Commercial Vehicle Thread

[Ram]

Originally Posted by directinjection

American cars typically have large rear overhangs. This along with their low ground clearance results in this problem. Indian chassis-based buses have high GC and so comparatively immune to the problem of scraping.

American cars don't have longer overhangs than buses.
And though their ground clearance may be lower, the sheer length of bus overhangs compromises angle of departure on ramps.

Originally Posted by directinjection

That's one major reason why truck-chassis based buses have continued to survive (or rather flourish) in this country and low floors ones haven't.

IMHO, truck chassis based buses are still around because:
1) They're cheap.
2) Our safety legislation is not as tight as that in the developed world.
3) Our expectations of noise, vibration and harshness are more forgiving than those of our counterparts in the developed world.

Low-floor city buses are meant for civilized metropolises, not for off-road terrain.

As we progress, streets must get smoother and buses lower, until we attain parity with the rest of the world. Senior citizens, heavily pregnant ladies and handicapped citizens, find it troublesome to climb aboard a truck-chassis based bus.

City buses in the developed world have features such as "kneeling" suspensions that lower the bus floor, enough for a wheelchair-user to embark and disembark.

[AMATMO]

i saw a volvo concrete mixer near whitefield today, the cabin was in a very bad shape, it was painted white, the badges on the truck were also white maybe because of a bad repaint job and it had ACC written on it

the body of the cabin did seem to be abused, maybe the truck wasnt white in colour before hance while repainting it white the garage feloow must have neglected the badges

by the way, does anybody know how many such trucks ACC must be owning?
i dont understand why would anyone want to own such an expensive concrete mixer

[dkamath]

Hi Amatmo, have seen mostly ACC concrete mixer trucks powered by Tata's. Not seen a Volvo concrete mixer truck yet.

Also, guys, had seen a KSRTC Airavat sometime last week, with the passenger entry door in the centre, and not at the conventional front side. The height of the door fit the panel region, also leaving the glass area intact (sorry if i'm wrong about the glass part, though). It appeared to be the 2nd generation model (and not like the present one with the blackened headlight area and the laminated rear windshield).
Did anybody else get a chance to look/travel by it?

[jagan0677]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

i saw a volvo concrete mixer near whitefield today, the cabin was in a very bad shape, it was painted white, the badges on the truck were also white maybe because of a bad repaint job and it had ACC written on it

the body of the cabin did seem to be abused, maybe the truck wasnt white in colour before hance while repainting it white the garage feloow must have neglected the badges

by the way, does anybody know how many such trucks ACC must be owning?
i dont understand why would anyone want to own such an expensive concrete mixer

IIRC, ACC has just one such truck like that. The remaining are TATA's.
Again, IIRC, there was just a 2 Cubic metre capacity difference between the TATA and Volvo trucks, which, apparently, was not enough to justify the huge capital cost difference for the truck operator.

Also, lots of IVECO-cab AL trucks were slowly adapted to do concrete mixer duty.

[AMATMO]

is there any reason why one should choose volvo tippers or concrete mixers?

i mean, i want to know the the USP a volvo official would consider

BTW what would b the price difference between volvo and AMW/MAN/TATA?

[Car-Agey]

A fuel efficient range offering better operating economy
Two variants - City and Highway, catering to different applications

Tata Motors is introducing a new range of Super Milo bus chassis across the country. As the name suggests, the Super Milo range delivers superior operating economies. The Super Milo range is available in two variants -- City and Highway -- each with customised parameters calibrated for their individual applications.

Both variants are powered by the BS II complaint 697 TCIC 130 HP engine. The higher power and better torque at a lower engine rpm -- 130 HP@2400 rpm and a torque of 410 Nm@1400-1700 rpm -- result in better pick up, and more mileage.

Mr. P M Telang, Tata Motors Executive Director – Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, said, “The Super Milo bus range is yet another tailor made product aimed at meeting changing customer requirements. In a scenario of rising fuel and input prices, this range offers better fuel efficiency, and lower maintenance costs, resulting in higher profitability to the operator. Customers can now choose between the City and Highway variants depending on their business needs, road conditions and terrain.”

Mr. R Pisharody, Tata Motors Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, said, “The Super Milo range of bus chassis offers the customer an attractive value proposition with its combination of unique features and superior technical specifications at an unbeatable price.”

Key features of the Super Milo bus range include:

• Exclusive drivelines (gear box & rear axle) for different applications - helps customers choose the relevant variant depending on the application.
• Radial tyres - for better comfort, safety and mileage.
• Organic clutch with booster assist - for longer clutch life, enhanced driver comfort, and reduced driver fatigue.
• Bigger air intake system - for proper combustion of fuel, resulting in better fuel mileage.
• Improved oil change period of 18,000 kms for city, and 36,000 kms for highway applications, resulting in lower maintenance costs.

These features offer 8% to 10% more fuel efficiency, along with a comfortable ride.



