Scooters in India have never really been out of the two-wheeler market. While one major player left the buzzing scooter market (even though it had a vibrant history with scooters) to concentrate fully on motorcycles, we have been busy buying Activas in tons! In fact, ironically, Activa outsells Splendor almost every other month to bag the tag of the largest selling two wheeler in the country…
Long, long ago, the automatic scooter industry in India was ruled by TVS Scooty when every other automatic scooter was a Scooty. The trend changed with the launch of the Honda Activa (and other players). But TVS has not given up. It recently launched the largest capacity Scooty yet, the Zest. But does it have what it takes to challenge the mighty? Here is a comparison between the entry crop of 110cc segment scooters and the newly launched TVS Scooty Zest.
Scooty Zest vs Activa i vs Ray Z vs Pleasure
| Specification | TVS Scooty Zest | Honda Activa i | Yamaha Ray Z | Hero Pleasure |
| Engine | 109.7cc CVTi air cooled | 109.2cc OHC air cooled | 113cc SOHC air cooled | 102cc OHC air cooled |
| Power | 8PS @7500rpm | 7.9PS @7500rpm | 7.1PS @7500rpm | 6.8PS @7000rpm |
| Torque | 8.8Nm @5500rpm | 8.74Nm @5500rpm | 8.1Nm @5000rpm | 7.85Nm @5000rpm |
| L×B×H (in mm)0 | 1770×660×1139 | 1795×705×1115 | 1835×675×1090 | 1750×705×1115 |
| Wheelbase | 1250mm | 1238mm | 1270mm | 1240mm |
| Seat height | 760mm | 765mm | 760mm | 765mm |
| Ground Clearance | N/A | 165mm | 128mm | 125mm |
| Fuel tank | 5L | 5.3L | 5L | 5L |
| Front tire | 90/100 R10 (tubeless) | 90/100 R10 (tubeless) | 90/100 R10 (with tube) | 90/100 R10 (tubeless) |
| Rear tire | 90/90 R10 (tubeless) | 90/100 R10 (tubeless) | 90/100 R10 (with tube) | 90/100 R10 (tubeless) |
| Price (ex-showroom, Delhi) | Rs 42,300 | Rs 43,680 | Rs 48,000 | Rs 43,000 |
Hero MotoCorp’s Pleasure, with its outdated engine, is the least powerful of the lot, add to that its least ground clearance. Yamaha’s Ray Z, though has the largest engine, but doesn’t produce proportionate power and surprisingly, doesn’t even get tubeless tyres!
The Activa i has the right power as well as the right specs in everything, almost fit to be the segment leader in the entry segment. So where does the Zest score? The killer price tag! At just Rs 42,300 (ex-showroom, Delhi), it is certainly the cheapest of the lot. In addition to that, it is the most powerful as well as the most torquey here, along with being very lightweight.
We will soon be taking the TVS Scooty Zest for a spin to gauge how good a scooter it has turned out to be….
