote keyless entry and an alarm system.   

 

As a driving experience don't expect miracles from the S16. It gets along fine, although the Campro engine over-revs between gear shifts, but you will not have trouble keeping up with traffic as long as you rev out to more than 5000 rpm, with the engine red lining just over 6000 rpm.

 

The car's handling has been tuned by Lotus, which is owned by Proton, but don't expect the S16 to corner like an Exige.  There's a bit of understeer in hard turning but for this type of small sedan, the handling is on par. The S16 does come with an auto in the GX 1.6 and also gets power rear view mirrors, 14 inch alloy wheels, front fog lamps and reversing sensors.