[AMATMO]

i saw a MAN fire engine at the the old airport today,it must have been imported cause the cabin was a bit different than the MAN FORCE trucks

it was more like the MAN trucks @madmonkey had posted long ago and had huge tyres

[deepclutch]

@binalks : thanks for the update.infact ,there are real low floor buses I saw in Coimbatore.no ,it is not gov owned.only few in numbers.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by TomRider

I am a newbie in this section. Last weekend I saw a couple of LHD Ashok Leyland buses on Salem -> Bangalore road, driving towards Bangalore. It was written "EXPORT-Left Hand Drive" (or something like that - could not read it properly) on the rear windshield. All were white in color. I am quite sure that they are meant for exporting. Can anyone shed some light on this? Is this topic discussed earlier in this thread?

I guess they were built in the Karur body-builders. They are driven all the way to Bombay Port from where they are exported to Middle East. Steady orders, you keep seeing them at regular intervals here in Bombay Port area. Tata consignments outnumber AL - not only do they have buses, but also tippers, MCVs and LCVs for the same market.

[prmd_cochin]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I guess they were built in the Karur body-builders. They are driven all the way to Bombay Port from where they are exported to Middle East. Steady orders, you keep seeing them at regular intervals here in Bombay Port area. Tata consignments outnumber AL - not only do they have buses, but also tippers, MCVs and LCVs for the same market.

TATA and AL are there in numbers, but as the cheapest alternate, way way below par compared to the Hyundai and Daewoo buses. And mostly used for transporting Indian/ other south asian migrant labourers. The well maintained ones are used by Schools.

The new TATA Star and Globus have been bought by the Schools in Dubai/Sharjah/AD. Those buses looks damn good.

Trucks and LCVs are rare, seen a few brand new NOVUS trucks. NOVUS has better finish to the normal TATAs but looks tiny in front of other massive pullers.

Buses here have rear engine, which neither AL or TATA has introduced here.

Buses like Higer, KingLong have started appearing in large numbers especially among tour operators.

Where are the Indian CV manufacturers....??? Sleeping i guess.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The bus you saw was KA-01-D-2029, based at Depot-4. The bus, perhaps, is on trial. This is why the bus has a "private" registration. It had two guys, who appeared to be from Swaraj, along with the driver and the Conductor in the bus. The bus is operating the after Bangalore-Chennai Schedule. It leaves Bangalore at 1401, and returns from Chennai at 2330.

About the bus: It has a 230hp rear mount Isuzu Engine. The engine is a 6-cyl BSIII engine. It can seat 40 passengers. According to some markings on the bus, it has an ABS. It also has a "rear-view camera" - a feature that is seen on Volvo B7RLE buses.

:

A friend of mine travelled in this Swaraj Izuzu Bus from Bangalore to Chennai. He had gone to book a ticket on the Volvo but the ppl there suggested him to try the new Swaraj Bus which was offered at a discount at Rs.500 instead of Rs.550.

He felt cheated after travelling! Reasons,
* The ride comfort was nowhere near to that of the Volvo
* Only individual AC vents and no AC Vent on the aisle.
He's not a very keen observer, so am not sure about this AC Vent claim. But he insisted that the bus took a long time to cool.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by binaiks

I second your opinion. The grunt of the KL is, perhaps, due to the CNG engine. But there are many people who argue KL are the worst. I had only one ride, and I felt them really comfortable.

I think you will include me in "many people" I have clarified right from my first journey in Kinglong that there are absolutely no issues with the comfort. But the engine and manual gearbox is BAD. The engine lacks acceleration. Manual gear box buses require more effort to shift gears than non-AC Leyland and Tata buses.

Regarding the engine sound, it is totally unacceptable. BEST's Marcopolo too runs on CNG. It does not make so much noise. I know that you will consider this impossible as the MArcopolo apparantly shares engine with Kinglong. But I am saying this after travelling in marcopolo three times and seeing it at least 10 times. I seriously doubt whether the engine in Kinglongs and Marcopolo is the same. Even the new lot of Kinglongs have noisy engines.

[AkMar]

Finally managed to travel the new BEST Kinglongs. There are at least 6 of these buses. The interior remains largely unchanged. The tube lights have been shifted to the sides in two rows, and the AC vents have been changed. The air con in these buses is of Carrier make as opposed to Haiger of the older buses. The exterior has some changes, though.

I have attached some pics of these buses. For more, click here

[prmd_cochin]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Finally managed to travel the new BEST Kinglongs. There are at least 6 of these buses. The interior remains largely unchanged. The tube lights have been shifted to the sides in two rows, and the AC vents have been changed. The air con in these buses is of Carrier make as opposed to Haiger of the older buses. The exterior has some changes, though.

I have attached some pics of these buses. For more, click here

Couldnt they find a better colour combo. Chineese buses have stormed the market in Dubai. Lots and lots of tour operators have moved to them, most of the buses making round trips to muscat borders rely on Higer buses.

[AMATMO]

i somehow liked the old cerita more as far as exterior looks are concerned

[raj_5004]

can they stop using those boring sumo victa tail lights on an otherwise beautiful bus? doesnt cerita provide tail lamps?

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

i somehow liked the old cerita more as far as exterior looks are concerned

I like the new front side more than the old one.

But rear and sides are better in the older bus.. They resemble a vertical cliff or slab in the new bus. The quality of interiors of the new bus is not great. The bus in which i travelled was hardly two weeks old but it had an AC vent cover missing. See attached pic. Also note the uneven finishing of the roofline near the glass

[CorsaLove]

Originally Posted by AkMar

I like the new front side more than the old one.

But rear and sides are better in the older bus.. They resemble a vertical cliff or slab in the new bus. The quality of interiors of the new bus is not great. The bus in which i travelled was hardly two weeks old but it had an AC vent cover missing. See attached pic. Also note the uneven finishing of the roofline near the glass

I dont think the buses are built by Cerita itself. I think some local body builder got a year long contract and is doing the same finish we get on the Sutlej or Azad body buses.

Taking the Volvo route I guess!

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by CorsaLove

I dont think the buses are built by Cerita itself. I think some local body builder got a year long contract and is doing the same finish we get on the Sutlej or Azad body buses.

Cerita is a joint venture between JCBL and King Long. The body is by JCBL. King Long supplies the Chassis. The Engine comes from Cummins and Gear Box from ZF!

[AMATMO]

Originally Posted by AkMar

I like the new front side more than the old one.

But rear and sides are better in the older bus.. They resemble a vertical cliff or slab in the new bus. The quality of interiors of the new bus is not great. The bus in which i travelled was hardly two weeks old but it had an AC vent cover missing. See attached pic. Also note the uneven finishing of the roofline near the glass

i meant the rear and the sides two
the earlier model looked more compact and clean and i must say, the seats of both the old and new cerita are far far better than the tata marcopolo

[Anthym]

The poor'ol guy in a 800 needs to look heaven wards to see the stopping lights on the KingLongs.