Mahindra Duro - Power and style to impress you

In the burgeoning Indian automobile market come the Mahindra's launched metro scooters: "Mahindra Rodeo" and "Mahindra Duro." to add some spice to the already competitive scooter market. Identifying the new lane in the two wheeler market that India has, the two scooters promise to offer you (read: the scooter riders) exactly the kind of drive you were looking for.

Before digging into the vehicle's specification and features, you should know the market price of this vehicle. As of this writing, the Rodeo is available at Rs. 41,300, whilst the ex-showroom price for the Duro is Rs.38,300 (price may vary depending on your city).



For the price, given the fact that most of the vehicles are falling similarly along the lines costs above and around Rs. 40,000, Mahindra Duro vehicle provides the best possible investment.

The Mahindra's two-wheeler drive, Duro, is of course competing against the likes of the popular scooters including the Honda Activa, Honda Dio, Aviator, TVS Scooty Streak, Suzuki Access and the Hero Honda Pleasure.

In addition to this, the Mahindra Duro is said to top speed of 80kmph. And you would know that it's quite a good speed for any scooter.

Features of the Mahindra Duro
Coming over to the features, the Mahindra Duro offers a stylish looks powered up with 125 cc engine, enough to cater the needs of a small Indian family. Touted as the best VFM (value-for-money) scooter it oozes style and power and equipped with a battery that is the most powerful in the segment to ensure that the electricals work for long and not to mention about the wide braking system to ensure effective braking during your trip to the narrow Indian roads and to add to the safety and comfort of the rider. The big boot in the front and monstrous fuel tank (the largest one in the segment) make it a winner in the segment.

Styling and design
The design available in the flying colors has a steady look with admirable finish, thanks to the Mahindra Duro's styling team they could give it more meat and given a it a like-me kind of looks much better than Kinetic Flyte and appeals to both the sexes. The wide array of colors is definitely going to leave you with choices to think over. Overall, the glitzy decals, chrome element, the mudguard, headlight, tail grab rail all give stylish look complementing the modern day use.



Mahindra Duro also sports generous storage space under seat and big seat enough to carry your folks as pillions anytime of the day. Because of the enticing honking feature, even your friend riding pillion will never complain about this vehicle. The strikingly contour design body, as well as the ergonomically designed parts of this scooter will impress you if ONLY this is your first two-wheeler buy. If you are waiting to buy this vehicle for your everyday usage, then give it a visit to any of the nearest Mahindra Two-Wheeler Showroom and you will notice the comfort factor during your test drive.

Be it the handle, the design, or the speed, Mahindra Duro two wheeler lives up to its expectation. Not only will you instantly notice the scooter but you'd love to try your hands on it and do some riding. The stylish looks kind of constantly grow on you.

Engine, power and performance of the Duro
The automatic scooter is powered by a 124.6 cc 4-stroke engine which gives peak power of 8 bhp at 7000 rpm and produces peak torque of 9Nm at 5500 rpm. Power delivery looks very good and in fact one of the best in the segment (way much better than Honda Activa). However, Mahindra Duro still hangs on with old fashioned spring loaded suspension it isn't a great ride on the city's pothole laden roads.

As for pick up, for regular city drive, Duro has a great engine not to let you down and while it feels light its potential and being smooth at high rpm range will surely take you by surprise. But a fuel efficiency of 32-37 kmpl seriously makes the Duro a loser. Blame on its heavy body (with a kerb weight of 135kg Duro is the heaviest of all the scooters) fuel efficiency has been affected.

Color options
The Mahindra Duro is available in 6 vibrant and elegant shades sporting from a fierce black to Golden beige looks (other vibrant colors include Pearl white, Cappuccino Brown, Mystique Grey and Majestic Maroon). You can check in your nearest showroom to see what they have to offer, otherwise you could request for the desired choice of colors you are banking on.

Why deny the buy of the Mahindra Duro
With all that being said, the Duro has some cons too, so you deny its buy. The poor after sales to mention as the top most concern (it though depends on dealers), the lack of digital console is a serious let down, it ain't for tall riders and poor mileage is another concern especially when the petrol prices are revised as frequently as they are right now.

Final word
Our verdict, the Mahindra Duro is still a VFM scooter and with 6 FREE services and competitive pricing makes it a hard-to-deny scooter buy. But should the mileage be a factor you look in a scooter it is recommended that you take a look at those giving 40-45 kmpl especially the TVS Wego or the Suzuki Access 125, both of which are proven handlers and touted as mileage champs amongst scooters.

Nonetheless, be prepared to shell out more money for either of these. Also, if you want to go for the Suzuki Access you need to be patient with the big waiting period and of the two TVS service is rated a much better bet.