Hero Xoom 160 Real World Fuel Efficiency Tested

The Hero Xoom 160 is the company’s first maxi-scooter and also their first scooter with a liquid-cooled engine. Its 156cc, single-cylinder engine makes 14.6bhp at 8,000rpm and 14Nm at 6,500rpm. This engine is paired with a CVT.

These power and torque figures are in the same ballpark as the competition.It is tuned to offer good performance but not in a sprightly manner. We put the scooter through the usual BikeWale fuel economy test cycle and the results were impressive.

The test route

Before we get to the results, let’s establish the test conditions, shall we? We stuck to a loop of 10km and covered a little over 50km, by completing five rounds and also accounting the short distance between the fuel pump and the test route.

We conducted the test during the day, with traffic ranging between moderate to heavy. There are straights, corners and a few signals on this route. What helped the Xoom 160’s case in this regard was the i3S stop/start system.

With the help of stop/start, the scooter shuts off while idling at a signal. All one has to do is press any one of the brake levers and roll on the throttle to wake up the engine and get going. This saves those precious few millilitres of petrol in stop-go traffic or signals, and that adds up to savings over a period of time.

We also rode the scooter as efficiently as possible, by being smooth on the throttle and avoiding sudden braking or acceleration. We refrained from going beyond 55-60kmph on the speedo, at any given time.

The results

With a 156cc scooter lugging around 142kg plus an 85kg rider, it returned 39.5kmpl. This is a pretty good number only slightly lower than the much smaller and lighter Yamaha Aerox 155. With that kind of efficiency and a 7-litres fuel tank, expect a range of 276km. Remember that the fuel economy figure will vary as per individual riding styles, speeds, tyre pressures and the condition of the scooter

Photography by Kapil Angane