Proton Satria Neo S2000 Makes Successful Rally Debut In Europe 2009

10 February 2009 · posted by Staff

Proton’s Satria Neo has become the latest S2000 rally car to be homologated by the world governing body of motorsport the FIA.

The new S2000 Satria enjoyed a highly competitive debut at the final round of the 2008 European Rally Championship, the Rallye Antibes Cote d’Azur in the South of France.

The Proton Satria Neo S2000 made its competition debut in the hands of French young gun Bryan Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri. The new Proton ran as high as sixth in the Rallye Antibes against many of Europe’s top drivers in more tried and proven S2000 machines from Peugeot, VW and Fiat recording times in the top five throughout the first day of the three day rally.

Proton Satria Neo S2000 received an enthusiastic response from the rally fraternity despite withdrawing from the rally on the third day due to some minor teething problems.

Driver Bryan Bouffier, the reigning Polish Rally Champion, expressed his confidence in the Satria Neo, and in particular its competitiveness at its first outing.

“The Satria was fantastic, really predictable and comfortable to drive and with really good engine power, I am looking forward to driving it again,” said Bouffier.

Having treated the Rallye Antibes as an extension of the new car’s testing program, Bouffier was not surprised to experience some problems with the car, which he says will be addressed during final development over the next few months.

The new Satria Neo was engineered and developed by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) a company formed in 1982 by driver Chris Mellors to enable him to compete in the British Rally Championship.

MEM developed into a successful preparation company winning more than 10 major rally championships all over the world over the past quarter century.

The Satria Neo S2000 is not the first Proton experience for MEM, the team having claimed the FIA Production World Championship with Karamjit Singh in a Proton Wira in 2002 as well as the 2004 FIA Asia-Pacific Championship again for Singh in a Proton.

Building on this successful partnership the company was authorised to transform the road going version of Proton’s Satria Neo into a full specification Super 2000 rally car. MEM carried out the engineering and development of the rally version of the Satria at its facility in the UK.

The concept was developed using a combination of innovative engineering and the team’s bank of knowledge built up by its technical staff since 1982. The input of team principal and former successful driver, Chris Mellors was a crucial part of the development of the Satria Neo S2000.

The result is a small and agile car boasting an attractive aerodynamic body kit, which compliments the eye-catching Satria design.

The Proton S2000 in full rally trim has the smallest frontal area and the lowest roof height of any S2000 car currently homologated, even at rally ride height settings.

In a unique concept both the driver and co-driver’s seat positions have been fixed at the rear most possible mounting points to maximise the car’s weight distribution with the pedal box and steering column being adjustable to suit different crew requirements.

The MEM rollcage design uses 35 metres of lightweight chrome moly tube together with strategic body strengthening resulting in vastly improved torsional bodyshell rigidity and a no-compromise safety cell for the crew. The cleverly designed side crash protection bars are uniquely shaped to aid driver and co-driver access into and out of the car.

The two-litre Proton Super 2000 engine is derived from the 1.8 litre engine fitted to the Waja and has been further developed by MEM’s engineers to produce a reliable 210kW @ 7600rpm (278 horsepower) with a usable power band from 5,500 to 8,500rpm.

The Satria Neo S2000 uses the six-speed sequential Xtrac 4WD transmission system, one of two control transmission systems allowed under FIA rules.

The car is also fitted with an innovative quick-change fuel control cassette, which includes all the fuel pumps, filters and valves, attached to the MEM-designed FIA FT3 safety fuel cell to aid rapid maintenance.

Alcon provides the braking power with the latest Super 2000 alloy 4-pot calipers and ventilated discs which when combined with the Neo’s low overall weight of 1150kg gives outstanding brake performance.

The ventilated disc sizes can be maximised for both gravel when the car uses 15-inch rims and tarmac when it steps up to 18-inch rims, however for both simplicity and cost the brake calipers are common to both setups thanks to a simple mounting arrangement.

MEM’s engineers have designed the suspension with a relatively conventional layout of wishbone and MacPherson strut making it easy and relatively cheap to maintain while delivering extremely high reliability.

The suspension design has also maximised damper travel achieving both an ultra-low tarmac setup delivering low levels of body roll and a long-travel gravel setup with the ability to soak up the biggest bumps.

A variety of anti-roll bars are also available for both front and rear ensuring the suspension setup can be easily fine-tuned for any rally surface or type.

The latest technology is used in the electrical systems with a state-of-the-art multiplexed wiring system capable of managing the entire car’s electronics from a central unit situated in the centre of the car between the driver and co-driver. Apart from the weight saving reduction it is simple to operate and boasts automatically resetting circuit breakers for improved reliability.

The result is a car which not only has well-proven technical advances and novel design but also simplicity to ensure the best possible combination of performance and reliability.

MEM is at the moment preparing to build more Satria Neo S2000s for customers around the world with a number of potential buyers in Asia eyeing the results and looking to the new car as a potential challenger to the established S2000 marques such as Fiat, Peugeot, VW and Toyota.

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