Proton has introduced a new 1.5L TGDi Premium X variant to its 2023 X70 offering, after previously discontinuing the variant as part of its mid life-cycle “minor change” update last year.
Priced at RM126,800 on-the-road, without insurance, the new Proton X70 1.5L TGDi Premium X comes in at RM3,000 more than the Premium variant, but RM2,000 less than the 1.8L TGDi Premium. Uniquely, it’ll also be offered – for a limited time – in an exclusive Quartz Black exterior colour that was previously only reserved for government entities, in addition to Space Grey and Snow White.
Just like its predecessor, the RM3,000 premium you’ll be paying for the new 2023 Proton X70 1.5L TGDi Premium X is essentially just for an additional powered sunroof. Before this, the sunroof is only available on the range-topping 1.8 TGDi Premium variant.
Otherwise, the rest of the car pretty much shares its equipment list with the Premium variant, which includes several creature comfort niceties such as the 19-inch alloy wheels, brown Nappa leather upholstery, ventilated front seats, and a hands-free powered tailgate.
Underneath the bonnet is also the same 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine as most of its other siblings, making 177 hp and 255 Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels only on this variant, via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The century sprint time for the 1.5-litre models are rated at 9.8 seconds, or 0.3 seconds slower than the 1.8L TGDi Premium. However, Proton says that the newer powertrain also results in a 7% improvement in fuel efficiency.
WATCH: 2022 Proton X70 1.5TGDi Premium 2WD review – 3-cylinder brilliance?
As for safety, the new 2023 Proton X70 1.5 TGDi Premium X will come equipped with a suite of active driver assistance systems, including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitor, and intelligent high beam.
Just like the Premium variant, the new Premium X will also come equipped with a tyre pressure monitoring system, as well as four front parking sensors (the Executive variant only gets two, while the Standard variant does not get front parking sensors).
For more information on the Proton X70, do check out our detailed coverage here.
