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The BS-3 chassis from AL come fitted with a 160bhp engine, while TM continues to provide a 135bhp engine. This causes the drop in mileage of AL BS-3, compared to TM LP1512c chassis

The issue is that as a moffusil bus owner I dont need a 160 bhp engine. My priority is good milage - as simple as that!

135 over 160 might not matter for city and town routes. But for highly competitive mofussil route like Poy-Cbe, won't this affect performance?

With the volume of traffic on the route its not possible to do more than 80kmph for more than a few hundred meters at a stretch. So top speed does not matter. Overtaking might be limited but that doesn warrant using 20 extra liters per day. With disel prices increased by 15%, milage is top priority.

Dr.
It would be good to see a sedately driven private bus. One request to you: kindly ensure that the tweeters are not placed nearby to the ears of the passengers(both sitting/standing). This is a real annoying experience.

I shall make sure of this. Thank you

As madhu mentioned, gone are the days when the travelling time between Coimbatore and Pollachi was maintained at 45 mins. Now its very hard to reach Coimbatre(Ukkadam) in 45 mins. A minimum of 1 hr is required. That too if you got stuck in SIPCOT railway gate, then thats it. :) Sorry for going off topic.

Nice move by madhu for going with a lower HP engine to get a better mileage. Waiting to see the bus on road.

Madhu,
Can you share the price details of body building works with AE?

Kindly refer post # 4, price details has already been shared.
Also, another operator in the same route has opted for a LPO 1512C built by PEE TEE Coach.

It makes lot of sense, especially with the Diesel price hike. Not sure why AL discontinued the engines below 160 HP, may be never expected a Diesel price hike. Now with the hike, It is a matter of time, before AL re-introduce a Viking range less than 160 hp
Unlike the TN operators, i have not seen any KL operator switching to TM. Hope TM will capitalize this opportunity to sell some buses in Kerala market.

PEE TEE Coach was once (ie, mid - late 1990's) the preferred body builder for stage carriers in coastal Karnataka (Mangalore, Udupi), and all of them were Tata 1510's, 1312TC's and 1512TC's. The PEE TEE Coach bodies had an appealing body styling. Have seen buses involved in collisions and back to near-original form after repairs, and so had a high regard for this coach builder. Now, it's mostly bodies by DVN, Shakti that are being preferred. Wonder why PEE TEE Coach got left behind in this region where there's a high demand by private operators.

Please do post a pic. of a PEE TEE coach body when you get a chance to snap it, for old times sake :)

PEETEE is bit expensive (good at quality as well) when compared with other builders, it might also be a reason for the operators to switch over. They are involved in export business as well (something like chassis/parts imported from China, assembled and built in India and exported to Middle East under the name Trans and the dealer is Belhasa).

You can refer post # 8, picture # 4 (blue bus named Lakshmi, LPO 1512C) built by PEETEE.

Some more photos


Wood and Steel frame



Front cowl in place



Work floor AE Coach



Some finished vehicles undergoing finishing touches

As per the feed back from operators, the most affected lot is BS3 AL 222WB and 12M versions. I guess the number of private operators in KL having those 2 versions are less when compared to TN operators with similar options.

Some of the operators who went with AL 210 WB are satisfied with the mileage as the difference is not so big when compared with BS3 TATA and also they do get peace of mind while considering maintenance issues and resale.

Dr, then why not you have tried Eicher 20.16. That is known to give better mileage initially much better than AL and TM and are the cheapest among the lot.

TM is not capitalizing, In fact Tata is losing market in many places where they were strong hold.If you could see in north especially in Delhi, Punjab etc where Tata is well known, now its started loosing against AL for the higher power engines / inline pump.
The single biggest reason for TM to give discounts upto 2.5 lks is solely to gain some share in the market. And it will definitely give some results in short term but not in long term.


But don't you think your statement is too generic. These two are the top selling models in AL's portfolio and Viking alone contributes more than 25% of buses sold in India. I dont deny that best selling models dont have issues but what is the level of dissatisfaction is the question.

Also there is no technically much of difference between 210 Viking and 222 Viking except for leading dimensions. Then how come 210" Viking owners are happy than the 222" Viking.

Does this your post speaks on the maintenance of AL and TM

My statement was focussed on mileage part as we were discussing on diesel price hike and not of any dissatisfaction based on performance.
Don't know the exact difference between 210" and 222" mileage figures, but there is a considerable difference.
Easy in maintenance and better resale - AL.