Handling
The beautifully styled Saffire may not have the straight-line oomph of the other scoots here, but put them all on a twisty stretch of tarmac and the Saffire will come up trumps. The optimised chassis and suspension componentry are aided by the low kerb weight (92kg) and long wheelbase (1250mm). All of us found the Saffire to be the easiest to indulge in some foot peg scraping antics and the feedback delivered at full lean is the best of the lot. The Activa is a neat handler but is hampered somewhat by the shortest wheelbase (1235mm) and highest kerb weight (111kg).The Activa can achieve some serious lean angles but the rider doesn't feel as comfortable as on the Saffire. Maneuverability though is excellent and on par with the Saffire.At the handling stakes, the Marvel isn't left wanting. She takes to thetwisties with surprising eagerness and immediacy, thanks in part to the longest wheelbasehere (1262mm).

The Zoom ZX is the only scoot here that isn't a hoot to put through the twisties. Like all the other scoots here, the Zoom can scrape her footpegs, but the levels of feedback aren't as pronounced as in the others and she simply doesn't flow into corners as the others tend to. The wheelbase at1215mm is the shortest of the lot and this is part of the reason why the Zoom isn't in the league of the other scoots.

Braking
Both the Kinetic scooters sport 110mm drums front and rear that endow them with the best-in-class braking. Thanks partly to long wheelbase, the Marvel took 2.7 seconds to come to a stop from 60kmph, covering a distance of 22 metres in the process. The Zoom also put in a strong showing at the brake test, taking 2.9 seconds to come to a stop from 60kmph, covering a distance of 22.9 metres in the process.

The Honda Activa sports the largest brakes here, 130mm drums front and rear. However this doesn't translate into the best braking figures, taking 3 seconds to come to a complete stop from 60kmph, covering a distance of 24.3 metres in the process. Feel and control of the Activa's brakes were the best among the lot.

The Saffire sports 110mm drums front and rear, identical to the Kinetic scoots but in this case they leave a lot to be desired. She took all of 3.3 seconds to halt from 60kmph, traversing 26.4 metres in the process. A point to add is that all the scooters exhibited good stability under brakes with no rear end tending to step out of line or overtake the front.