| Road Test Proton Savvy 1.2 Style |
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A Savvy Deal?
I take up a more definite position about Proton's claim that the Savvy is "the ultimate city car". Marketingspeak should never be taken too seriously, of course, but this is just absurd. One of the key requirements of any city car is that it should be easy to drive, and most of the Savvy's rivals, whatever their pros and cons in other departments, are just that. The Savvy, to an almost unbelievable degree, isn't. Or at least it probably would be if you paid top dollar and went for the automatic transmission option. The car tested here is a manual, and it has the spongiest clutch pedal I've experienced in years, along with the stiffest, notchiest, downright cussedest gearchange of any car I can think of on sale in the UK. You might think this was because the car was very new, but in fact it had more than 3000 miles on the clock when I got it. I'm forced to conclude, therefore, that that's just the way the Savvy is, and that the effort you have to put into changing gear at all (a common feature of city driving, let's not forget) is just part of the deal. On the open road the Savvy is a little more promising. Its 1.2-litre engine produces a maximum of 75bhp, which isn't bad for the size. I'm not sure I'd want more power than that; the car feels skittery on country roads as it is - superior ride and handling, indeed! - and there's a bit of an issue with wandering in crosswinds. The shape, which is certainly distinctive, didn't appeal to any of the teenagers who saw the car while I had it. Nor did they have the first idea what the word "savvy" meant, which may not be good news for Proton considering they surely represent part of the target market (or at least they will when they have driving licences). |
