Honda Dio

The Honda Dio is a stylish scooter, which is popular among youngsters because of its youthful design. But does the Dio still have what it takes to stay relevant in the present? Let’s find out.

The Dio has always had a stylish and sporty design and while the overall shape is still similar to the older Dio, the current-gen scooter comes with modern elements like an apron-mounted all-LED headlight (in Deluxe and H-smart variants) with a sleek LED DRL (daytime running light) mounted on the handlebar cowl and bulb-type indicators. At the rear, the sporty-looking split grab rails are complemented by an angular tail lamp.

The Honda Dio is powered by a BS6.2-compliant 109.51cc air-cooled engine which produces 7.85PS at 8000rpm and 9.03Nm at 5250rpm. This makes it slightly more powerful and torquier than the Honda Activa 6G. In typical Honda fashion, the engine is pretty refined and delivers good mileage. The Dio comes with Honda reliability and is easy to maintain too. In our test, the Honda Dio delivered a mileage of 55kmpl in the city and 59.5kmpl on the highway.

For the longest time, the Dio used to come with a leading link front suspension. However, the current generation version comes with a telescopic fork which considerably improves the ride quality., Thanks to the larger 12-inch front wheel, the scooter now handles better than the older version. That said, the rear still continues with a 10-inch wheel. The Dio still comes with 130mm drum brakes at both ends. It would have been better if Honda had given it a front disc brake, at least in the H-Smart variant. The scooter has a seat height of 765mm which makes it accessible to shorter riders. The 160mm of ground clearance helps it ride over most bumps and potholes without scraping the bottom of the scooter. At 103kg (kerb), the scooter is quite light too.

The Honda Dio comes with a well-padded single-piece seat. At 765mm, the seat is pretty accessible for shorter riders too. This, coupled with the light 103kg kerb weight, makes it an ideal choice for beginner riders. The larger 12-inch front wheel and telescopic fork helps it glide through potholes and make it a lot more comfortable on bad roads than the older-generation Dio.

The new fully digital instrument cluster is quite info-packed with real-time and average fuel efficiency on display along with the regular set of information like a speedometer, trip meter, fuel gauge, odometer and basic tell-tale lights. The Honda Dio also shares a few features with the Honda Activa 6G, like a silent starter, the external fuel filler cap providing added convenience, and the side-stand engine cut-off function. 

The H-smart variant comes with quite a bit of additional features like we saw on the Activa 6G H-Smart including the remote key fob instead of a physical key, that brings new features such as geo-fencing and proximity unlock.

The Honda Dio is a great choice for those looking for tried-and-tested options in the sporty 110cc scooter segment. While the addition of keyless features in the H-smart variant is welcome, it would’ve been a lot more helpful if Honda had offered smartphone connectivity with turn-by-turn navigation. However, if you want the Honda Activa’s reliability but in a slightly more modern design language, the Honda Dio is a great option.