Is there ANYTHING good about an Irisbus?

smitho · November 15, 2011, 12:28:24 PM

Yes, the two pairs of facing seats down towards the back of the saloon is a great feature - it'd be nice to see this feature more commonly on Aussie buses.

Facing seats in urban buses is common in Western Europe, following the usual seat layout pattern seen in European railway carriages. Apart from giving the punters more leg room and better views out the windows, this layout makes internal cleaning easier.

Barry Drive · November 15, 2011, 12:43:46 PM

... and encourages passengers to put their feet on the seats.

But to answer the original question: yes there are.

The (only) two good features of the Irisbus Agora Line:

1) it has the best turning circle of any standard bus in the fleet

2) it has a well-positioned short-stop switch which releases immediately

That's all I can come up with.

The Love Guru · November 15, 2011, 01:30:03 PM

ThermoKing aircon is good for cooling, heating sucks

Steering as Martin has said is good, however gets bad chatter in it

313 had the best LED rear lights in the fleet

Lots of overtime available in summer waiting for the breakdown truck

Kramden · November 15, 2011, 01:36:09 PM

Quote from: smitho on November 15, 2011, 12:28:24 PM
Yes, the two pairs of facing seats down towards the back of the saloon is a great feature.

As a tall person, I liked this feature when I was 'commuting' however, Iris's were few and far between on my chosen routes.

Now that I've driven a few of them I'm less put off by their shortcomings. Early in training we had 313 which was a disaster in the braking dept. 311 was taken out the next day and it wasn't to bad much to ours and the trainer's relief.

Then, I my first full day on the job they blessed me with an Iris...#306. I shall not forget this 'gesture'. A few more followed that week - 310 and 314.

Obviously there's a lot not to like about these bastard children of the ACTION fleet but I must say that I'm warming to them. I had 309 recently and was pleasantly suprised about how well it ran. Only yesterday I was scheduled to take out 998 but it wouldn't start so I was given 316 in its place. It ran quite well too.

Things to like?

The indicator stick at your finger tips as per the 100.3s

Door controls positioned further to the front than the MANs and Scanias.

Good size tail lights

Large, easy-to-read destos

So, yeah, there are a few things to like in Iris land. Oh, does this mean we're gonna get a thread soon called "What's to Like About a PR 100.3?"...LOL!

Irisbus Rider · November 15, 2011, 01:40:30 PM

Can character be cited as a good thing? Because they've got lots of that!

The word from other operators who are 'fortunate' enough to have Iris' in their fleet is that they go like the clappers. Very fast acceleration.....not sure what happened to ACTIONs'.

belcodriver · November 15, 2011, 04:19:26 PM

Kramden 306 is certainly the runt of the Iris litter maybe of the whole Belconnen litter but that still probably goes to 992 although the memories are fading seeing as I've managed to avoid it for years.

Best thing about them is I don't have one on my shift anymore.

Buzz Killington · November 15, 2011, 06:37:24 PM

From a passenger POV, the only thing I like is the easily read desto display (dare i say best of the fleet?), and as a member of the 6ft club, scoring the forward-facing seat up the back with the backwards-facing seat in front of it - but only on a relatively quiet run where someone wants to sit in front of me.

Kramden · November 25, 2011, 12:00:01 PM

While sitting behind an Iris at a set of lights this morning listening to its God-awful warbling and I looked and looked, trying hard to think of something else to like about these poor unfortunate mutants of the fleet.

Most Iris's have combo review mirrors (one regular and a smaller supplementary) which, although not essential, can come in handy.

Sir Pompously · November 26, 2011, 09:31:57 AM

The only good thing about an Irisbus is when it is burbling at an Interchange, and you watch as someone walks up, is almost there, the doors get closed and it burbles off into the sunset. It has that good "Sucked in you missed me" sound. Sadly, it has happened to me all too often. Other than that, there is really nothing good about an Irisbus Agoraline.

smitho · November 26, 2011, 04:29:47 PM

I'm amazed to see Iris's out on the road on weekends when there are usually plenty of MAN diesels for Belco drivers to choose from.

Kramden · November 26, 2011, 06:18:15 PM

Quote from: smitho on November 26, 2011, 04:29:47 PM
I'm amazed to see Iris's out on the road on weekends when there are usually plenty of MAN diesels for Belco drivers to choose from.

