KUGOO KIRIN G3: PERFORMANCE

KUGOO KIRIN G3: PERFORMANCE

• Zero issues with hills
• Powerful motor provides great acceleration
• Motor and brake control aren’t very granular

As mentioned above, we tested the Kugoo Kirin G3 in a fairly hilly area, and the scooter handled those hills with grace. The steepest incline we encountered saw the scooter reach 12-15MPH on speed mode 3 which, while obviously slower than it can go on flat terrain, beats walking by a landslide. 

The riding experience overall was very smooth, with the scooter taking well to bumps and drops on roads and sidewalks since the wheels raise it high off the ground. We even rode the scooter off a few curbs to see if the height difference would scrape the underside of the scooter, but it didn’t harm it one bit. 

The Kirin G3 is also advertised as an “off-road” scooter, so naturally we tested that as well. In a park where the grass and dirt wasn’t completely level and even, the scooter handled hills, small ditches, and other terrain changes pretty well. The shock absorption on the scooter isn’t mind blowing, as we still felt most of the terrain we were riding over, but the bumps rarely affected the speed of the ride. Overall, you can definitely take this scooter off the beaten path, but expect it to affect battery life and range accordingly. 

The only issue we found with the ride is with the motor and brake controls. While the lever for the throttle and the brake handles have a large range of movement, they don’t offer granular control of either function. Both the motor and the brakes felt more like operating an on/off switch than controlling motor speed, and we often had to press both of them intermittently in order to move at a low speed and stop safely. 

The lack of granular control here does detract from the ride, as making tighter turns, moving at low speeds, and making sure to not to stop too abruptly was difficult until we were used to operating the controls a bit more. The best way that we found to quickly and safely decrease speed was to pull both brake handles (front and rear) very lightly, as pulling them too hard will surely have consequences for the rider. 

Overall, once we were used to the controls of the scooter, the riding experience was fantastic. The motor has fantastic acceleration, moving at high speeds feels very safe, and the deck provides plenty of space for proper footing throughout the ride. 

 The on-screen buttons are a tad finicky. Their detection zones are rather small, but we found that they are easily pressed when the rider accidentally leans on the screen. This led to numerous situations where, despite braking, the cruise control kept pushing the scooter forward and we didn’t realize we had enabled it. 

Lastly, the Kirin G3 and some other Kugoo scooters have Bluetooth functionality to be used with an app, but we couldn’t get the app to work in our testing. This isn’t a huge deal as the app seems to do most of what the buttons on the screen do anyway, but there could be some good functionality added to the scooter via an app, but unfortunately it doesn’t do anything as of publishing. 

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