Hero Splendor Plus: Which Variant To Buy This Diwali?

The Hero Splendor+ is one of the best commuter bikes to buy this Diwali as it is very cost effective to maintain, has unmatched fuel efficiency and is quite reliable as a daily commuter. It comes in four variants: Drum Brake (Rs 78,912), I3S (Rs 80,045), Special Edition (Rs 79,715), and 125 Million Edition (Rs 81,666). 

What's Common Between The Variants

All four variants are mechanically identical. The 97.2 cc engine produces 8.02 PS and 8.05 Nm, and has a claimed mileage of 70 kmpl. However, in our mileage tests, it exceeded expectations and returned 83.2 kmpl in the city and 95.8 kmpl on the highway. It is mated to a 4-speed gearbox. 

The most affordable variant is called the Drum Brake, and yet all the variants share the same braking setup with Integrated Braking System, which is what Hero calls the combined braking system. The suspension duties are handled by a telescopic fork in the front and pre-load adjustable twin shock absorbers at the rear. 

The lighting is all-halogen across the board. The analogue instrument cluster provides the basic information at a glance with a speedometer, odometer and a fuel gauge. All the variants have an electric- as well as a kick-start, along with side-stand engine cut-off feature. They all weigh quite light at 112 kg and the seat height is very accessible at 785 mm. 

The Drum Brake and I3S variants are offered in: Blue Black, Black Heavy Grey, Sports Red Black, Black Red Purple, and Force Silver. 

The Special Edition variant is offered in three colours: Matt Vernier Grey, Black and Accent, and Matt Grey. The 125 Million Edition has only one colour option: Industrial Dark Grey.

What's Not Common Between The Variants

The only feature difference between the base Drum Brake variant and other variants is the inclusion of Hero’s I3S technology (idle start-stop feature), that saves fuel during brief stops at a signal or a traffic blockade. The engine shuts off automatically when it idles for a while in traffic. It comes back to life once you pull the clutch lever. The higher priced Special Edition and 125 Million Edition are just cosmetically different from the I3S variant.

BikeDekho Says

The best variant to buy in our opinion is the base variant as it offers a competitive price tag. The higher-end variants only have fancier colours. Since the Splendor is already super fuel-efficient, we’d suggest you skip the one with i3S. This variant makes sense only if you use this feature often and want to squeeze every drop of fuel. 

The Hero Splendor+ is a highly fuel efficient, reliable and practical daily commuter. And we recommend its I3S variant for you to purchase this festive season as it has the idle start-stop feature that makes it even more fuel efficient and costs just Rs 1,133 over the Drum Brake variant. If you prefer either Special Edition or the 125 Million Edition variants, you should know that despite being more expensive than the I3S variant, they are essentially the same with different cosmetics.