Proton Gen•2 review: a competent hatchback let down by absent support in Bahrain
2.4/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The Gen•2 is a genuinely better-driving car than its budget reputation implies, a legacy of Lotus's engineering input into Proton's chassis tuning during this era. But that is largely irrelevant to a Bahraini buyer in 2026: this was always a low-volume, independently imported model here, it is now up to two decades old, and there is no Proton dealer network to fall back on for parts or diagnostics. Only worth buying at a price that assumes you are entirely on your own for support.
Pros
- Chassis tuning with genuine Lotus-era steering feel and body control, unusual for the price class
- Torquey CamPro engine feels adequate for everyday town driving
- Five-door hatchback practicality with a usable boot
- Very low purchase price on today's used market
Cons
- No active Proton dealer or parts network in Bahrain; support relies entirely on independent specialists
- CamPro engine gets coarse and vocal under load, especially on earlier examples
- Interior materials and switchgear feel their age and original price bracket
- Resale market is essentially nonexistent for this model in Bahrain
- No meaningful modern crash-safety data for this generation
Proton spent the 1990s building Mitsubishi-derived cars under licence, and the Gen•2 was the company's statement that it could do the whole job itself: its own platform, its own CamPro engine developed with input from Lotus (which Proton owned for two decades), and its own five-door hatchback body aimed at markets well beyond Malaysia. The chassis tuning shows that Lotus involvement in a way few budget hatchbacks of its generation managed — steering has real weight and feedback, and body control over mid-corner bumps is tighter than the car's price point suggested when new.
The CamPro engine itself was less celebrated. It is torquey enough low down to feel adequate around town, but coarse and vocal when worked hard, and early versions in particular had a reputation for a rough idle that Proton refined over the car's production run.
What a used one is like in Bahrain
Gen•2s here were never sold through a large franchised network — Proton's Gulf presence has always been thin and inconsistent compared with the Japanese and Korean mainstream, run through smaller independent importers rather than a dealer with parts inventory and trained technicians. Two decades on, that means finding someone in Bahrain who has worked on a CamPro engine before is the real prerequisite to ownership, not finding the car itself.
Interior plastics and switchgear feel their age and their price bracket, air conditioning systems this old need to be checked carefully before a Bahraini summer, and body rust around wheel arches is worth inspecting closely on any example that has not been garaged.
Who it suits
An enthusiast who values the genuinely decent steering and chassis feel over badge recognition, is comfortable sourcing parts through generic Malaysian-import specialists, and is paying a price low enough to absorb the risk. Anyone wanting predictable running costs and guaranteed parts availability should look elsewhere — a same-era Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic will cost more but solve the support problem entirely.