2027 Proton S70 MC2 turbo facelift spied once again – new looks, old 17-inch wheels, coming this year?

Proton may have only just launched the naturally-aspirated S70, but behind the scenes it’s hard at work at what comes next. Our very own Harvinder Singh sighted a camouflaged prototype of the facelifted turbo model on test along the KESAS expressway, giving us our clearest view yet of the refreshed segment-straddling sedan.

The MC2 lineup will offer aforementioned NA variants as well as this turbo model, but only the latter will receive the visual changes that are visible through the disguise. This, by the way, looks to be an in-house-designed facelift, as the Geely Emgrand on which the S70 is based was only given a mild update in 2024, already applied on the MC1 earlier this year.

On the cards are new taillights with redesigned segmented light guides (not shown here), a revised rear bumper and quad tailpipes from the X50, the latter an effort to emphasise Proton’s claim of the S70 being “Malaysia’s sporty sedan”.

Also fitted are new wheels, except they’re not exactly new. They may look like the 17-inch ten-spoke rollers currently fitted to the MC1 Flagship, but look closely and you’ll notice that the design is different, with five of the spokes being thicker and the other five being thinner, slotting in between the main ones. Does that sound familiar to you?

The facelift is set to use the old 17-inch wheels (left), replacing the MC1 rollers

Yes, these appear to be the wheels fitted to the original S70 Flagship, presumably being reintroduced to differentiate the range-topper from the recently-introduced Prime that also gets the MC1 17s. That’s no great tragedy, as I actually prefer the older look myself, but it’s still strange for the newest, most expensive variant to ride on “old” wheels.

Past spyshots have also shown a new front end with a new grille and a sportier-looking front bumper with larger air intakes. While the headlights were covered up as well, we can see the spar indicating the presence of the MC1’s LED lamps, which means Proton hasn’t also brought back the old units with LED indicators. Also notable were the red brake callipers hiding behind a set of new wheels on the mule shown below, indicating a higher-spec variant.

Elsewhere, the S70 could follow in the footsteps of the facelifted X50 in sporting an all-new, in-house-designed interior. If it does, you can expect a larger touchscreen and increased centre console storage, just like in its SUV sibling. The front passenger is also set to benefit from a keyless entry button on the external door handle, joining the driver’s side.

The facelifted S70 turbo will continue to utilise the 1.5 litre BHE15-EFZ i-GT turbo direct-injected four-cylinder engine that was only just added with the MC1. It produces 181 PS at 5,500 rpm and 290 Nm of torque between 2,000 and 3,500 rpm, all sent to the front wheels through the usual seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission.

This combination delivers a significant performance advantage over the BHE15-CFN naturally-aspirated port-injected unit and CVT in the Lite and Prime, with an extra 61 PS and 140 Nm. This gets it from zero to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds, and while Proton hasn’t announced a century sprint time for the NA version, don’t expect anything below the ten second mark.

Safety-wise, the turbo models will be the only ones to feature advanced driver assists such as autonomous emergency braking and Level 2 semi-autonomous driving functionality. It remains to be seen if this will be extended to the Premium variant like the X50 or continue to be reserved for the top-spec Flagship and Flagship X. With the MC2 NA variants already on sale, could we see the true facelift being launched before the year end?