Which Proton Putra version to buy
If you want the extra ratio and a 5-speed Manual, buy 1.8 MT. If you want a 4-speed Automatic, buy 1.8 AT. Power, torque, 0–100, top speed, kerb weight, gross weight, tank size, drive, and brakes are identical in the data. There is no second generation to wait for, and no restyle listed as a separate generation.
If you want the extra ratio and a 5-speed Manual, buy 1.8 MT. If you want a 4-speed Automatic, buy 1.8 AT. Power, torque, 0–100, top speed, kerb weight, gross weight, tank size, drive, and brakes are identical in the data. There is no second generation to wait for, and no restyle listed as a separate generation.
That is the whole choice. The rest of this page is the arithmetic that shows why nothing else in the table moves.
Specs that do not change between versions
Both 1.8 MT and 1.8 AT use the same Gasoline engine: 1834 cm³, 4 cylinders, Inline, 4 valves per cylinder, Front, transverse, Distributed injection (multi-point), compression ratio 10.5, bore × stroke 81 × 89. Boost is not measured on either version.
Output is 140 hp (103 kW) at 6000 rpm and 162 Nm at 5500 rpm on both. Drive is FWD on both. Front suspension is Independent, spring on both; rear suspension is not measured on both. Front brakes are Disc; rear brakes are Disc. Fuel tank is 50 litres. Kerb weight is 1050 kg. Gross weight is 1445 kg.
So the extra money, if any, does not buy more displacement, more cylinders, a different layout, a different fuel type, all-wheel drive, or a heavier or lighter car. It buys a different gearbox only.
Engine: power per litre and what 140 hp means here
Displacement is 1834 cm³, which is 1.834 litres. 140 hp ÷ 1.834 L = 76.3 hp per litre on both 1.8 MT and 1.8 AT.
162 Nm on 1.834 L is 88.3 Nm per litre. Peak torque is listed at 5500 rpm; peak power at 6000 rpm. The gap between those two engine speeds is 500 rpm. That is a high-rev Gasoline map: you are not buying a low-rpm torque peak.
Kerb weight 1050 kg ÷ 140 hp = 7.50 kg per horsepower on both versions. Gross weight 1445 kg ÷ 140 hp = 10.32 kg per horsepower when the car is at full mass. The payload window is 1445 − 1050 = 395 kg. That payload is the same whether you pick 1.8 MT or 1.8 AT, because both kerb and gross figures are the same.
There is no turbocharger figure to add: boost is not measured. You cannot treat either version as a boosted car from this catalogue.
Gearbox: the only measured difference
1.8 MT is Manual, 5 gears. 1.8 AT is Automatic, 4 gears.
That is one extra ratio on the Manual and one fewer on the Automatic. Engine, FWD, 140 hp, 162 Nm, 8.5 s to 100, and 208 km/h top speed do not change with that swap in the published figures.
What the extra ratio does not change, according to this data:
- 0–100 is 8.5 seconds on 1.8 MT and 8.5 seconds on 1.8 AT. Difference: 0.0 s.
- Top speed is 208 km/h on 1.8 MT and 208 km/h on 1.8 AT. Difference: 0 km/h.
- Kerb weight is 1050 kg on both. The Automatic does not add a listed kilogram.
- Tank is 50 litres on both. You do not get a larger tank with either gearbox.
If you expected the Automatic to be slower or heavier in this catalogue, the numbers do not support that. If you expected the Manual to be quicker to 100, the numbers do not support that either. The published performance is the same line twice.
Performance and economy: what is measured, what is not
0–100: 8.5 s (1.8 MT), 8.5 s (1.8 AT). Top speed: 208 km/h (1.8 MT), 208 km/h (1.8 AT).
Fuel consumption, city: not measured (1.8 MT), not measured (1.8 AT). Fuel consumption, highway: not measured on both. Fuel consumption, combined / mpg: not measured on both. CO2: not measured on both. Eco class: not measured on both. Fuel grade: not measured on both.
You cannot pick a version for better mpg, because mpg is not measured. You cannot pick a version for a lower eco class, because eco class is not measured. Any claim that one gearbox uses less fuel is outside this dataset.
Tank 50 L is the only fuel-related number you can use. Without a consumption figure, range is not measured.
Dimensions, weight, wheels, clearance
Kerb weight: 1050 kg on 1.8 MT and 1050 kg on 1.8 AT. Gross weight: 1445 kg on both. Payload: 395 kg on both. Ground clearance: not measured on both. Wheel sizes: not measured on both.
