After its debut in the Nepali market with the Proton Saga, and a seemingly successful run of its second product, the Proton X70. Proton has launched its third and one of the most anticipated products in the Nepali market, the Proton X50. The Proton X50 is Proton’s mid-level SUV that sits below the X70. The SUV is offered in three variants: the Standard, the Premium, and the TGDI flagship, at a starting price of Rs 71.99 lakh and going up to 84.99 lakh. We had the opportunity to spend a day with the X50 and here are our first impressions.

Let us start with the looks. The X50 gets a dual-tone exterior and comes with an aggressive front fascia, featuring LED projector headlamps with LED DRLs, automatic headlamps, and fog lamps. The front bumper mimics a tuned import car with an edgy design and even an integrated front splitter.

The profile gets large 18-inch alloy wheels with red brake calipers on the top variant. The side also gets a contrast blacked-out sloping roofline that makes the car look slippery. There’s black cladding all around, but it is much slimmer, hence balancing out the sporty as well as utility quota of the SUV.

The rear looks equally great with LED taillights, a well-sculpted bumper that houses quad exhaust tailpipes that looks so cool. You also get a spoiler up top with dual cutouts further accentuating the sporty feel of the car.

If you find the exterior impressive, the interior is even more impressive. The X50 comes with a dual-tone interior, featuring leatherette-upholstered seats, a six-way adjustable driver seat, and electric power steering. On the dashboard sits a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system–compatible with both Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The entire cabin gets a black red and silver finish that oozes plushness into the cabin.

Even though our drive was short, we can clearly tell you that the X50 is one of the best driving cars in its class. The X50 is powered by a 1.5L turbocharged petrol engine with two different fuel injection systems that will either make 150 hp and a torque of 226 Nm or make 177 hp of power and 255 Nm. We drove the latter and this is definitely the one you should get if you decide to put your money on the X50.

The X50 drives fast and hard, you could drive it for hours and not get tired. The engine is exciting, the suspension is firm and the steering wheel is engaging. The speed climbs up fast, the car maneuvers with pinpoint accuracy and the disc brakes on all four wheels bring the X50 to a safe confident stop anytime you want it to. The only thing we think the X50 is missing is a strong old-fashioned handbrake, then it would have been seriously fun, but oh well.

For safety, the SUV features four to six airbags, ABS with EBD and ESC, brake assist, auto brake hold, traction control system, lane keep assist, blind-spot information system, hill-hold assist, hill-descent assist, front and rear parking sensors, electronic parking brake, 360 camera, reverse camera, immobilizer, anti-theft alarm, and TPMS.

Detailed review coming soon