Rags to riches: Proton versus Rolls-Royce

It's not every day you go from Australia's cheapest car to one of the most expensive -- or vice versa -- but that was the case recently after the Carsales Network got to slip behind the wheel of the new $645,000 Rolls-Royce Ghost.

Actually, the Ghost tested was closer to $750,000 by the time its extras were included.

As you'd expect, the Ghost is a superb machine that glides over the road -- except when you strike expansion joins or potholes. In that case, there's a loud thud just like every other car with air suspension. One day, some carmaker will solve this little problem. And my guess is it will be Rolls-Royce.

Any way... as we've said many times before, there are two fantastic feelings when you drive a super-rich car. One is picking it up, and the other is handing it back. Unscathed... In fact, I reckon handing it back in good knick outdoes picking it up... But for once you could say I was rather keen to stay behind the wheel of the super-rich Rolls a little longer.

I knew that when my time ended with the Ghost I was due to go and pick up a Proton. In the end, the friendly Rolls-Royce chap had to lever me out of the car. I tried not to sob too loudly in front of him.

According to my calculator you can buy 62-and-a-half Protons for the price of the Ghost I tested. That's a new Proton S16 every week for a year, plus 10-and-a-half as spares. To say there is a bit of a price gap between the two cars would define the word 'understatement'.

For the record, the Rolls-Royce and Proton test drives on the same day were pure co-incidences. It wasn't until after it all happened did the editor-in-chief realise the funny side of it all. In my mind, both were simply "just another car" to test, and both for different reasons of significance.

In addition to writing the reviews on these cars for the website you're reading now, it's good to be across such vehicles as we're inevitably going to be asked what Australia's cheapest car is like to drive.

As good as the Australian economy is, I suspect not quite as many people will want to know what the Rolls is like, but it is good to have the benchmark in your mind when comparing, say, the top end Jaguars, Benzes and BMWs.

A lot of people reckon a motoring journalist's opinion on a vehicle is distorted by the car they drove previously. So, as you can imagine, I didn't have the heart to tell the fine folks at Proton that I had just stepped out of a Rolls-Royce.

Having your opinion affected by other cars is legitimate when you're comparing direct rivals. And there's even something to be said when going from, say, a BMW sedan to a Ford Falcon. Often it can highlight the competitiveness of the cheaper car. That said, I reckon it takes a couple of years of doing this job to build up a data bank -- and a series of benchmarks -- in your mind of how various types of cars should behave. And so maybe in the early days there can be some duff calls made.

But after more than a decade of driving up to 250 cars a year -- many of those in back-to-back situations with rivals or like vehicles -- you get to develop a base line. Which is why I was able see the Rolls for all its merits -- and then hop into the little Proton S16 and love the bits I loved about it, and get angry about the bits I didn't like so much...

So, what's the most telling thing about my experiences with both of these cars at the opposite ends of the spectrum? Well, the $11,990 Proton S16 didn't thump over bumps...

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