The Super Milo bus range comes with an engine warranty of 2 years or 2 lakh kilometres (whichever is earlier), and a chassis warranty of 1.5 years or 1.5 lakh kilometres (whichever is earlier). The range starts at Rs 8.5 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi), and is being launched nationwide.

Source : Tata Motors - Media Centre

[jagan0677]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

is there any reason why one should choose volvo tippers or concrete mixers?

i mean, i want to know the the USP a volvo official would consider

Volvo or not, following are IMO, a transporter's purchase criteria :
A combination of
1. Cost per tonne per km.
2. Capital Cost vs running cost.
3. which area of his distribution / chain the vehicle fits in.( i mean is it a critical link or a less-than-critical link).
4. Average utilisation level, say, 20 hours a day.

One thing, if at all, you can call it a USP for volvo is - IIRC, Volvo's are designed with a philosophy that the driver is a critical part of the truck operation. this leads to lot of emphasis on driver comfort and safety.

Originally Posted by AMATMO

BTW what would b the price difference between volvo and AMW/MAN/TATA?

At the price tag level, i am sure there would be a huge difference.
At operating cost level, i dont think the premium would be more than 20-40%, if any. But then, this would depend on the transport requirement.


Well, for example, in the ACC concrete mixer case, the Volvo would cost about 2.5-3 times the TATA at the price tag. For this specific transport requirement, the operating cost also would be about 2-3 times of a TATA.

In the tipper case, the operating cost may be equal(or even lesser) than a TATA.

The above numbers are best estimates, so there may be a bit of variance. However, the overall equation would remain, more or less, the same.

Cheers
Jagan

[dkamath]

Just what the MCV industry needed at this moment of growing fuel prices, i guess. Moreover, Tata Motors presence in the MCV segment, atleast here in the down south is going southward, with even Eicher making it's presence felt. Hope the initial batches of the Super Milo series turn out to be reliable (reminds me of the launch of the 1312TC series, shelving the popular 1510s. The 1312TC was not received well by the private bus operators around M'lore, and popularly came to be called as 12-out-of-13-Trip-Cuts).

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by Ram

...
Engine
It's powered by a Euro-4 compliant straight-six 12.4 litre MAN D2676 LOH 480 bhp@1900 rpm common-rail diesel engine mounted vertically in the rear. Torque is 2300 Nm @ a flat 1100-1400 rpm -- the highest for a bus.

mmmmm!!! yummy!!!

Gearbox
The engine drives a MAN TipMatic 12-speed gearbox. The gearbox is manual but gearshifts are electronically controlled.
....

now with those figures and 12-speed(is this auto or manual??) what could be the FE, acceleration and top speed figures ????

The ICE in the Neoplan Starliner has no individual speakers. The entire ceiling of the bus is used as a resonance medium via exciters.

you mean to say the entire ceiling(with those exciters) acts like a huge driver. (rectangular in shape)

OT: i remember some this like that exciter known as soundbug, which I have seen few years ago in a geek website.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Car-Agey

Tata Motors is introducing a new range of Super Milo bus chassis across the country. As the name suggests, the Super Milo range delivers superior operating economies. The Super Milo range is available in two variants -- City and Highway -- each with customised parameters calibrated for their individual applications.

Both variants are powered by the BS II complaint 697 TCIC 130 HP engine.

Take note that the engine is merely BS-II compliant. 697 is Tata's old Mercedes-derived/inspired unit. It first appeared in India in Tata 1516 tractor-trailer that was launched in 1980. Unless Tata has plans to DICORISE 697, these could be the last units to be produced before production ceases when the country goes BS-III starting April 2010 even as metros go BS-IV.

[condor]

dkamath : .. had seen a KSRTC Airavat sometime last week, with the passenger entry door in the centre, and not at the conventional front side.

May not be an 'Airavat', which are used for long distance travel. That KSRTC Volvo may be for some other purpose.

Basically, having a central door will mean a loss of 4 seats on the bus. These 4 seats would seriously affect the profitability of that route.

[santoshnair]

the steering column is the old one real bad job for such a good bus my gues is thsi comes from the marcoplo stable and the steering has been changed...if u look at the design and tsructure carefully steering column looks cut awau from the rest

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by santoshnair

the steering column is the old one real bad job for such a good bus my gues is thsi comes from the marcoplo stable and the steering has been changed...if u look at the design and tsructure carefully steering column looks cut awau from the rest

Sorry... But where are th pictures that you are mentioning?

[maddy42]

@condor I had travelled by this bus by chance. The Airavats basically had bathrooms in it but i didnt want to use them so didnt enter it. The ticket was slightly higher priced but not exorbidant. Got ths bus in mysore. The toilets comes towards the center of the bus so watching tv becomes a pain and no wonder they didnt play any that trip.

[Spitfire]

Airavats have bathrooms in them? Never seen those, though i have used the Airawat service between Goa - Bangalore and Bangalore - Madurai.