[prash315]

Ashok Leyland Lynx has been on road for couple of years now, There are only a few of them being operated for Tourism. Is it a good fit to be operated as a tourist vehicle especially with a 27 to 30 seats seating capacity and with A/c being driven by the main engine. Can it handle highways, long distance and hilly terrain.

[performance plumbing]

Its been used by BEST since 2-3 years as well in Mumbai. Very noisy engine in CNG guise and entry-exit is very high!

[Transsenger]

Lynx is very popular model in tourist segment here in Kerala. There are lots of A/c & non-A/c versions.
Meanwhile, for your requirement, i would suggest Stag or short wheelbase Viking.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by prash315

Ashok Leyland Lynx has been on road for couple of years now, There are only a few of them being operated for Tourism. Is it a good fit to be operated as a tourist vehicle especially with a 27 to 30 seats seating capacity and with A/c being driven by the main engine. Can it handle highways, long distance and hilly terrain.

Lynx is at best called a midi-bus. It's a "small big bus". The axles and chassis can handle a lot of abuse like the regular buses, while the engine is a 4-cylinder 120hp unit that's found in the Stag series of mini-buses. The position of the engine is just like a regular bus, hence building a body is very much similar to a regular bus.

There are quite a few tour operators and route bus operators in Kerala that use Lynx buses. A lot of tour/contract carriages use them with AC.

Like Transsenger said, you can look at the Stag for a 27 seater. A 4200mm Wheel-base chassis would be good enough.

[TheARUN]

There are quite a few Lynx busses in operation in Bangalore. You must have seen a particular bus, not able to recollect the name, its brown in colour and has bonded windows, its 2x2 seating and air-conditioned. Its used for Company transport, the route is Outer ring-road from Hebbal to Bannerghatta road

It can be run as a 27 seater, the engine is capable of powering the AC, it can also handle long distances, the only downside is its shorter than a Viking, its as wide and tall as a Viking, something like the Quanto and Xylo!

For a lakh or half more you can get a 210'Viking, that is why it is not very popular and looking at margin money difference between Viking and Lynx, it is hardly 25,000 cheaper than the Viking

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

For a lakh or half more you can get a 210'Viking, that is why it is not very popular and looking at margin money difference between Viking and Lynx, it is hardly 25,000 cheaper than the Viking

Heard from operators that the mileage also similar to Viking. So there is no apparent benefit by going for Lynx, except for the smaller overall size. Competitors models give better fuel efficiency.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by prash315

Ashok Leyland Lynx has been on road for couple of years now, There are only a few of them being operated for Tourism. Is it a good fit to be operated as a tourist vehicle especially with a 27 to 30 seats seating capacity and with A/c being driven by the main engine. Can it handle highways, long distance and hilly terrain.

Originally Posted by Transsenger

Lynx is very popular model in tourist segment here in Kerala. There are lots of A/c & non-A/c versions.
Meanwhile, for your requirement, i would suggest Stag or short wheelbase Viking.

Stag (2x2 - reclining seats) cant accomodate 27 to 30 seats.
Either Lynx 4900 or Viking 193" can only suit.
Two main reasons over Stag-
1. Lynx has a after market kit for air suspension which should suit the tourist application requirement.
2. Lynx can take 2x2 layout.
But fitting AC is only your customer's choice as its not available as OE.

If your seating capacity is lesser, you can look into Stag which will have better kmpl over Lynx.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

...
For a lakh or half more you can get a 210'Viking, that is why it is not very popular and looking at margin money difference between Viking and Lynx, it is hardly 25,000 cheaper than the Viking

Arun, the comparable model to Lynx 4900 will be Viking 193" and its 2 to 2.2 lks dearer. With body, end price will be atleast 2.75 to 3 lks higher.
If you compare 210" Viking it will be higher by another 50 to 75k.

