[kadri007]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hi,

Is it a rear-engined Volvo or is Corona a new truck manufacturer?

Corona is a very nich manufacturer. Their major business is with KSRTC at present. They are based out of Pune. They have tie up with Cummins for engine on which they build thier body.

You can check out thier website in the below link

Commercial Vehicles (Yeshwanth Live)

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

You got to be kidding. How can an American brand can be affordable?

hmmm, true. we will have to wait till the prices are revealed then.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Dude, 2 1/2 months, no update, what happened?

very sorry for that bro. everything is finalized. chassis is from AL & air suspension is fitted from wheels india. the bus body is being built at prakash. delivery is promised on Jan 15th but i expect it to be Jan end.

Colour is dark maroon with golden shades & black stripes. the sticker design is completely new & copied (!!!) from an international bus.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Colour is dark maroon with golden shades & black stripes. the sticker design is completely new & copied (!!!) from an international bus.

Thanks Raj for the update, Post pictures once you take delivery.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Thanks Raj for the update, Post pictures once you take delivery.

of course buddy, i was a totally newbie to all this, i still am!

you all have helped me in a big way & a big thanks to all. (i am deliberately not taking individual names over here.)

so i will definitely post the pics once i get the delivery.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by DWind

Curiously, their upper birth(berth!) leaves the bus stand one minute earlier than the lower birth. Maybe, the upper birth goes via Chitoor.

I am not sure if you are just poking fun of it - or whether your question is serious.

Anyways, the upper berth and the lower birth are programmed as different trip codes for the sake of convenience. Long back, KSRTC used to programme the entire bus as a single trip schedule - back then, it used to be confusing to find whether your berth is an upper one or a lower one. Now with two different schedules, they can easily differentiate between the buses, and also charge differential fares (later).

The tickets would have the actual departure time, and the timings printed for both the schedules would be the same.

Originally Posted by DWind

BTW does anybody has the specs of Corona? It is heavily inspired by Volvo and hope it has the matching hp and Torque to boot.

There you go... Corona is powered by a meagre 160hp Cummins Engine. It generates a torque of 54.5 mkg (535 Nm) @ 1400 to 1700 RPM. This compares with 290 HP and 1200nM torque of the Volvo.

The design is indeed heavily inspired by the Volvo. However, the specs are not. What makes Corona special is the fact that this is the only manufacturer, as of today, to offer monocoque sleeper coaches.

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The design is indeed heavily inspired by the Volvo. However, the specs are not. What makes Corona special is the fact that this is the only manufacturer, as of today, to offer monocoque sleeper coaches.

I remember AL launching the Cruiser as the first monocoque bus in India. Wonder what happened to that. Any ideas Binai?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

I remember AL launching the Cruiser as the first monocoque bus in India. Wonder what happened to that. Any ideas Binai?

Cruiser sold in very small numbers... that bus was launched before the market was ripe. Now the market is ripe, but Leyland is sleeping over its Luxura.

Corona still holds the record for being the first Monocoque Sleeper coach in India.

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Cruiser sold in very small numbers... that bus was launched before the market was ripe. Now the market is ripe, but Leyland is sleeping over its Luxura.

Corona still holds the record for being the first Monocoque Sleeper coach in India.

Thanks. That Luxura is simply not cutting the ice.

I have 'heard' that the new Globus received good feedback. Apparently its fuel consumption is much better than Volvos due to smaller capacity. Any idea on how that bus is?

Also, I had a specific question for you Binai. Why is that KeSRTC fleet is predominantly Vikings and not Cheetahs?

I hate this mass shift into sleepers. Once received quite inhuman treatment in a Volvo sleeper for 14 hours. Many of the passengers didn't sleep till 3 in the morning. Finally managed to sleep by following other passengers in destroying the air vents above my head! Moreover I wonder how safe it is if we lie vertically unlatched (no kind of belts) in a bus in a high speed accident. Where are the emergency exists? If we are stuffed in tiny boxes does it matter that there is a tiny door somewhere. Also with a stranger sleeping next, its pretty weird.

[Sivasankar]

@kadri & binaiks - Thank you very much for the information on the Corona.

@Trapezio - I travel regularly between Chennai & Salem and always use KPN Travels' sleeper service for 2 reasons - i prefer road travel to rail and the odd train timings...

the buses are poorly maintained (mosquitoes, dusty aisle mats, i shudder to think of what lurks in the AC ducts) and it was saddening to see some of their Volvos riding on retread tyres...

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

@Trapezio - I travel regularly between Chennai & Salem and always use KPN Travels' sleeper service for 2 reasons - i prefer road travel to rail and the odd train timings...

the buses are poorly maintained (mosquitoes, dusty aisle mats, i shudder to think of what lurks in the AC ducts) and it was saddening to see some of their Volvos riding on retread tyres...

I agree with your comparison with trains.

But are you particular about the sleeper coach? I mean the one with boxes with beds inside. As a regular traveler do you prefer these beds over a really good reclining seat with footrest and good thigh support?

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

I have 'heard' that the new Globus received good feedback. Apparently its fuel consumption is much better than Volvos due to smaller capacity. Any idea on how that bus is?

Looks like a new engine and transmission. Also now Starbus (fully built) are made by Tata Marcopolo.


Tata Motors - Media Centre

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Looks like a new engine and transmission. Also now Starbus (fully built) are made by Tata Marcopolo.

Cool pics teamveevee! You made my day!

The paint finish of the Starbus is good. I particularly liked the flush fitting doors.

[nbr]

Originally Posted by Trapezio

Cool pics teamveevee! You made my day!

The paint finish of the Starbus is good. I particularly liked the flush fitting doors.

Beautiful. The second one looks really fresh in design. i havent seen a bus in that design. But marcopolo is not written anywhere on the HYBRID starbus and is written only on the second one..

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

and it was saddening to see some of their Volvos riding on retread tyres...

What is wrong with that?

A new tyre costs upwards of INR 20K (can somebody please post exact figures?).

And has a life of 25K KM. A bus requires six of them. If a tyre is not retreaded, running costs for tyres alone will be around Rs. 4.75 per kilometer.

Remember that a typical Volvo will run around 600 KM per day. That means an average life span of hardly 40 days. Even retreaded tyres will give around same life for the tyres.

Every sane Bus (and truck) operator will retread a tyre at least twice. But brand new tyres will always go to the front, (to be able to withstand weight transfer during sudden braking) for buses and rear, for the trucks.

[kadri007]

Has Mercedes launched any Low floor buses at Auto Expo.

Any news on any other bus launches.