You cannot choose a version for more ground clearance or a different wheel size: those fields are empty for both. You cannot choose a generation for a weight cut: there is only one generation, and both versions sit at the same 1050 / 1445 kg pair.
Gross-to-kerb ratio is 1445 ÷ 1050 = 1.38. About 38% of kerb weight is available as payload before you hit the listed gross mass.
Generations: there is nothing later to “wait for”
Proton Putra has 1 generation, 1996-01-01 to 2004-12-31, body Coupe, 2 versions. No second generation is in the data. No restyling is listed as its own generation.
Buying advice that says “get the later generation” does not apply. Buying advice that says “avoid the first generation until the facelift” does not apply either: this catalogue does not split the 1996–2004 Coupe into a pre-facelift and a facelift generation.
Inside that one generation, both 1.8 MT and 1.8 AT share the same start and stop dates: 1996-01-01 to 2004-12-31. You are not choosing an early engine versus a late engine. You are choosing Manual 5 versus Automatic 4 on the same 140 hp Gasoline 1834 cm³ unit for the whole run.
Side-by-side: 1.8 MT vs 1.8 AT
| Version | hp | Nm | cm³ | Fuel | Cylinders | Layout | Boost | Gearbox | Gears | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 MT | 140 | 162 | 1834 | Gasoline | 4 | Inline | not measured | Manual | 5 | FWD |
| 1.8 AT | 140 | 162 | 1834 | Gasoline | 4 | Inline | not measured | Automatic | 4 | FWD |
Same table, performance and mass:
| Version | 0–100 (s) | Top speed (km/h) | City / highway / combined | Kerb (kg) | Gross (kg) | Tank (L) | Clearance | Wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 MT | 8.5 | 208 | not measured / not measured / not measured | 1050 | 1445 | 50 | not measured | not measured |
| 1.8 AT | 8.5 | 208 | not measured / not measured / not measured | 1050 | 1445 | 50 | not measured | not measured |
Arithmetic on that table:
- Power difference: 140 − 140 = 0 hp.
- Torque difference: 162 − 162 = 0 Nm.
- Displacement difference: 1834 − 1834 = 0 cm³.
- 0–100 difference: 8.5 − 8.5 = 0.0 s.
- Top-speed difference: 208 − 208 = 0 km/h.
- Kerb difference: 1050 − 1050 = 0 kg.
- Gear count difference: 5 − 4 = 1 gear (Manual has the extra ratio).
The only column that moves is gearbox type and gear count.
Problems and reliability as a buying filter
This catalogue does not list failure rates, known faults, or reliability scores for 1.8 MT or 1.8 AT. Reliability is not measured here. You cannot rank the two versions on that axis from these numbers.
What you can say from the mechanical list: both are FWD Coupe cars with the same 4-cylinder Inline Gasoline engine, the same multi-point injection description, the same Disc / Disc brakes, and the same Independent, spring front axle. Rear suspension is not measured, so you cannot prefer one version for a different rear layout.
Which version to choose — decision order
1. Do you want a 5-speed Manual? Take 1.8 MT. You get 140 hp, 162 Nm, 1834 cm³ Gasoline, FWD, 8.5 s to 100, 208 km/h, 1050 kg kerb, 50 L tank. You do not get a different engine or a different generation.
2. Do you want a 4-speed Automatic? Take 1.8 AT. You get the same 140 hp, 162 Nm, 1834 cm³, FWD, 8.5 s, 208 km/h, 1050 kg, 50 L. You give up one listed gear versus 1.8 MT. You do not give up listed acceleration or top speed.
3. Do you want more power, AWD, a later generation, measured mpg, or listed ground clearance? None of those exist as a third version in this data. There is no higher-hp Putra, no other displacement, no other body type besides Coupe, and no generation after 2004-12-31 in this catalogue.
4. Do not choose on fuel use. City, highway, and combined consumption are not measured on either 1.8 MT or 1.8 AT.
5. Do not choose on wheels or ride height. Wheel size and ground clearance are not measured on either version.
6. Weight per horsepower is the same. 7.50 kg/hp kerb, 10.32 kg/hp at 1445 kg gross, both versions.
If the two cars were priced the same, the data would still not show a performance winner. The buyer who prefers shifting buys 1.8 MT for the 5-speed Manual. The buyer who prefers not to shift buys 1.8 AT for the 4-speed Automatic. Every other published number is a tie.