May
27
2011

Exora VIP Test Drive

Remember my Exora journey not too long ago? That was the first time I ever drove an MPV and I loved it!

Last Saturday 21 May 2011, about 20 lucky couples were selected to be part of the exciting Exora VIP Test Drive Session @ Sunway Giza. Participants arrived in full spirit and excited that morning. I, together with 2 other Mommy Bloggers from Nuffnang were the privileged ones to be selected to cover this event.

Agnes, me and Mariah – 3 extremely lucky Mommy Bloggers from Nuffnang :D

We arrived @ Full House, Sunway Giza Mall right on schedule at 9am. I registered and went straight to level 1 for breakfast.

I had earlier recommended lifestyle blogger Ken Wooi and automotive blogger Simon for this event and they too were selected to attend this exhilarating ‘once in a lifetime’ event.

Ken Wooi was already there having his breakfast with his partner for the day – his sister Jane.

Simon was equally early. He was having breakfast with his partner for the event – his friend Alden.

I met beautiful Carolyn for the very first time that morning. She was one of the lucky couples to be selected for the event. She came with her charming husband.

After breakfast we were ushered to the 3rd level for a welcome note by Melvin Wong, Head of Marketing Communication, Proton Edar. We were then introduced to Kenneth Chiew, the Driving Instructor for this event. Kenneth elaborated on the Fact or Myth of the Proton Exora during the Product Safety presentation. He even showed us a video of a crash test and ended with a joke, “too bad we are not going to test the airbags today!” that got everyone chuckling! :D

Ms Loh Sit Fong, Clinical Psychologist (Child & Adolescent), Psychiatry Unit, UKM Medical Center presented a talk on child development.

We were given tips on how to make travelling with children more enjoyable. I like the play an audiotape to make the time pass more quickly as I realised that it was more fun when we travelled back to Malacca in the Exora not too long ago. It was such a pleasant journey with Ethan occupied watching Tom & Jerry on the DVD Player! :D

After the talk, the participants hogged the washrooms as we are going to drive together-gether beramai-ramai to Desa Park City!

We took a group pic before embarking on our journey. There were 15 Exoras for all the participants to drive. The important rule of the journey is very simple. Each Exoras are numbered from 1-15 and divided into two groups; Group A and Group B. All you need to remember is drive in the number sequence! Do not overtake the number before you. Sounds simple? LoL! Wait till you try gathering 7 cars to drive together on the road! It proves to be more challenging as we had outstation participants coming all the way from Penang down to Johor! These outstation participants had it BEST as they were given accommodation for two nights in Royale Bintang Hotel! Talk about being treated like a VIP to the max!

Not risking the participants getting lost along the way, the Exora is fully equipped with GPS Navigator and a walkie-talkie. We (Team A) were led by Kenneth throughout our journey through that walkie-talkie. Roger that Kenneth! :D

Our bubbly passengers: Sin Chew Daily reporter, Arc PR and Ethan! :D They talked, joked and laughed ALL the way to Desa Park City and back! Muahahahaha… we are SO lucky! :P *aww, my anak so cute!* hahaha…

Sempat cam-whore with my iPhone before the journey. Everybody say, “Chiak!” See my anak Ethan so happy at the back ALONE! Itu-ler kelebihan having the extra SPACE! :D

We are in Exora 6. Here we are trailing Exora 5 and in front them is Exora 4 :D Ethan had the time of his life counting Exoras and making sure that Exora 7 is right behind us. He’ll alert us if the Exora 7 is out of sight! Lol!

Finally we are here – Desa ParkCity! An awesomely beautiful place!

They first demonstrated to us what we can do during the Performance Test Drive. Watch this video to see how they did the emergency brake routine.

Fellow participants awaiting their turn in the Performance Test Drive session. Darling is next in Exora #6 (Black)

Let’s see how Darling fared in the Performance Test Drive routine. Watch this video

And here is me getting a taxi ride from Kenneth.

It was an exhilarating experience. I was holding on to dear life with my camera preparing to record the whole thing. I expected to be thrown about and dropping my camera even but NO, surprisingly, it was very stable in there! The Emergency Brake Avoidance Test proves that the Exora does not skid and can handle braking at top speed even when the steering is swerved to the side thanx to their ABS + EBD! The ABS and EBD helps stabilize the car on slippery roads to prevent accidents.

We got the chance to try parking the Exora blind-folded! How often do you get to do that you tell me? :P

Here is Ken and sister team clocking the fastest speed during the blind-fold parking routine. They did it in amazingly less than a minute!

Watch this video to see how FAST & not so furious they are!!

I really salute Ken and his sister for successfully pulling that blind-fold stint in a jiffy! Clap! Clap!

The last challenge was the Storage challenge where we had to store countless travel luggage bags, a golf bag AND a FATHER, MOTHER and BROTHER into the Exora at lightning speed!

The luggage bags and ‘Father’, ‘Brother’ and ‘Mother’ :D

Again, Ken and his sister clocked the fastest time for Team A! >_<

Watch this video of them doing it in the speed of light!

All of THOSE in the Exora! Spacious max!

And so like a true champion, these winning couple were interviewed! Haha… no lah! Actually ALL participants were interviewed for their honest thoughts and opinion of the Exora after completing the whole routine.

Then it’s back to Sunway Giza from Desa ParkCity. See.. all drivers giving the thumbs up! Caya-lah gitu!

We went through residential areas and traffic jams on the way back; gimmicking the everyday driving scenario. We also made lots of U-Turn to experience the Exora’s 5.4m minimum turning radius; useful in tight corners and parking lots.

