Indigenous ingenuity

The Mahindra Gusto, though good on its own, still lags slightly behind the competition

October 29, 2014 05:31 pm | Updated May 23, 2016 06:50 pm IST

The Mahindra Gusto

The Mahindra Gusto

Mahindra Two-Wheelers’ newest scooter, the Gusto, has been built for Indian and international markets. It has been indigenously developed from the ground up by Mahindra Two-Wheelers R&D division, located on the outskirts of Pune.

The Gusto sports good paint quality, and comes with straight body lines. It’s a somewhat boxy looking scooter, styled conservatively to appeal to a wider audience. Stylish fins placed next to a set of integrated turn signal indicators, lend good relief to the front apron. The smartly-designed headlight provides good visibility at night, and comes supported by a set of LED lamps as well. Switchgear feels premium, is nice to touch and easy to come to terms with. The palm grips could have done with better feel, and likewise, both brake levers don’t feel as good as on every other scooter in India. It does well to include a rear brake locking clamp as standard, an important feature on gearless scooters for improving safety when stationary.

The new scooter comes with large, well placed rear-view mirrors that provide a clear rear view covering an ample field, however, their mounting stems come with flimsy, ill-fitting cladding. The backlit instruments panel displays an easily legible speedometer, odometer and fuel-gauge apart from the other regular warning icons. Just beneath sits a handy storage compartment. Even a taller rider’s knees have enough space to move around freely when turning the handlebar, which is good. Two bag-hooks are in place for quick storage in the foot-well region.

The flip-to-access key gives this Mahindra an up-market feel, and has an inbuilt torch and two extra buttons. The first button operates a jingle and flashes the turn indicators, while the other silently flashes only the indicators to help owners locate their scooter in a crowded or dark parking lot.

A unique and really clever feature is the adjustable seat, which can be adjusted 35mm up or down with minimal effort, a first on an Indian scooter. A stopper built in the hinge to clamp the seat open ensures that it doesn't fall when held open to access the roomy under-seat storage bay.

The Gusto comes with well designed pillion footrests and a flip-down lady footrest. On the other side, a silencer protrudes backwards with its heat shield. The kick-start lever is well designed to ensure easy starts without calling upon undue rider effort. The grab-handle looks smart, as does its large, rear tail-light section. Overall build quality is adequate, although fit-finish as well as rubber and plastics all need improvement.

The new scooter is powered by a four-stroke, 109.6cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with peak power output of 8bhp generated at 7,500rpm, and 0.8kgm of torque coming in at 5,500rpm. Mahindra Two-Wheelers tell us the Gusto uses their M-TEC engine technology, featuring a strengthened crankshaft and bearings, a silent-chain, higher inertia magneto with greater energy ignition coil and an efficient regulator. Once fired up and on the go, the carburetor-fed engine does well to feel butter smooth, and vibe-free throughout its powerband. A distinctive whine does, however, infringe on this otherwise refined sounding engine. Acceleration could also be better – it lacks good enough low and mid-range pep for this class of scooter, calling for riders to open an undue amount of throttle to gain adequate performance. It can power you to respectable speeds, an indicated 80kph being easily achieved on this gearless scooter.

Padding on the Mahindra Gusto saddle feels much too soft, and also fails to allow riders to settle into and sit comfortably. The riding position is good, upright and roomy with the flat floorboard that's comfortable enough as well.

It comes with telescopic suspension in front, but ride quality isn’t as good as expected - the suspension feels too rigid and lacks adequate plush feel. Tyre grip is reasonable; the Gusto gets tubeless rubber as standard. A good turning radius is also a boon on the new scooter; it has a 1,275mm wheelbase. This Mahindra, whilst no segment topper, handles reasonably well, although it feels slightly heavier than rival scooters in city riding conditions.

It is priced at par for its segment, retailing for Rs 43,000-47,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), positioning the latest Mahindra well in the market, ready to meet it rivals. However, although Mahindra Two-Wheelers is clearly moving in the right direction, with a steadily improving product line-up, the Gusto still comes with more than a fair share of rough edges, all of which need to be smoothened out, before this scooter matches its many rivals already plying Indian streets.

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