From the moment it was launched it was dubbed the ‘Conti Killer’. With bells and whistles that many a car manufacturer find hard to conjure up and price tag that defies logic, the Proton S70 Turbo has and continue to turn heads.
Some of the reasons that it is a hit is because of its affordability. Ranging roughly from RM79,800 to RM94,800 depending on the variant, it costs a fraction of what entry-level BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Volkswagen models command. This gives us, the buyers, “continental-like” size and road presence on a local budget.
A colleague of mine owns a unit and I was amazed the number of features it had. Heck, it even came with a sunroof! (yes, yes I get the argument. ‘one hardly uses it, so why do I need to pay extra for it?’) But, people feel good just to have it. By the way, isn’t buying cars about the feel good factor?
Featuring a punchy 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that produces up to 181 PS and 290 Nm of torque in its recent configuration, paired with a 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission with manual mode, many have commented that it outpunches smaller-displacement or base foreign competitors.
According to reports, the Proton S70 has sold over 20,709 units from January to September 2026. To put that into perspective, that’s 76 cars being sold every single day!
You may argue that the S70 uses a torsion beam rear suspension setup and that it does not offer driving dynamics, cornering finesse, or ride comfort of true European brands or even benchmark Japanese/C-segment alternatives like the Honda Civic or Mazda 3.
You may even join the bandwagon of widespread jokes online about the “Conti Killer” being downgraded to taxi status when the nickname took a humorous turn in mid-2026 when the government selected the Proton S70 as the official vehicle for the new Teksi Madani Nasional (e-hailing and taxi) program. Some buyers just don’t really care about all this. They just want a car that’s fast, reasonably priced with decent features in this day and age and one
