TVS Victor : Detailed Review

It isn’t an easy decision to discontinue one of your most successful products but that is what TVS did with the Victor a few years back. With the Victor TVS had commenced its journey in the 110cc commuter segment that was then dominated by Hero MotoCorp in 2001. Although it never really dented the sales chart of Hero, the Victor was able to increases sales figure for the Hosur based manufacturer significantly. But sadly the Victor brand couldn’t survive the heat of competition and had to be discontinued. But TVS has been on a revival path in the past few years and most of its new launches have been doing fairly good business. With premium commuter bikes gaining prominence, TVS has decided to resurrect the Victor brand. We took the 2016 TVS Victor for a spin around its test track in the manufacturer’s production facility in Hosur. Does the new offering do justice to the Victor badge? Read on.

With respect to styling, the TVS Victor isn’t going to set any design benchmark in the commuter segment. The fact that it looks identical to the TVS Star City+ is a disappointment as we feel that the Victor should have gotten its distinctive identity. But TVS claims that it wanted to keep the styling similar to maintain the family connect. The headlight housing is a large bikini fairing unit with a pronounced headlamp (55 watt) above which sits a dual layered smoked windscreen. There are pinched surfaces and creases on the headlight which are subtle and look good in flesh.  The fuel tank has been carried forward from the Star City+ but it now gets an aircraft style fuel cap. The tail section is also similar to its sibling but the tail lamp design is new and distinctive.

The stubby exhaust muffler and the contrast colour on the rear suspension spring are the standout details and we liked the 3D badges for the TVS and Victor branding. The instrument console is a semi-digital unit with a large tachometer taking prominence. The speedometer, trip meter, odometer and fuel gauge get a digital display, and eco and power mode indicators are also offered along with a service indicator. It also gets hazard lights which are activated via an engine kill like switch on the right hand side which is a bit confusing. Switch gear quality and overall fit and finish is the best in its sector and even comparable to bikes a few segments higher to it. 

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Powering the new TVS Victor is the same 110cc, air-cooled motor as seen on the Star City+. But the engine has got an added benefit of 3 valves and has been tuned to produce 9.6PS of power and 9.4Nm of peak torque. This makes the 2016 TVS Victor 1.3PS and 1.3Nm more powerful than its sibling. Real world performance of the motorcycle is good with decent acceleration. The motor has been tuned to deliver strong mid-range performance and aiding it further is the torque that is available on tap easily. The bike felt at ease cruising around 70kmph and it was only when the engine was pushed hard that vibrations started seeping in. Throttle response was nice and the clutch was light and easy to operate. The 4-speed gearbox though wasn’t great as it felt as gear shifts felt a bit sticky. Overall NVH levels were also low and TVS claims that the 2016 Victor will deliver a real world fuel efficiency of 76kmpl if ridden sedately. We couldn’t confirm the exact mileage of the TVS Victor as it was a track test but we will soon ride the new Victor in real world conditions to get you the exact fuel efficiency figure. 

Riding posture on the new TVS Victor is upright and comfortable being a commuter offering. The long seat meant that the pillion rider wouldn’t be struggling for space. On the corners, the new Victor felt composed with decent grip from the tyres and the chassis also felt stiffer and more communicative than the one we found on the Star City+. But the real test of the 2016 TVS Victor will be on the traffic infested streets where manoeuvrability and agility of the bike matters.

Ride quality of the bike was very impressive as we rode the bike on cobbled surfaces and it gulped down all the undulations effortlessly. Our test bike was equipped with optional petal disc brake at front and braking performance was good with nice bite being offered from the brakes. We would encourage buyers to opt for the disc brake variant owing to its better braking performance over the conventional drum brake at a marginal premium. 

The 2016 TVS Victor has been priced at Rs 49,490 for the drum variant and Rs 51,490 for the disc brake version (both prices ex-showroom Delhi). At the above price point, the Victor does manage to undercut its rivals in the value proposition. Overall as a product, the new TVS Victor is impressive with likeable performance, comfortable ride quality and useful bunch of features. The styling of the bike is good but the resemblance to the Star City+ is a disappointment. The Victor brand enjoys a special connect with buyers in the commuter segment and this should work in the favour of the new motorcycle. Whether that happens or not only the course of time will answer, but as a product the TVS Victor has what it takes to compete against its rivals and make a name for itself in this fiercely competitive segment.