Ahead of its launch on February 11, Proton has opened the order books for the 2026 Proton S70 at all 3S and 4S centres nationwide starting from today. The refreshed sedan is also making a special appearance at showrooms across the country this February 7-8 weekend, and it is at one of these that we caught up with the Flagship and Flagship X examples, effectively offering a full visual preview of the S70 MC1.
The rework on the S70 brings about minor exterior and interior revisions. On the outside, the changes are essentially lifted from the 2025 Geely Emgrand, as reported previously. The car gets new LED headlights, but gone is the flashy start-up sequence, and the turn signal indicators are now bulb units, having previously being integrated into the eyebrow-like LED daytime running lights. The turn signals take the place of the old high beams near the inner edge, so the high beam is now integrated into the main projector unit.
Other new bits include 17-inch two-tone alloy wheels for the Flagship, and these are almost identical to the outgoing unit, but with a more blade-like design for the spokes. As for the tyres, both the Flagship and X are shod with GitiComfort F22 tyres. These replace the previous Kumho Ecowing ES31, which took over from the Goodyear Assurance Triplemax 2s that were dropped when the Goodyear plant in Shah Alam closed in 2024.
As indicated by the earlier studio shots of the car, there’s a new bodykit, and here it can be seen on the Flagship X here. Design cues include a distinct accent framing the air intake, a more aggressive diffuser-like rear skirt and a boot lid lip spoiler with a sizeable centre cutout. Oh, and there are red accents too, although it’s only for black and white versions of the car, and so it’s not on the blue display example.
The big news is with the powertrain, with the S70 now featuring a 1.5 litre BHE15-EFZ i-GT turbo direct-injected four-cylinder engine, which replaces the GEP3 three-pot. This will equip all four variants available for the car, which are the base 1.5TD Executive, mid 1.5TD Premium, high 1.5TD Flagship and range-topping 1.5TD Flagship X.
With 181 PS at 5,500 rpm and 290 Nm of torque between 2,000 and 3,500 rpm, the new unit offers a considerable 31 PS/64 Nm jump over the old port-injected mill. The seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission has been retained, but the new engine allows the 2026 car to do the 0-100 km/h run in 7.5 seconds, which is 1.5 seconds faster than before.
Proton says this boost in performance comes at no expense to fuel economy, which is rated at 5.7 litres per 100 km (17.5 km per litre). The company says that running costs will lower thanks of a switch to a toothed timing chain, and recalibration work to the transmission means smoother gearshifts on the new car.
Inside, the cabin remains unchanged from the current S70, with only the headliner switching to black on the Flagship X (it remains beige for the rest of the range), and so you’ll find the familiar horizontal dashboard with a full-width air vent design and broad centre console topped by a T-shaped gear lever.
Standard fit items on the Executive include fabric seats, an 8.0-inch infotainment head unit, five USB ports, rear parking sensors and 16-inch alloys. The Premium adds on auto LED headlamps, a rear tail light bar, leatherette seats and a leatherette-wrapped steering wheel, auto air-conditioning, front parking sensors and a reverse camera.
Move up to the Flagship and that’s where the 17-inch rollers come in. The 10.25-inch TFT instrument display and 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen from before continues on unchanged, but there’s now wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The variant also adds on a wireless mobile charger, 360-degree HD camera with 3D display, a six-way powered driver’s seat and security window film from the Premium. As for the Flagship X, aside from the bodykit and black headliner, you get a sunroof and a front DVR.
Safety-wise, the S70 comes equipped with six airbags and items such as lane change assist, door opening warning, rear collision warning and rear cross traffic alert as standard. That’s for the Executive and Premium. As before, only the Flagship (and X) get Level 2 semi-autonomous driving features such as adaptive cruise control, lane centring assist and autonomous emergency braking.
No prices as yet, but this – along with full specification – will come later this week when the car is launched. For reference, the current S70 is priced at RM73,800 for the Executive, RM79,800 for the Premium, RM89,800 for the Flagship and RM94,800 for the sunroof-equipped Flagship X.
GALLERY: 2026 Proton S70 MC1, Flagship X
GALLERY: 2026 Proton S70 MC1, Flagship
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