Proton CFE Manual Swap

ixeo

4,000 RPM
Senior Member
Jun 26, 2005
4,788
3,080
5,213
KL, Malaysia
Honestly, not worth the effort. If you want something with power and a stick, get a SSS.
You want a sedan with a stick and power, honestly, nothing modern. Subaru Impreza STi. But you wanna worry about maintenance cost, then again, get the SSS.

I'd recommend a BMW E36 or E46 with a 2.5L engine at least. 0-100km good for 7.6s
But more importantly that in-line six engine... they don't make engines like that anymore for normal BMWs.. now cars like the BMW 118i & 318i comes with an engine with 1 cylinder less than a Suprima, and less displacement.

Modifying your car is gonna be more pain than it's worth.
 

g4i8y0t

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Aug 5, 2010
1,216
330
683
Kedah
Honestly, not worth the effort. If you want something with power and a stick, get a SSS.
You want a sedan with a stick and power, honestly, nothing modern. Subaru Impreza STi. But you wanna worry about maintenance cost, then again, get the SSS.

I'd recommend a BMW E36 or E46 with a 2.5L engine at least. 0-100km good for 7.6s
But more importantly that in-line six engine... they don't make engines like that anymore for normal BMWs.. now cars like the BMW 118i & 318i comes with an engine with 1 cylinder less than a Suprima, and less displacement.

Modifying your car is gonna be more pain than it's worth.
Modding is way more fun than buying a built up car. Suprima has better handling than E36 with 2.5 inline 6. I know because I have driven my bro in law's 2.5l E36 with Bilstein B8. But the inline 6 is so smooth and sounds so nice. E46, I'm not sure because I have never driven one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Izso and xtremeleo

xtremeleo

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,247
464
5,183
Modding is way more fun than buying a built up car. Suprima has better handling than E36 with 2.5 inline 6. I know because I have driven my bro in law's 2.5l E36 with Bilstein B8. But the inline 6 is so smooth and sounds so nice. E46, I'm not sure because I have never driven one.
Id rather get a cheap car and mod it up, its more fun dat way
 

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
Honestly, not worth the effort. If you want something with power and a stick, get a SSS.
You want a sedan with a stick and power, honestly, nothing modern. Subaru Impreza STi. But you wanna worry about maintenance cost, then again, get the SSS.

I'd recommend a BMW E36 or E46 with a 2.5L engine at least. 0-100km good for 7.6s
But more importantly that in-line six engine... they don't make engines like that anymore for normal BMWs.. now cars like the BMW 118i & 318i comes with an engine with 1 cylinder less than a Suprima, and less displacement.

Modifying your car is gonna be more pain than it's worth.
over the weekend this more research in reverse engineering the CAN systems. its programming that i do find it hard to grasp. you are definitely right going down this road will be more pain then worth it. as it is, i cant stand when the car doesnt run right, ocd to the max.. going down this road will bug me so badly when i do reach a problem.
 

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
Id rather get a cheap car and mod it up, its more fun dat way
i have always wanted a ke70.. but prices are still steap for my budget. i have another idea but its a fwd. you might like this idea, not sure how feasible it will be but i think it will be a real fun car. hehehe
 

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
thank you guys for your input, i think i may end up scrapping the idea of a manual box in the suprima. Unless i am crazy enough to dump probably 30k into it to rewire the whole car this is not gonna work.
 

ixeo

4,000 RPM
Senior Member
Jun 26, 2005
4,788
3,080
5,213
KL, Malaysia
Modding is way more fun than buying a built up car. Suprima has better handling than E36 with 2.5 inline 6. I know because I have driven my bro in law's 2.5l E36 with Bilstein B8. But the inline 6 is so smooth and sounds so nice. E46, I'm not sure because I have never driven one.
Ask Izso, see if it’s fun. And I can tell you although he’s cleaning other people’s shit, modding up the car yourself also you’re bound to run into issues as well.

I mod up my own boat and throughout the journey little gremlins pop up here and there and being a perfectionist I couldn’t stand it.

Sure, it runs, but you know it’s not perfect.
 

ixeo

4,000 RPM
Senior Member
Jun 26, 2005
4,788
3,080
5,213
KL, Malaysia
Modding is way more fun than buying a built up car. Suprima has better handling than E36 with 2.5 inline 6. I know because I have driven my bro in law's 2.5l E36 with Bilstein B8. But the inline 6 is so smooth and sounds so nice. E46, I'm not sure because I have never driven one.
Don’t doubt the Supima being better handling, after all it’s almost 20 years newer and built with input from Lotus.

But that in-line engine is simply brilliant. As we move towards the future of EV, I think having an in-line 6 is an experience reserved for the rich in the future. So why not get it from a classic.
 

parakey

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Apr 30, 2012
1,367
226
663
Kuala Lumpur
Don’t doubt the Supima being better handling, after all it’s almost 20 years newer and built with input from Lotus..
Has there been great advances in suspension geometry in the intervening years? Specifically the difference between these 2 cars. If design age of the suspension is going to be a factor, has BMW changed the suspension design that much between the e36 vs F30?

Admittedly, it's not really fair to compare a newish car and one that is 20+ years old who's undercarriage might not been that well taken care of.
 
Last edited:

ixeo

4,000 RPM
Senior Member
Jun 26, 2005
4,788
3,080
5,213
KL, Malaysia
Has there been great advances in suspension geometry in the intervening years? Specifically the difference between these 2 cars. If design age of the suspension is going to be a factor, has BMW changed the suspension design that much between the e36 vs F30?

