Forest Mercedes Benz O500LE

[ScaniaDriver]

The last 4 times I worked at Forest, I was lucky enough to drive new O500LE Mercs. First time I had 9495, built in December 2008, then 9491 built in November 2007 and then had 850, built in October 2009 the next two times. I'm not a nerd when it comes to engine/gearbox stats etc so I can't comment on it "nerdily" but in simple terms, they are really nice to drive. Out of the 3 regos I've driven, the two later ones (9495 and 850) were much nicer to handle than 9491. 9488 and 9491 were Forest's two "test" O500s I guess and heaps of things have improved in the later ones, acceleration for one. The newer ones are much more responsive off the mark. The brakes are good in all of them and so is the retarder. They don't grab as much as the Scanias (can be a good thing where you need to take turns slowly) but can work against you (say when you're hooning, I mean, driving fast). The dash between 9491 and 9495/850 is also different, with buttons in the different positions. They are quiet, very comfortable, have a million and one seat adjustments like the new growth Scanias and I like the new seat belt which comes across the shoulders. The lighting is nice as well, you can have the bus lit up dimly or fully. They've got a good turning circle too and the alarm goes off if you drive without the seat belt on (which took me a while to figure out why there was an alarm going off).

I don't like the air cons. All they have is an on/off switch. The Volgren Scanias at TransdevTSL and CDC, you turn them on and adjust the fan speed and the temperature to the exact degree that you need it at. That is awesome. Also, in the Volgrens, you have two vents right about the driver and you feel yourself being cooled down quickly. These Customs O500s don't have that and the air con seems very weak with whatever degrees it decides to select and so you can be sweltering for a while if you start a PM shift and it's been sitting in the sun. It also needs the doors to be closed to lower the bus and the lowering takes a long time to be achieved. The Scanias are much quicker and you can be doing that with your doors open and passengers boarding the buses. The braking is also slightly better in the Scanias (in my opinion) and you definitely bounce less in your seat than in the O500s when going over little bumps in the road. The O500s have slightly faster acceleration off the mark but by just a little. But they are very nice buses.

Photo 1: 850 at Olympic Park during the first night of the AC/DC concert at dusk
Photo 2: 850 at Mona Vale during the first night of the AC/DC concert
Photo 3: 850 at Olympic Park during the third night of the AC/DC concert







Norbert

[Buzz Killington]

Exceptional photos as always Norbert, and thanks for the background info too!

[Irisbus Rider]

Yep, great photos!

Interesting, most of your comments tend to indicate that Volgren is the far superior body builder, in relation to being a bus driver. The one advantage of the CC body is that the Forest livery goes *beautifully* with the body, I love it! In particular, the front, with the green stripes, the gunmetal bumper and the black headlight surrounds. Very nice!