[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by Mpower

First of all you need to indicate the source of your information. Secondly this bus is meant for Mexico and Latin America and I have not seen any news that the Mahindra JV will launch this.

Even if they do not launch it in India, it does not make it any less their product. It is still their product in the same way as i10 is Hyundai India's product.

[Spitfire]

Anyone know which low floor bus this is? Saw this on a music video. Are these still seen on Mumbai roads?

[raj_5004]

this is BEST's (mumbai's transport) local bus, non-AC.

[Spitfire]

Oh what make is it? Are these quite common on Mumbai roads? I didnt see any when i was there.

[raj_5004]

its by TATA. these are introduced lately. they are slowly replacing the old buses.
it was caught in quite a few controversies as these rear engine buses had caught fire in 2 or 3 cases.
then there is the AC version of this bus and also a AC bus by a chinese comapany king kong, which is super cool.

[Spitfire]

Oh thanks for that info. So these are the forebearers of the MarcoPolo we see from TATA now.

The video pics i pasted above are more then a year old.

[raj_5004]

yes, best had bought a few such buses long back and used to run them on only limited routes like in VT and worli. i think that was a trial run! but then as i said, these got caught in some problems. now you see more such buses but still not as much as i expected.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

its by TATA. these are introduced lately. they are slowly replacing the old buses.
it was caught in quite a few controversies as these rear engine buses had caught fire in 2 or 3 cases.
then there is the AC version of this bus and also a AC bus by a chinese comapany king kong, which is super cool.

They will NOT replace old buses. These buses were bought only due to orders of a court saying that there should be some disabled friendly buses. After that court order, 30 of these buses were bought. These buses have a mere 100 hp engine, which translates into poor performance.

The AC version is is a completely different design. The AC version is a Tata-Marcopolo bus, whereas the non AC buses were manufactured before the JV was signed between Tata and Marcopolo.

The kinglong is super cool in the literal sense, as the AC is very good. But except AC and suspension almost everything else is pathetic.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Anyone know which low floor bus this is? Saw this on a music video. Are these still seen on Mumbai roads?

Originally Posted by raj_5004

its by TATA. these are introduced lately. they are slowly replacing the old buses.

Yes, it's a Tata. These buses have been around for a few years now. ACGL Goa is the fabricator but I suspect Tata is perhaps getting them fabricated from someone in Punjab too since I've seen some of these brand new, unregistered buses on NH-1, coming from the Punjab side. Chandigarh Transport Undertaking has quite a few of these.

Originally Posted by AkMar

The AC version is is a completely different design. The AC version is a Tata-Marcopolo bus, whereas the non AC buses were manufactured before the JV was signed between Tata and Marcopolo.

Even the Tata-Marco comes with two engine options. The non-AC models come with Cummins B series 5.9 litre engine made by Tata-Cummins that you talk about. However, in Tata Marco, it develops as much as 230 HP even in CNG mode! The AC model comes with Cummins L series 8.9 litre engine sourced from Cummins India Ltd. that's even more powerful and runs the AC too; so no separate engine for AC.

[v12]

Yes, thats the Tata Starbus. They were introduced very recently into the fleet.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Even the Tata-Marco comes with two engine options. The non-AC models come with Cummins B series 5.9 litre engine made by Tata-Cummins that you talk about. However, in Tata Marco, it develops as much as 230 HP even in CNG mode! The AC model comes with Cummins L series 8.9 litre engine sourced from Cummins India Ltd. that's even more powerful and runs the AC too; so no separate engine for AC.

Is it true? I think the AC version of the Marco comes with a 230 hp engine. Do you know the power output of the 8.9 litre engine?

And, what is the cost of a CNG non AC Marcopolo bus?

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Is it true? I think the AC version of the Marco comes with a 230 hp engine. Do you know the power output of the 8.9 litre engine?

And, what is the cost of a CNG non AC Marcopolo bus?

8.9 litre CNG develops 330 HP. Check this:

Cummins L Series engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Haryana Roadways employee told me that the AC one costs Rs. 65 lacs but I'm not sure if the figure is correct.

[AkMar]

I am still not convinced about the CNG AC Marcopolo power. The bus with BEST has a 230 hp engine according to reliable sources.

Yes. The AC one costs about 65 lakhs. But I am curious to know how much the non AC one costs, to compare the cost of a traditional bus (buying a plain chassis and then getting a body built by third party) and a fully built Marcopolo. I think the marcopolo will be more expensive.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Even the Tata-Marco comes with two engine options. The non-AC models come with Cummins B series 5.9 litre engine made by Tata-Cummins that you talk about. However, in Tata Marco, it develops as much as 230 HP even in CNG mode! The AC model comes with Cummins L series 8.9 litre engine sourced from Cummins India Ltd. that's even more powerful and runs the AC too; so no separate engine for AC.

AFAIK, the AC version currently comes with a 230hp engine. BMTC operates a couple of these.

FYI, the Leyland 12M bus is powered by a 177hp engine. This engine powers the AC, and the buses do not require a 'slave' engine for the AC. So, it is very much possible that the 230hp engine works very comfortable with the AC on!

BTW, a newspaper report had mentioned that the non-AC version has a 205hp engine, and the AC one has a 230hp engine.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by binaiks

AFAIK, the AC version currently comes with a 230hp engine. BMTC operates a couple of these.

BTW, a newspaper report had mentioned that the non-AC version has a 205hp engine, and the AC one has a 230hp engine.

Originally Posted by AkMar

I am still not convinced about the CNG AC Marcopolo power. The bus with BEST has a 230 hp engine according to reliable sources.

Well, considering that Cummins B5.9NA develops only 120 HP in the usual non-AC Tata bus, the 230 HP version of the engine should be powerful enough to run AC without a slave engine. It's possible there are more versions of Tata-Marco than the two I talked about. BMTC AC buses might be having 230 HP engine.

Originally Posted by AkMar

I think the marcopolo will be more expensive.

Obviously Marcopolo is more expensive given its sophistication.