Admittedly, it's not really fair to compare a newish car and one that is 20+ years old who's undercarriage might not been that well taken care of.
I believe great advances been made. Just look at the Civic Type R and Megan Cup, front wheel drive that can turn that way. It's simply unimaginable 10 years back.
 

Izso

NA NA NA NA NA
Helmet Clan
Moderator
Mar 28, 2004
15,389
6,411
5,213
KL
thank you guys for your input, i think i may end up scrapping the idea of a manual box in the suprima. Unless i am crazy enough to dump probably 30k into it to rewire the whole car this is not gonna work.
Just for your info, the dude who bought that manual GB had a lot of grief trying to transplant it into his CVT variant. There were a total of 6 or something real manuals made by Proton that were all sold to automotive schools and private collectors. The dude somehow managed to get one from the collectors but he should've just taken the full front halfcut. I think the TCU/ECU really messes with the whole GB and the wiring won't be that simple. You might have more luck completely bypassing the ECU + TCU and installing standalones that can handle all of that, or perhaps you could track down a manual variant owner and pay for the full car or halfcut.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xtremeleo

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
I believe great advances been made. Just look at the Civic Type R and Megan Cup, front wheel drive that can turn that way. It's simply unimaginable 10 years back.
the one thing i love about the type R is how they designed the suspension geometry. No torque steer, mechanical grip.. Automotive industry has come a long way from how they make power, to how the car turns.. brilliant!!
 

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
Just for your info, the dude who bought that manual GB had a lot of grief trying to transplant it into his CVT variant. There were a total of 6 or something real manuals made by Proton that were all sold to automotive schools and private collectors. The dude somehow managed to get one from the collectors but he should've just taken the full front halfcut. I think the TCU/ECU really messes with the whole GB and the wiring won't be that simple. You might have more luck completely bypassing the ECU + TCU and installing standalones that can handle all of that, or perhaps you could track down a manual variant owner and pay for the full car or halfcut.
completely by passing the ecu and running a standalone will be impossible without hacking the cars CAN system. No one here i think will want to spend the time to do it as it may not be profitable later on. i have spoken to a few campro specialist they just say it cant be done and if really insist then only way is to fully run a new wiring, which would eliminate the BCM, ESP, Airbags and etc. this will also require a custom dash cluster. all of which i'd rather not unless its a race car. so i guess for now, CVT it is :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Izso

^pomen_GTR^

7,000 RPM
Senior Member
May 13, 2010
7,509
1,690
1,713
The Mines
Manual ecu unfortunately dont exist for the cfe... unless i pay a ton to downgrade to the iafm campro manual. Complete wiring should fit but this route would be expensive and deffinately not worth it.. honestly i am more interested in exploring the option of a standalone integrated with the exisiting CAN system. Will need to learn up on CAN systems and how to identifiy their id

standalone with CAN capability should be able to do that easily....

just dont cheap out on basic ecu with limited function...thats where most common problem came from...difficulty to adapt something that the ecu dont have the function
 

scoupe

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Thread starter
Mar 19, 2005
1,087
37
5,148
shah alam
i know there are standalones with CAN capability, but locally i havent found anyone who have cracked or decode the Proton's system for the ECU to speak and listen to the other can systems in the car.
 

xtremeleo

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,247
464
5,183
thank you guys for your input, i think i may end up scrapping the idea of a manual box in the suprima. Unless i am crazy enough to dump probably 30k into it to rewire the whole car this is not gonna work.
Whats the bajet for this project bro? I have sumthing at the back of my head ni, most probably a doable one, hihi.. Pm tepi ler kalau minat
 

xtremeleo

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,247
464
5,183
i have always wanted a ke70.. but prices are still steap for my budget. i have another idea but its a fwd. you might like this idea, not sure how feasible it will be but i think it will be a real fun car. hehehe
Does it involves the awesome charade? Lol
 

g4i8y0t

1,000 RPM
Senior Member
Aug 5, 2010
1,216
330
683
Kedah
What's wrong with his e36?
Try driving both, then you'll know. But IMHO, Suprima engine, although it has enough power and potential to mod, is not worth it. It's not very reliable (oil cooler hose problem) and it's not smooth at all.
 

Izso

NA NA NA NA NA
Helmet Clan
Moderator
Mar 28, 2004
15,389
6,411
5,213
KL
Try driving both, then you'll know. But IMHO, Suprima engine, although it has enough power and potential to mod, is not worth it. It's not very reliable (oil cooler hose problem) and it's not smooth at all.
I know a guy with the 330i E46 manual 5 speed... and my god it's a good car. Smooth, pretty damn good to drive around and there are plenty of parts options for that generation of car.. only thing I found odd was the light steering.
 

Random Post Every 5 Minutes

Any of you guys here watch Top Gear? If you do, then surely you must be more than familiar with those three guys’ crazy antiques and challenges that they put towards a car that sometimes does not even seem logical or relevant to a consumer in assisting them in choosing a vehicle, like for example, racing a Corvette with burning fuel to test its acceleration or even trying to outrun an Apache gunship in testing a Lotus’ agility. Crazy as it might be, it is very entertaining to watch. But in...
Ask a question, start a discussion or post something for sale!
Post thread

Online now

Enjoying Zerotohundred?

Log-in for an ad-less experience