Vespa 150 SXL and VXL Reviewed – Fun Sized Scooters

Ever since they have made a comeback to India in 2012, Vespa has tried to do things differently. Despite its premium pricing, they have managed to carve a niche for themselves. And although their sales numbers aren't sky high, they have been absolutely clear about their premium scooter positioning. And while all other two-wheeler manufacturers have been cowering to introduce a scooter displacing more than 125cc, Vespa has once again ventured into unknown waters. Like before, these Vespas are pretty curvy-looking and still manage to rock that old-school Italian scooter look. On the design front, the pair gets a new digital readout that tells time, the odometer reading and two tripmeters, while an analogue speedometer sits atop dominantly, on both scooters. They exude top quality materials and exceptional fit and finish levels, from the matte paintjobs to the buttons.



The VXL gets a lockable storage space near your knees while the SXL gets pockets on the steering column. Both get 11-inch five-spoke alloys with chunkier tyres to provide good levels of grip on various surfaces. The only differences between the VXL and the SXL are the blackened out wheels and absence of a grab rail on the latter while headlamps, mirrors and taillamps, which are rectangular-shaped compared to the more rounded VXL. The windscreen and crash guards seen on the maroon SXL are add-ons. The only possible drawback you would notice with the pair is that the footwells of both scoots aren’t flat, so balancing bags or any equipment you plan on ferrying around could get a little tricky. That and the horn is a bit out of reach, but that’s not a bad thing for India.



These scooters are really light, and you can chuck them around all day, slicing your way past traffic with ease. The turning radius is brilliant for the city and the new seats on the two aren’t very soft and felt accommodating over close to a two and a half hour ride. The one-sided front and mono-rear suspension setup held up really well and doesn’t dive over hard braking and won’t make you suffer over rutted surfaces.



One of the main talking points of these scooters is the new 150cc motor that lies in the heart of these Italians. Piaggio’s new 150cc, 3-valve, single cylinder engine that produces a maximum power of 11.4bhp and 11.5Nm. Power delivery is as smooth and refined as they come with good amount of grunt kicking in to propel the scooter off the line briskly.



Overall, the best looking scooters you can buy in India just got a little more grunt. Mid range performance isn’t too bad either, but where you’ll mainly tell the difference from the old motor is when you have a pillion aboard. The new scooters are able to propel themselves with more relative ease than before. Now, the prices of these scooters is ₹84,641 for the VXL 150cc and ₹88,696 for the SXL 150cc, which is still a bit steep.