- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 2 seats
- Engine
1.5i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
64kW, 120Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 6.6L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
1/5 star (2008)
2009 Proton Jumbuck – Long Term Update
2009 Proton Jumbuck - Long Term Car Update
I wasn’t looking forward to it, I had to drive the Proton Jumbuck, surely I could move house in the BMW 7 Series we had on loan.
I couldn’t convince Road Test Editor Matt Brogan to get out of the front seat though, where he was busy programming the distribution of the heated seats.
I sucked it up and turned the Jumbuck over for a quick drive to my house where all efforts were underway to dismantle my gazillion belongings.
It wasn’t long before it struck me that the Jumbuck isn’t actually that bad.
The smells, the noises and the feel reminded me of a Holden Camira, which in my opinion wasn’t really that much of a bad car!
No ABS, no airbags and a cable controlled throttle meant that the Jumbuck is about as honest as they come. It doesn’t claim to be the next best thing in the utility world, nor does it claim to be the fastest ute on the planet, its claim is that it can carry things and getting the job done.
After Matt putting around 1500 kilometres on the odometer, I went to work filling in the next 750km.
Although the ride is pretty rough without a load in the tray, it seems to hold tightly to the road. The steering is very direct and as such the car feels extremely agile and nimble.
The tray has six hooks in total (three on each side), which meant it was easy to tie things down. The tray is also quite deep, so you can fit quite a bit into the load space.
If you fill the tray and weigh the Jumbuck down, the ride quality increases significantly. It’s a character trait of leaf spring suspension.
Gear shifts from third to second require a bit of a shove due to the configuration of the shift pattern, but aside from that, driving the Jumbuck is right on the money.
The heater and air-conditioning both work very well and the stereo is pretty decent for such an affordable ute.
The Jumbuck has me converted; it’s a pearler for the price and does the job without complaints. You can see why it appeals to the farming community to such a degree, due to its simplicity, I can see this thing trucking along for years to come!
It’s due for its first service soon, so we’ll report back with how it all goes!