Ather really really ruined the 450 for me. If you thought the Sports Mode was fab, wait until you ride the WARP mode.
The Unexpected: The mods at Bengaluru got a surprise invite to meet with the Ather community & social media teams this Saturday. We were only told that its a meet to celebrate 2 years of the community and there may be some discussions and a short Q&A session with all of us.
We met with Akshita, Ryan, Shuva, Saurabh & Ravneet at the Ather HQ and we were talking about the 450x, our expectations from the Collectors Edition, The Vodafone Fiasco and many more. Soon we moved into a the formal Q&A session talking about how we can make the community more inclusive as Ather expands to newer cities. Just as we concluded the session, Akshita came over and asked if we would like to test the WARP mode of the 450x. We were all smiles.
Soon, we were escorted to the parking garage where 3 450x’s were neatly lined up for our test ride. The garage driveway isn’t very long so we had to do multiple laps around the garage revving & braking. we also got to do a few “Drag races” against the 450 in sports mode.
The Warp Experience: I drive my 450 in Sports mode, and Sports mode alone. I feel that the other 2 modes are “slow”. So i sat on the 450x with an expectation that the Warp mode would be an enhanced Sports mode.
As i opened the throttle on the 450x, i realised this was more than just an enhanced sports mode. The throttle was super responsive, it took off the moment you opened the throttle. You dont’ feel the power drop once speedo hits 60, the 450x sustains the torque as the speedo counts up. You feel the rush, you experience that acceleration as your body adjusts to the sudden pull of the torque. You experience WARP mode!
The Inception - Surprise within a surprise!:
As we ended our Test Drives, we parked the vehicles and talking to each other about how different the Warp mode felt. Saurabh walks up to us and very calmly says we can take the bikes home.
WAIT… WHAT!
It took us a minute to understand what he said, he offered to ship our 450’s home so we can ride the 450x home for the weekend. We were free to ride it as far as we want to with the only condition that the ride has to be in WARP mode and ofcourse, we don’t break any laws 
This was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise for all of us. We did not expect to ride back home on the 450x and atleast one of us couldn’t contain the excitement… (err. you know who!)
Soon, we finished up our conversations while the team readied the 450x, cleaned them and got us some portable chargers for the weekend. I asked for a Lime Green shade (not sure about the exact name of that color) since i felt it looked different and, for the added drama, it would make heads turn 
Around 6:20pm i get a call from Ather, they are outside my house delivering the 450x for weekend TD. The green shade looked gorgeous, it screamed “LOOK AT ME!!!” and i loved it.
I din’t waste much time, went straight for the helmet and took off for a longer TD of the 450x. Unfortunately since i live in a more denser part of the city, the only place i could do justice to the WARP mode was on the ORR. The WARP makes the vehicle super fun to ride, with so much power on the throttle i weaved through traffic like i have never done before on the 450. The 450x felt more sure footed at faster speeds and curves on the ORR. A short video of my ride on Saturday night. I have a few more clips that i am yet to edit and upload.
My impressions:
- Its FAST!. Very FAST!
- Power delivery stays on the curve even after the speedo crosses 60kmph
- Feels more Agile and the tyres stay planted on the road.
How do you get your hands on a 450x for a TD? - Wait a few more weeks and Ather will announce bookings for TD. Obviously @abhishek.balaji will share more as and when they are ready for it.
