We won't see any till at least the end of the month but as mentioned in another topic there will be some evaluation buses at the end of the month, these will be trying to find a winner for the 100 bus tender. So keep an eye out as we may see some interesting ones, I say go Mercedes 0500LE with a Volgren body for the rigid and Volvo B12BLEA with Volgren for high capacity but I know that it won't happen.
Hopefully this time we see a few different vehicles out and about on route service!
Bring on the Mercs and Volvos......I hope. Otherwise I would like to see one of those Bustech Xdi things. Is there another company that offer 14.5s other than Scanias because I think that they are pretty much set with 14.5s and if Scania is the only ones that offer 14.5s (God forbid) we will have more Scanias
Nah, won't be getting any Volvo or Merc. We can't "AdBlue" (unless they install it). Oh, and ACTION won't even consider artics due to their (high) price.
The only rear steer 14.5 currently on the market is from Scania. Bring it on with a Volgren body, they work really well together, and I just love those Scanias.
"AdBlue"?????
Yes, AdBlue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdBlue). You have to understand engines to know what that is, but basically, there are generally two type of diesel engines, SCR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Catalytic_Reduction) and EGR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egr). SCR require AdBlue, and EGR does not. Merc, and Volvo construct SCR engines; which require AdBlue. MAN, Scania and others construce EGR engines, and therefore do not require AdBlue.
ACTION doesn't want to invest in AdBlue, until they have to, because it's just an additional cost at the moment.
So what are we left with? MAN, Scania, Bustech, Hino (please no) and not much else
Bustech don't really make engines, they just use a CAT engine, similar to what Denning use. And, they don't use AdBlue.
Not sure about Iveco, I think it's EGR.
But, ACTION can't be bias in their tender, so they can't specificially request EGR engines in their tender, so we might get a few Mercs and Volvos.
CAT make alright engines. I went on a CAT bus with a CB60 evo II in Melbourne and they run really well. They have a bit of grunt in the engine. But c'mon ACTION get some good buses
buy back the O.305's i say
Might even see a desingline ;)
Im going to guess that they will get Diesel MAN's after realising how good the 18.310's are.
Canberrans only hate scanias because ours are slow, anyone who's been on a rear steer 14.5 scania will love them and realise its what canberra needs/
Quote from: Busnerd on October 11, 2008, 11:40:28 AM
Canberrans only hate scanias...
I love them ;) They may not be the best performance wise, but in my opinion they look far more stylish when compared with the rest of the fleet.
Quote from: Richard Vernon on October 10, 2008, 07:08:19 PM
Hopefully this time we see a few different vehicles out and about on route service!
I'd be surprised if they did that. The trial IRIS (300 IIRC) was kicking around for months and never did a real run AFAIK.
Quote from: Locki on October 16, 2008, 10:23:09 PM
Quote from: Busnerd on October 11, 2008, 11:40:28 AM
Canberrans only hate scanias...
I love them ;) They may not be the best performance wise, but in my opinion they look far more stylish when compared with the rest of the fleet.
Scanias are ok, the only thing I don't like on those is that ugly rear wheel, usually covered in black soot! Eeeeeew.
Quote from: belcodriverI'd be surprised if they did that. The trial IRIS (300 IIRC) was kicking around for months and never did a real run AFAIK.
I do recall seeing a white CC bodied bus with fleet number 174 pull up to Belconnen Interchange dropping off on a 52. Thats the only evaluation bus I've seen.
And the trial Iris was actually 310. Has a few variations in it too, complete dropped windowline for the emergency exit, and different position for the emergency exit button, amongst other things.
310 also used to have an Irisbus logo as an evaluation vehicle, and seemingly lost it when painted into ACTION's scheme. How very dare they, I really need to grab some Irisbus logos and Agoraline logos then find an iris to stick them on! :p
Quote from: Irisbus Rider on October 16, 2008, 10:35:57 PM
Quote from: belcodriverI'd be surprised if they did that. The trial IRIS (300 IIRC) was kicking around for months and never did a real run AFAIK.
I do recall seeing a white CC bodied bus with fleet number 174 pull up to Belconnen Interchange dropping off on a 52. Thats the only evaluation bus I've seen.
And the trial Iris was actually 310. Has a few variations in it too, complete dropped windowline for the emergency exit, and different position for the emergency exit button, amongst other things.
Looks like I've finally outed myself as I non-enthusiast. Don't forget the other variation on 310, interior diesel odour.
Quote from: belcodriver on October 17, 2008, 01:06:07 PMLooks like I've finally outed myself as I non-enthusiast. Don't forget the other variation on 310, interior diesel odour.
Ha ha, it's so true. I think the Iris' suffer a serious problem with insulation, both smell and odour. Gives them character, I say! :P
As for the enthusiast part, you're doing pretty well!
Quote from: Irisbus Rider on October 17, 2008, 07:54:20 PM
As for the enthusiast part, you're doing pretty well!
I just drive the things, I'm not that interested in them although I'm happy to converse with people who are.