All is not what it seems. Apparently some later sign-ons miss out on MANs. Also, if some of the MANs are on the bricks come Friday PM that lessens their w/nd availability. The detail I had last Sunday was listed on the shift card for an Iris but I was told I could take an MAN.

CNG · November 27, 2011, 06:52:41 AM

I would take an iris over a MAN but that is probably due to my fundness of the .3's

Kramden · November 27, 2011, 08:52:02 AM

Quote from: CNG on November 27, 2011, 06:52:41 AM
I would take an iris over a MAN but that is probably due to my fundness of the .3's

Perhaps I'll ask you again when you have to drive them for a while. Even in my short time on the job I can spot the differences (good and bad) in each of the bus types. When doing a 9 hour plus shift, comfort is key. MAN's offer a level of comfort that Irises do not. And of course they 'sound' better.

CNG · December 01, 2011, 07:57:35 PM

i love that iris gear box, i love a real noisy gear box

Kramden · December 02, 2011, 12:43:13 AM

Maybe you need to cast a vote in favour of an Iris in the lastest poll CNG. They need it! I notice only 11 responses to date. A piss poor effort that.

Barry Drive · December 02, 2011, 12:14:20 PM

Drove one last night. Remembered good thing #3:

Radio throughout saloon. Has quite good acoustics if you turn it up loud (assuming it still works). Can also be used to subject passengers to the radio station of your choice - particularly 2CA on a Saturday night.

smitho · December 03, 2011, 12:02:21 AM

Quote from: ACTbusspotter on December 02, 2011, 12:14:20 PM
Can also be used to subject passengers to the radio station of your choice - particularly 2CA on a Saturday night.

What an evil thing to do to the punters!

Kramden · December 04, 2011, 07:25:14 PM

Thought you guys might get a laugh or at least a grin out of this. This morning I was given the choice of a standard bus or an Iris. Decided to go for an Iris because I'd driven some pretty good ones recently. I chose 306 which was the bus I was assigned on my first solo shift at ACTION. Well, it lasted just one run. Broke down in the city. So there I was on Northbourne outside ICBM with the flap up awaiting the trusty workshops guy. No huge drama. Dropped a belt plus he discovered a siezed pully on the a/c. I continued without a/c because it wasn't a hot day and rather than stuff around with a bus swap. All went fine for the rest of the shift. Of course any bus can throw a belt. But I was pretty happy with 306's performance. Now 'sleeping' o/night on the bricks awaiting further attention.

It would have been a great photo op. Caption along the lines of: stranded driver waits on main road with flap up on ACTION's pride of the fleet, an Irisbus Agoraline.

Bus 400 · December 04, 2011, 09:30:13 PM

From experience I know the Irisbuses have great brakes. Once when a dog ran in front of the bus (300/310-can't exactly call) on William Slim Drive, the rubbish jammed in the back seats flew to the front of the bus & quiet, young mewah had to brace.

But the bike rack just tapped the dog. But the dog did jump back up & walked back to the owner, who then thought it smart to leash the dog up.

belcodriver · December 06, 2011, 03:57:06 PM

Ah Kramden, so much still to learn about being an ACTION driver. Not only do you take an Iris but you take the worst or second worst of them. I could never decide whether 304 or 306 was the runt of the litter.

Kramden · December 06, 2011, 04:19:06 PM

Quote from: belcodriver on December 06, 2011, 03:57:06 PM
Ah Kramden, so much still to learn about being an ACTION driver. Not only do you take an Iris but you take the worst or second worst of them. I could never decide whether 304 or 306 was the runt of the litter.

OK smart arse, lesson learned...LOL! In future I'll go with my gut and take an old .2. You say that 304 an/or 306 is the runt. Try 313 some time. Unless they've fixed the brakes in recent months, it's difficult to pull up smoothly.

I notice that the Iris is yet to score a single vote on the Forum poll for 'favourite sounding bus'. Surprise, surprise. As I was driving 306 last Sunday I could hear the squeal of the retarders every time they kicked in. Presumably an exciting sound for some gunzels.

Snorzac · December 06, 2011, 04:26:02 PM

304 used to have a broken lock up torque conveter and ran like an absoute busted arse, was like that for quite a while, now that it is fixed up it has jined the list of decent Iris Buses, for the drivers: 300-304 and 309. 306 (as always) is certainly one to avoid along with 308 (has the torque converter problem) and anything from 315 up.