The Sym GTS Evo 300i - The First Affordable Maxi-Scooter

The Sym GTS Evo 300i, for all its sporting pretensions, is aimed fairly and squarely at the big city gentlemen who wants a strong, executive scooter that is comfortable and masculine. When you consider comfort and style as a premium your only choice is the Sym GTS Evo 300i.

The Sym GTS Evo 300i is powered by a 263.7cc, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, 4-valves engine, with specially electroplated ceramic cylinder walls to reduce friction. Fueled by a modern, state of the art, electronic fuel injection system.

In terms of performance, the Sym GTS Evo 300i, does what the GTS in the name suggests, the Sym scooter has a serious sporty altitude with a quick throttle response. In terms of top speed the Sym GTS Evo 300 easily reaches 120km/h with a good amount of throttle to go (we promised not to go full throttle as the scoot was just unpacked). The good part of the GTS Evo 300 is the strong engine, riding with a pillion it didn't matter if we went uphill, downhill or into a strong headwind the 263,7cc engine had no problems keeping the speed constant.

Looking at the Sym GTS Evo 300i it quickly becomes clear that the scoot is comfortable, in terms of its upright seating position and softness of suspension. It suites someone with long legs, without being uncomfortable for somebody smaller. The distance between the seat and the handlebars is ergonomically superior to anything available in the Thai market. The saddle is good enough for long touring trips on the open road. Another thing that we really enjoyed was its screen. This keeps the wind and weather off your body at the expense of a little extra turbulence noise around your helmet. On a rainy day this is a welcome trade-off.

While with the Sym GTS Evo 300i may not have the convenience of being able to hand bags of shopping or a briefcase between your knees, thanks to the high central tunnel, you can at least store lots of junk under the seat in a helmet bay that takes a full-face helmet.

The Sym GTS Evo 300i comes with a 1495mm wheelbase which is not much bigger than the average Thai scooter, navigating the GTS Evo 300i in thigh city traffic is easy, with its low center of gravity you never notice the weight (182kg) of scooter. The front and preload adjustable rear shocks do a remarkable job in keeping the GTS Evo 300i stable under any road condition. The standard tires are tubeless and they mounted 110/90-13 on the front wheel and 130/70-13 on the rear.

While the roads we selected may not have provided ideal conditions for a handling comparison I have at least had the fortune to try both the Sym GTS Evo 300i and a Honda PCX 125i. As you might imagine, the Honda, with its larger 14” wheels, has the edge in terms of slow speed stability. But when we increase the speed the Sym GTS Evo 300i feels unshakable, which is confidence inspiring, yet it is also capable of really scratching even on imperfect roads thanks to soft but good travel suspension.

The Sym GTS Evo 300i is the pick of the two for outright maxi-scooter performance and perfect handling. What are the competitors for the Sym GTS Evo 300i in Thailand? The first is probably the Honda PCX 125i, which costs about 75,000 THB, the second is the Yamaha Tmax which costs 555,000 THB. The Sym GTS Evo 300i will be available from dealer throughout Thailand for 175,000 THB at the end of the year.