[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Thunaivan Travels, a new operator in Intercity bus segment has started their maiden route from Palani to Chennai with Volvo B11R.

Looks to me like its a brand new operator, with its first bus!!! And they have gone straight to the top of the heap with a B11R.

BTW, who is the largest operator of B11R's today??? VRL, SRM, Kesineni, KaSRTC???

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by julupani

BTW, who is the largest operator of B11R's today??? VRL, SRM, Kesineni, KaSRTC???

Out of these, only Kesineni has B11Rs!! Kesineni has around 14 of them on roads. After that would be SVR with 6 B11Rs and then Kallada (Suresh Kallada) with 4. Sharma, Thunaivan have two each, while SRS has three.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Out of these, only Kesineni has B11Rs!! Kesineni has around 14 of them on roads. After that would be SVR with 6 B11Rs and then Kallada (Suresh Kallada) with 4. Sharma, Thunaivan have two each, while SRS has three.

Thanks for the info. But I think I saw a SRM B11R last time I was in Chennai.

Havnt KaSRTC got any B11Rs in their fleet as Airavat Bliss and Airavat Superia?? Are these all on B9Rs?? I think extra space in a B11R would be nice when you add features like those on the Superia/Bliss services.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by julupani

Thanks for the info. But I think I saw a SRM B11R last time I was in Chennai.

Havnt KaSRTC got any B11Rs in their fleet as Airavat Bliss and Airavat Superia?? Are these all on B9Rs?? I think extra space in a B11R would be nice when you add features like those on the Superia/Bliss services.

Neither of them Got B11Rs. KaSRTC had one on trial for over two months - but nothing came after that. SRM has a fleet of about 30~40 B9Rs and about 4 Merc Tri-axles.

[ajman28]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Out of these, only Kesineni has B11Rs!! Kesineni has around 14 of them on roads. After that would be SVR with 6 B11Rs and then Kallada (Suresh Kallada) with 4. Sharma, Thunaivan have two each, while SRS has three.

Do all these buses run with the I-Shift?

Is there any feedback in using the I-Shift (better fuel economy, comfort, etc)?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by ajman28

Do all these buses run with the I-Shift?

Is there any feedback in using the I-Shift (better fuel economy, comfort, etc)?

A B11R comes with an IShift as standard offering. There is no real fuel advantage in the iShift over the manual one if both are used properly. Some operators do report a slight increase in mileage for the iShift - but it all boils down to the driving style. But the iShift certainly reduces driver fatigue and at the same time increases the risk of the driver falling asleep in some not-so-crowded 4-laned sections.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by ajman28

Do all these buses run with the I-Shift?

Is there any feedback in using the I-Shift (better fuel economy, comfort, etc)?

Originally Posted by binaiks

A B11R comes with an IShift as standard offering. There is no real fuel advantage in the iShift over the manual one if both are used properly. Some operators do report a slight increase in mileage for the iShift - but it all boils down to the driving style. But the iShift certainly reduces driver fatigue and at the same time increases the risk of the driver falling asleep in some not-so-crowded 4-laned sections.

I dont think there is much chance of lowered driver concentration. Primarily because in most highway sections, crowded or not so crowded, the Volvo dont change gear much at all. Most drivers stick to 6th gear over quite a wide range of speeds.

On the other hand, the i-Shift does tend to down shift when accelerating. But most of all, I feel that the smoothness of change is quite good. I remember experiencing a B11R i-Shift accelerating on the Hyderabad ORR from standstill till about 120kmph, and the gear shifts were butter smooth and perfectly timed. The driver also gets to put more of his concentration on looking at the road, rather than maximising fuel efficiency with his gear changes, not to mention reduce physical fatigue.

In short, the i-Shift makes for the near perfect gear changing. Of course a really really good driver may match it, but the average driver wont. So again the actual difference between an i-Shift vs a normal gearbox would depend on the driver.

[W.A.G.7]

Nice looking bus, I quite like it. But will this bus be able to negotiate the narrow internal roads after entering the city? Also, KA state seems to be ahead of others in introducing new buses and ideas! I just wish these buses star plying on the Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai route. It would be nice to travel in one of these

[Cyrus_the_virus]

The buses on the road obviously seem to be missing the second door which Volvo would offer as standard as shown in pics on the first page. The operators seem to consider that making money off of 1 extra seat is worth the lives of 50 people in case of a fire.

[RonXRi94]

Kudos to Volvo on launching another bus in India. I'm a great fan of the Volvos, and any outstation trip is more for the volvo ride than the actual destination

The yellow seats with the TVs on the back look really luxurious, and the aircraft type overhead bins look awesome too. Volvo seem to be trying to attract fliers to their buses now