Lunch in Full House, Sunway Giza.

After lunch we were presented with yet another talk and this time it is on Relationship Talk by Ms Loh Sit Fong again. We were tested and required to write down our priorities on some plastic cards.

Participants busy writing down their priorities.

Ethan not wanting to be left out! Lol! I wonder what HIS priority is! :D

We were then treated to an interesting Image Talk by Cherrise Tan, Image Consultant of Adamaya Image Consultancy. She shared tips on how simple small details can do wonders for your image!

After the ‘image make-over’, we got the opportunity to learn some golden pointers from Eric Wong, Associate Partner of A.D. Financial Sdn Bhd. Eric shared some very valuable tips in his Investment Talk.

I learnt that Success Is a Habit while Failure is Also a Habit. Choose which you like to make YOUR habit, as long as they don’t turn you into a hobbit! :P

We changed our habit to the better right there and then by saving a dollar in the money box given to us. Ethan is the happiest! We brought back that money box and will make it a point to save a dollar a day so that by the time he got his Driver’s license, he can purchase an Exora for himself! :P

Last but not least, we were given a form to evaluate the Exora VIP Test Drive. I’d say it was GREAT, an unforgettable experience!

Finally, it was time for the announcement of winners and prize giving.

Third prize winner

Second prize winner

And then … Jeng jeng jeng!!! *drum roll*

Ken Wooi and his sister Jane Wooi! *Cheers*

They walked away with the 1st prize worth RM1000 cash! Congrats Ken and Jane!

Each participant is pampered to a 60-mins Full Body Massage at Tharn Sanctuary, One World and went home with lovely door gifts and a broad smile on their faces.

Bravo Proton for organising such a rare treat for all of us. We learnt something very important today and that is, “Never purchase a vehicle WITHOUT test-driving it first”. See it, feel it, drive it! “Don’t believe what people say about the car, don’t even believe what we say, test drive the Proton Exora and experience it for yourselves today,” said Melvin Wong, Head of Marketing Communications, Proton Edar.

I’m sure Proton has set a benchmark on how a test-drive session can be; they’ve placed themselves on a level above the rest in terms of educating their potential customers, car familiarization and clinic. Looking forward to more of such events amongst the automotive industry players in the future.

Tags: Exora VIP Test Drive

Missed it? Fret not, Proton is coming to you!

About the Author: Merryn Tan

19 Comments + Add Comment

//

bluedreamer27 May 27, 2011 at 9:02 am

so high tech of the GPS huh…love the color Red by the way..if ever i'll buy my own car want it to be red too

Reply
//

Kian Fai May 27, 2011 at 9:17 am

Fuiyoh, Kenwooi the speed of parking =P Woops it was her sis HAHA =Pgood team work!

Reply
//

Isaac Tan May 27, 2011 at 10:49 am

Superb writeup for a really nice test drive event.. :)

Reply
//

suituapui May 27, 2011 at 3:11 pm

Wah! Ken won RM1K, keeping so quiet about it… Tsk! Tsk! Btw, if you get in the driver's seat, must sit on cushions or not? Muahahahahaha!!!

Reply
//

[SK] May 27, 2011 at 5:33 pm

yeah, that is really a good way of marketing.. i think it's the trend now to switch to social networking advertising.. errr, so you didn't win anything meh?? got lah, you won the experience of driving an exora~~ :p

Reply
//

Vickylow May 27, 2011 at 7:11 pm

Nice marketing strategy by Proton. Good experience and fun for you too.

Reply
//

Food Dreams May 27, 2011 at 7:34 pm

so fun!! wish I didnt have an order so I could join! Congrats to Ken for winning…

Reply
//

HenRy LeE ® May 27, 2011 at 7:55 pm

a very detailed write up from u. Great effort there and congratz to all the winners especially that lucky kenwooi… whatever it is, I personally won't go for the Proton Exora. Bad looks and also no power. I prefer Persona or even the budget Saga than this… Proton can do better :)

Reply
//

Alice Law May 27, 2011 at 8:05 pm

My turn was scheduled on the 2nd of June… hopefully it won't take too long since thy informed me kenot bring along anaks!>_<

Reply
//

Carolyn (Lil' D May 27, 2011 at 8:12 pm

aiyoh shy shy. you posted my picture. it was a great experience. thanks to you for blogging about it. otherwise, i wouldn't have known.:)

Reply
//

MeRy May 27, 2011 at 10:35 pm

Nice event…..

Reply
//

reanaclaire May 27, 2011 at 10:48 pm

hahaha… so nice.. and congrats to Ken wooi.. 1K richer.. must ask him to belanja!!

Reply
//

Isaac Tan May 28, 2011 at 12:32 am

Wahahaha went through the videos again.. he really stopped at high speed.. good thing the car had the abs thingy.. and I was speechless when watching the games. XD

Reply
//

ken May 28, 2011 at 2:21 am

wah.. kena mentioned so many times.. paiseh :Pbut nevertheless, thanks Merryn for inviting me and gave me such an experience and opportunity!Snowflakes! :D

Reply
//

Soh Hong Wei May 28, 2011 at 7:50 am

So fun!!!

Reply
//

CH Voon May 29, 2011 at 8:58 pm

it is high spec car.How many people bought the car among 20 couples? aiya… i miss the event.

Reply
//

Mummy Gwen May 30, 2011 at 5:56 am

Ya Ya..Ethan looked so cute there. :)

Reply

Join us on Facebbook! Follow Us on Twitter! Subscribe to our RSS Feed!

Join ME for updates & giveaways!

About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.