[prash315]

I did inspect a Lynx mini bus, there is a very strange sound when the engine is running and a very different vibration than the viking. This is not a very old bus, can this sound and vibration be controlled. I have observed this in some of the lynx buses. Any Suggestions please.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by prash315

Ashok Leyland Lynx has been on road for couple of years now, There are only a few of them being operated for Tourism. Is it a good fit to be operated as a tourist vehicle especially with a 27 to 30 seats seating capacity and with A/c being driven by the main engine. Can it handle highways, long distance and hilly terrain.

If you are looking beyond Leyland, do take a look at the Ultra series buses from Tata. It will suit your needs very well. You can take a look at 2 configs of the Ultra.

1. 4200WB Ultra Delux which come with semi-reclining seats in 2x2 config (I think 30seater)
2. 4920WB Ultra Luxury which comes with full reclining seats in 2x1 config(25 seater)

Some advantages with this should be:
1. Parabolic leaf springs.
2. Factory fit engine driven AC
3. 6-speed GB with OD.

The 2nd option above in my view is the best for a small tourist bus. You can look at the following page for some pics of the Ultra Luxury bus.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...tra-buses.html

[TheARUN]

The Tata Ultra also comes fully built and that makes it easier to finance, Banks are not too forthcoming financing chassis and body separately

Also, the Tata 712 is a direct competitor of the Stag, whatever the Stag can do the 712 can do too

I for one cannot see the logic of Ashok Leyland having the Lynx in their portfolio, its a MCV, whereas the 712 and the Stag are LCVs, it would be easier to find Drivers for LCVs too

[TheARUN]

Guess what I saw standing near my house on Sunday Morning!

[julupani]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Guess what I saw standing near my house on Sunday Morning!

BTW how did you know that is a Lynx???

[TheARUN]

It's not a Lynx, it's a SML bus chassis with 8.25 tyres, posted here since its a MCV just like the Lynx

[TheARUN]

The thing to watch out for was the fiberglass front and rear, the front was one full sheet of fiberglass with the only moving part being the air-intake that moves up. The lights too, though they look like xenons are not xenons, they are cleverly made reflectors, with small circumference and holding the bulbs real deep. The rear also was a piece of art, with the only cut in the fiberglass being for the dickey. The eye sore was the rain water channel above the dickey, don't know if this is absolutely necessary. The way the glass was bonded to the fiberglass was stunning, the best rear glass set up on a Volvo design, the tail lights also were the ones found on the Luxura, not faux lights but real ones with led bulbs

The let down was the sides, especially the way the sweeping front glass was integrated with the door. There was no symmetry and the door looked to be of another bus design. The bus door was Volvo style, moving in behind the windscreen when opened

The SML chassis posed it own set of problems, the engine was laid low and there was a hump in the driver area which made getting into the bus tricky, passengers had to climb over the bump and then get down into the saloon area

The biggest let down was the interiors, very shoddily done with a lot of sharp edges, there were half a dozen different materials used, FRP, rexine sheets, aluminium chequered plates, plywood etc. The seats also were narrow, they were 2 sets of 2 seaters that you would find in a 3x2 seating combination bus, there was a gangway though. The seats also reclined and seemed to be spaced well

The SML chassis gave the liberty of an extra row of seats since it has a long wheelbase, the same would not have been the case on a Stag or 712

The right side did not have any boxes, guess it housed an extended fuel tank, the left side had luggage boxes. The bus was a 28 seater non-ac,

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

the front was one full sheet of fiberglass with the only moving part being the air-intake that moves up... The rear also was a piece of art, with the only cut in the fiberglass being for the dickey.

Isn't it asking for trouble? One small nick, and the entire front/back will have to be replaced, instead of replacing a smaller panel

The way the glass was bonded to the fiberglass was stunning, the best rear glass set up on a Volvo design

I agree

the tail lights also were the ones found on the Luxura, not faux lights but real ones with led bulbs

Real ones, but they are too big for this mini bus, like a 2 year old kid wearing its dad's sunglasses

But, why are we discussing an SML-Isuzu coach on a thread dedicated to AL Lynx?