All along, Aprilia has used the RS imitation series and the Tuono sports street car series to walk on two legs to emphasize its sports attributes.
Since the GPR125 was launched in the domestic market in 2015, we have seen the growth of imitation racing cars in this series, but we have not been able to wait for the sports street cars of the Tono series. Fans have been looking forward to the emergence of an orthodox European-style streetcar with GPR sports qualities but a less hardcore driving posture.
Today, it's finally here!
On March 23, Zongshen Piaggio launched the sports street car GPR250S based on its own imitation racing model GPR250R, with a guiding price of 24800 yuan.
The GPR250S follows the styling style of the Aprilia flagship street car, the Tuono V4, in its overall design. Like the relationship between the Torno V4 and the RSV4, the GPR250S is the result of throwing away a part of the fairing and adjusting the riding triangle on the imitation racing model.
Unlike the Torno V4, the GPR250S blackened its aluminum bi-wing girder frame and swingarm, without deliberately emphasizing its strong athletic genes, and the approachable sitting posture when straddling the car seems to indicate that it wants to be closer to the lives of young people.
The raised integrated horizontal handle is the most obvious difference between it and the GPR250R after sitting, and it does not use the TFT full-color LCD instrument on the GPR250R, but replaces it with a multi-color negative display instrument on a black background.
Although it is not a full-color instrument that can be projected, the interface design of the instrument is rich and comprehensive, especially the shift reminder light above the meter still highlights its pure movement gene.
Long press the SET key on the gauge to enter the gauge menu for adjusting the clock and functions such as light-sensitive auto headlamps.
Slightly different from the GPR250R, the GPR250S handlebar switch set adopts a traditional layout without backlight, but fortunately there is no impact on actual use.
Obviously, the split seat cushion on the GPR250R is not very friendly to the "fender" of the rear seat in daily use, so the GPR250S's saddle part adopts an integrated seat cushion layout, which slightly shortens the main seat used for tossing and turning on the imitation racing model to provide a larger and more comfortable seating space in the rear seat.
The GPR250S still has a seat height of 820 mm, which is not significantly lower than the standard GPR250R, but because the suspension part is slightly softer, the actual riding will have a better landing sensation on the feet. The foot pedals have been redesigned, the foot rest position is moved forward by about 7.5 cm compared to the imitation racing model, the height is slightly reduced, and the legs themselves are more stretched.
This newly designed pedal is an improvement over the imitation racing model in terms of appearance and texture, and also has a small range of brake lever position adjustment functions.
In terms of powertrain, the GPR250S continues to use the ARC power platform, the 20.5 kW single-cylinder water-cooled four-valve engine, the peak torque has not changed, still 21.5 Nm. However, due to the optimization of the GPR250S through the fairing and other parts, the net weight was reduced to 145 kg (148 kg in the R version). The measured acceleration performance will be presented to you in the follow-up evaluation.
The appearance of the engine has not changed, does not mean that there is no upgrade, GPR250S this engine has added a sliding clutch, the clutch lever operation feels lighter and more delicate, which is also of great practical significance for street cars that take the streets as their own responsibility.
The suspension aspects of the GPR250S are also aligned with the GPR 250R, with a 40 mm diameter inverted fork for front shock absorption and a steel welded rocker arm and a mid-mounted single suspension structure that is still asymmetrically designed, except that the swingarm is sprayed black. The matte black frame and rocker arm and glossy black shell overlay, as well as the multiple carbon fiber grain decorations, form a visual layer of differences that make it look cool.
As mentioned in the previous seat height section, when comparing the GPR250R, we found that the shock absorber setting of the street car version was slightly softer, presumably re-tuned for daily transportation.
The wheel set is of course still front and rear 17 inch vacuum aluminum alloy wheels with Zhengxin CST CM-616D radial sports tires, which look no different from the GPR250R isn't it? Careful Xiaobian still found clues on the tire number, GPR250R matching the new tire model is CM-616D-2, and the street car version of GPR250S tire model is CM-616D-1, although the two tire patterns are the same, but should be in the formula or tire type to make a slight distinction.
The front brake system is still the tried and tested combination of four-piston calipers and 300 mm floating brake discs, with 218 mm brake discs on the rear wheels with a complete set of West Mutual brakes, as well as the Saifu dual-channel ABS system.
The three-frame headlight set is the family design language of Aprilia, which we have seen in many models of different levels of the Aprilia, with 3 sets of reflective low beams on both sides of the headlights and a separate high beam group in the middle. The switching method can be selected on the meter with automatic light sensitivity on or completely manual operation.
In the current market, there are not many competitors in the GPR250S, and this level of single-cylinder water-cooled models is either slightly inferior in sports attributes (Spring Wind 250NK, Wuji 300R), or simply take the retro route (Spring Wind CL-X250, Benali Cubs 250). The imported brand products that can compete with it (Honda CB300R, KTM duke250) have a big gap in price positioning.
Therefore, the GPR250S, which enters the lightweight sports street car market for 24800 yuan, should be a more cost-effective choice, after all, the Tuono125, which has a smaller displacement and lower configuration in the European market, can buy 4990 euros (equivalent to 3.5 W).
The new test drive GPR250S is ready to be tested, we will conduct in-depth dynamic testing of it, more test drive experience, stay tuned...