Works Engineering to develop parts for Proton X50, appoints S1K winner Fariqe Hairuman as ambassador

Since Proton management entered a new era with Geely in 2017, the national carmaker’s performance division, Proton R3 has so far focused its efforts on circuit racing, and its has attained considerable success from its efforts.

While it doesn’t yet appear that Proton is once again turning its attention to the development of a complete performance parts line for its road-going models, the aftermarket remains active, and the X50 SUV as seen here is next on the radar of Works Engineering.

The images here from the Works Engineering Facebook page shows an Executive variant of the compact SUV at Proton R3 headquarters in Shah Alam, where it was photographed with Proton R3 team principal Gary Lee and driver Fariqe Hairuman, the latter also appointed as Works Engineering ambassador.

Works Engineering has prior form with making performance parts for Proton cars, as the firm has previously released a variety of components such as adjustable crankshaft pulleys, induction kits and others for the S4P-based engines in Campro and CFE forms, which serve in models such as the Satria Neo, Preve and Suprima S.

“We are very excited this year – together with Fariqe – to bring extraordinary, high-end products and a better driving experience to the consumer market and to bring the team to greater heights,” wrote Works Engineering in its Facebook post. The firm has previously put together Satria Neo and Preve project cars in 2011, and the X50 is set to be the latest addition to that list, it said.

Though the Executive variant of the Proton X50 enlisted here uses the same 1.5 litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine base across the range, it is slightly down on its outputs compared to the all-singing, all-dancing top Flagship variant; 150 PS at 5,500 rpm and 226 Nm from 1,500 rpm to 4,000 rpm in the Executive plays 177 PS and 255 Nm of torque from the Flagship.

This can be attributed to differences in the fuelling systems of each variant. While the Executive variant employs multi-point fuel injection, the engine in the Flagship features direct fuel injection.

While the extent of the Works Engineering programme for the X50 remains to be seen, the prospect of closing the gap between headline output figures of the two factory engine specifications could be a tantalising one, not least for owners of the Standard, Executive and Premium variants.

Certainly with forced induction, generating numbers considerably greater than those from the factory is possible. For those of you brave enough to forego factory warranty – what do you think is the tuner ‘sweet spot’ for a vehicle such as the Proton X50?