CarBrandLogos archive · Proton · 1993

ProtonWira

The Mitsubishi-based saloon that carried Proton through the 1990s.

Photo: OSX · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Proton history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Proton Wira, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Introduced in May 1993, the Wira was Proton's second major model line and the one that took the company into a broader market. Like the Saga before it, it drew on Mitsubishi engineering, in this case the contemporary Lancer, and appeared as a four-door saloon and a five-door hatchback with front-wheel drive and a range of Mitsubishi Orion four-cylinder engines from 1.3 to 1.5 litres, plus larger units in higher specifications.

Proton Wira , Kuala Lumpur · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

It was built primarily at Shah Alam, with assembly operations in Indonesia, Iran, the Philippines and Vietnam, and exported to the United Kingdom and Australia among other markets, where it was sold on value rather than sophistication.

Proton Wira , Kuala Lumpur · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The numbers explain its significance to Proton: 952,216 were sold across a production run that lasted until June 2009, sixteen years, making it the company's highest-volume model of the era. The Gen-2 and the Persona eventually replaced it, by which time Proton had begun designing its own cars rather than adapting other people's.

Proton Wira , Serdang · User:Two hundred percent. · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Units built

952,216

Engine

Petrol engine

Body

4-door saloon

Technical specification

The Wira, in detail.

Production: May 1993 – June 2009; 952,216 units sold
Class: Compact car / C-segment
Body style: 4-door saloon; 5-door hatchback
Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Engine: Petrol engine; petrol: ; 1.3 L Mitsubishi Orion engine#4G13; 4G13 Overhead camshaft#Single overhead camshaft; SOHC Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1.5 L Mitsubishi Orion engine#4G15; 4G15 SOHC I4 ; 1.5 L Mitsubishi 4G9 engine
Transmission: 5-speed Manual transmission; manual ; 3-speed Automatic transmission; automatic (4G1 Series) ; 4-speed automatic (4G9 Series)
Assembly: Malaysia: Shah Alam (abbr; PONSB; Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn. Bhd.); Indonesia: Cikarang (PCI); Iran: Borujerd (Zagross Khodro); Philippines: Alaminos (abbr; PPC; Proton Pilipinas Corporation); Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh
Manufacturer: Proton