Saturday, August 18, 2007

Review- New Apache RTR 160

The hottest new baby(the RTR 160) from the stable of TVS-Racing, looks like a winner much like its predecessor!. I test rode this baby today and was totally overwhelmed by it! What is this RTR??. It can be anything from Ready-to-Race, Ready-to-Rule, but for me it is Race-to-Rule. Lets talk about looks first:-

In a nutshell killer looks!, the roto-petal disc brake, the split grab-rails, racing stripes, all black body parts, the overall racing ergonomics takes this baby on a all together different level from its contemporaries. The body works people at TVS have given Baja and Hero Honda a lot to think about.
Ok the looks are deadly and all, but what about the real bike. RTR 160 scores high on pick-up. Apache already had the highest power-to-weight ratio in its category, with the more powerful 160cc engine Apache has become a biker's delight! The earlier version had 13.5bhp and the RTR has 15.2 bhp. A wider wheel base will quieten the critics of earlier version who claimed that a smaller wheel base made it relatively unstable(though it was minimally smaller than its contemporaries).
The bike seems very pro-racing in its looks and driving. The driver seat is more sports bike oriented, and the pillion seat has been made to bring the sexy-cute thing behind you a bit more closer!!
One thing where the older version scores is the single peg gear changer(though it is a cosmetic difference, you only take 1 day to get yourself accustomed to the new design).

So summing up much like its predecessor TVS has a winner on its hand(the Apache made history by grabbing the highest number of biking-awards in a single calendar year), the RTR seems very likely to leverage the position of TVS motor in the minds of masses. Only hindrance that the sales can face(or will face) is the mentalblock in people's mind who are hunged on to Bajaj Pulsar, but with successive good products TVS auto looks determined to break the mentalblock.
One good thing that the marketing guys at TVS have done since the inception of Apache is that they have their target audience very clear in mind, and with appealing advertisements the sales are sure to improve and take Bajaj Auto full on!!

For more info on the bike:- http://www.tvsapache.com

2 comments:

Sagar said...

Hi ,
I am planning to buy THE RTR.. I have a pulsar that has been nicknamed( and rightly so) Tractor by friends. I just took a test drive of the Beast. I love the way she looks, the feel of the RTR is alos amazing. The only worry i have is with the milage. anybody using her from say 5 to 6 months.. can you please tel me about what is the avarage i can expect out of it????

Thanks in advance.

Prakhar said...

heyy sagar, i own the earlier version of Apache, and milegae wise its not a problem. See, apache has 2 modes:- cruise mode and the ZOOM mode. if u drive in cruise mode then u get pretty good milegae, in my case it goes till 45km/l. RTR is 160cc , the old one is 150cc, so u can bring it down a bit. hmm, but all depends on how u treat ur bike in the first few months, don't force it much, luv her n she'll luv u back!!1