Long Term Report 2 - Mahindra Gusto

Long Term Report 2 - Mahindra Gusto

One feature that works in favour of scooters when compared to a motorcycle is the presence of utility spaces. Our long-termer, the Mahindra Gusto VX has a large underseat storage, which did help me store my raincoat, phone, wallet, pillion's purse and a few other things; albeit not my large-sized helmet. This space is good enough for medium-sized or open-faced helmets. However, you wouldn't want to and shouldn't put things which have problem with the heat, so stacking and carrying some of your grocery and vegetables here is out of the question.

This is where the hook on the apron comes to the rescue, especially on short stints within the city. It also does help me hook some of the shopping bags on the weekends. There is enough space on the footboard to rest your feet with these things in between. Below the instrument cluster, there is a small storage bin that expands with a spring adjustment. This is good enough to hold your wallet or small receipts on the short stints within the city. However, it would be great to see how many people actually use it for this purpose. I managed to hook an umbrella here and keep it rested on the floorboard, which was again pointless as whenever it rained I had to pull over and only the raincoat under the seat helped.

The height adjustable seat is the most useful feature on the Gusto. This seat can be set in two modes, either highest or lowest point, the former being the most comfortable ride height for an average or tall heighted individual. Anyone shorter than this will find the latter seating position comfortable enough to keep their feet planted.

Lastly, the other two segment-first features are the remote flip-key and find-me lamps. The remote flip-key looks neat and comes as a delight to customers, as this feature is mostly seen in cars. The key folds in reducing space and stays in your pocket like a pen-drive. There are three buttons on the remote key, one to start the in-built torch light to find the key-hole and the other two (one with a beep and other in silent mode) to activate the find-me lamps. This feature is useful in locating the scooter parked in a crowded parking lot and a dark place, and of course to show off at most times.

What I would also want to bring to the notice of prospective buyers is that all these features are only available on the top-end VX version. The lower HX variant misses out on the flip-remote key, but gets the seat height adjustment feature. Alas, the most affordable DX variant loses out on all the three features. Overall, Mahindra has packed quite a lot in a scooter that comes at an affordable price.