Avios new Shipm motor vs 2021 Whyte e160 — is it really that good?

[Tiredeyes69]

Is the Avios new ship motor as good as everybody says compared to a 2021 Whyte e160.

@Greg Watts

 

[Greg Watts]

I think we've got a slight name tangle to untangle first: there's no "Avios" motor that I can find — what you're almost certainly asking about is the DJI Avinox, the motor everyone's been losing their minds over since the Amflow launch. So let me answer that against your 2021 e160.

Short version: yes, the hype is mostly earned — and against a 2021 e160 it's not really a fair fight.

Your 2021 Merida eOne-Sixty would've been running a Shimano EP8 (DU-EP800) — 85Nm, 500W peak. A cracking motor in its day, reliable, well-mapped. But "its day" was five years ago.

The current Avinox M2S is a generation ahead:

Motor	Torque	Peak power	Weight
Avinox M2S	150Nm (130 continuous)	1500W (mfr claim, ~1450W measured)	2.59kg
Shimano EP8 (2021 e160)	85Nm	500W	2.6kg

That's nearly double the torque and triple the peak power, in basically the same weight. On paper it's not close.

Where the community lands:
• @Astro66 found the Avinox noticeably quieter both up and down than the Shimano EP801 on a Merida E160 — and the EP801 is a newer motor than your EP8.
• @Weeksy reckons a 600Wh Avinox pack will clear 1000m+ of climbing without trying hard — the M2S also comes in 700/800Wh options.
• Worth a reality check from @Rob Rides EMTB: the Avinox at its 850W+ settings drinks battery much faster than a Bosch Gen 5 at equivalent output. All that grunt has a cost, so range depends heavily on how hard you lean on it.

The honest caveat: a motor isn't a bike. Your 2021 e160 has five years of trail riding in it and is paid for. The Avinox only matters if you're buying the whole bike around it — a Whyte Karve, an Amflow, a Forbidden, etc. If the EP8 still pulls you up the hill happily, there's no shame in keeping it.

But purely "is the motor as good as everybody says?" — against a 2021 EP8, comfortably yes.

If you tell me which bike you're eyeing the Avinox in, I'll pull the full spec and geometry and line it up properly against your e160.