Proton 1 Tank adventure's epic 525km journey

Proton’s adventure reaches the tip of Borneo with participants experiencing the journey from KK to Kudat, Kundasang and back to KK

Kota Kinabalu, 25 September 2019 – The PROTON 1 Tank Adventure arrived in Sabah for its second leg last weekend, taking participants on a scenic 525km journey from Kota Kinabalu to the Northernmost tip of Borneo in Kudat, the town of Kundasang at the foot of Mount Kinabalu before returning to Sabah’s state capital.

While the route allowed all participants to enjoy some truly stunning landscapes, it also delivered a strong message about the performance of the Proton Iriz, Persona and Saga during the 1 Tank Adventure.

Despite the long-distance covered this year (the 2018 event had a route of 420km), tougher driving conditions and the need to maintain a high average speed, all three models delivered impressive results while winning universal acclaim for their handling, comfort and safety features from the participants.

A stern endurance test of both drivers and cars Kota Kinabalu is a port city, but roads leading in and out of it are dominated by the mountain with which it shares its name.

Therefore, a route that leads inland and away from the coast will invariably encounter steep terrain as the Crocker Range stands as a natural barrier for roads to go over.

Sabah’s segment

The planned route for Sabah’s leg of the 1 Tank Adventure reflected this limitation while also throwing in another geographical feature – the northernmost point of Borneo. Combined, it set the stage for the toughest real-world test yet faced by the participants.

Flagging off from Proton Harapan Maju in Kota Kinabalu, which officially opened a day earlier on 20 September, the event ended at Proton Shirba Auto, also in Kota Kinabalu.

All participants successfully completed the 525km course, an impressive achievement as the layout of the roads and heavy traffic encountered along the way challenged the driving skill of everybody involved.

As expected, the results achieved were not as impressive as those posted in the first leg but there were still some noteworthy record-setting performances.

The best results achieved, as verified by scrutineers from the Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF), were 6.06L /100km for the Proton Iriz, an event best 5.75L/100km for the Proton Saga and a record-breaking 5.81L/100km for the Proton Persona, breaking last year’s record of 5.85L/100km.

The best theoretical maximum range achieved, based on the 40-litre fuel tank size of the cars used, was 601km. This was an impressive result because a strict time limit was set at each checkpoint to ensure participants had to keep to a minimum average speed for safety reasons and ensure the figures were obtained under real-world driving conditions.

Ride comfort, handling and safety equipment features impress 1 Tank Adventure participants.

As with the first leg, the 1 Tank Adventure is also an opportunity to demonstrate other selling points of Proton cars. The dynamic driving exercise achieved this as for the majority of participants, it was the first time they had pushed a car to its dynamic limits.