[conjon]

Whats the specs for the AL Luxura?
I read somewhere couple of years back that its coming with a hino J series engine producing 260 bhp.
Its time to change the design of luxura intercentury coach. May be they should try one of the irizar's international designs other than the PB coach.PB coach looks very similar to the swaraj isuzu LT 1 bus.

Originally Posted by kadri007

The older Luxura version is running in Bangalore - Hyderabad route. I saw the bus today near Hebbal. I think the bus leaves Majestic around 7.00 PM.

It looks the same but dark blue in colour.

Hey buddy can you grab a pic of it ...i also heard that it is on vijaywada - Bangalore route as well

[silversteed]

Last night I had a ride in a Chennai MTC Marcopolo too (route M7 from T-Nagar from Tiruvanmiyur). I guess I will have to agree with Ashley2 for almost everything he'd observed

Things that I've noticed, the good ones first...
+ Good interiors
+ Well lit
+ Tall ceiling makes it look more spacious
+ Seats are comfortable on the back
+ Low engine noise inside the cabin
+ Door controls use push buttons (as against levers found in AL Viking SLFs) - the driver said he liked it that way.
+ Instrument cluster is well designed
+ Ergonomically placed Gear shift lever (The driver found it much easier to shift gears)
+ Smooth gear shifts (no squeals)
+ Once it picks up speed, the engine is smooth
- Engine lacks low-end torque, groans when starting from a halt. Moreover, the driver was frequently seen downshifting when he had to slow down.
- Ride quality is only average, no match for the Volvo.
- Low engine noise easily negated by the groan of the engine at lower gears
- Leg room is a bit tight, and I felt the seats could've been wider
- Instrument cluster placed a tad too high, hindering view of close objects in the front (confirmed by the driver)
- Steering wheel is too large, and its positioning make it less driver-friendly
- For some reason, the vibrations were too high when idling (typical of TM buses).
- I didn't like the way the window glass was placed. The hook being placed on the top side makes it difficult to open/close the windows.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Here are my observations:
...
- Front windscreen was a split one with two prominent wipers...

I doubt. Front windscreen was not a split one. It was a single piece. Wipers were prominent though, parked in the middle.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Driver's Verdict:
...
- He was prefering ALL over Tata and wants MTC to continue buying ALL and not TML.

The driver of the bus in which I traveled, also said the same thing.

Originally Posted by DWind

You mean AL SLF do not have a hump to include the wheel-well? I thought it did for AL as well.

AL Viking SLFs do not have that hump.

Originally Posted by conjon

Whats the specs for the AL Luxura?
I read somewhere couple of years back that its coming with a hino J series engine producing 260 bhp.
Its time to change the design of luxura intercentury coach. May be they should try one of the irizar's international designs other than the PB coach.PB coach looks very similar to the swaraj isuzu LT 1 bus.

260 hp 12 m rear engine , this is the spec

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by silversteed

I doubt. Front windscreen was not a split one. It was a single piece. Wipers were prominent though, parked in the middle.

The spilt was a horizontal and not vertical as you are speaking about buddy.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by DWind

You mean AL SLF do not have a hump to include the wheel-well? I thought it did for AL as well.

In AL Hump will be over wheel arch below the seats, and floor will be uniform.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by silversteed

+ Smooth gear shifts (no squeals)
+ Once it picks up speed, the engine is smooth
- Engine lacks low-end torque, groans when starting from a halt. Moreover, the driver was frequently seen downshifting when he had to slow down..

Which engine is this 5.9 Cummins? 5 speed manual?
Is Tata offering optional automatic trans?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Which engine is this 5.9 Cummins?

Uhmm, I need help. Not sure about the spec.

Originally Posted by Mpower

5 speed manual?
Is Tata offering optional automatic trans?

It was a 5-speed manual gearbox. When I said gear shifts were smooth, I said, there weren't any squeals and whirring sounds while the driver was changing gears. AFAIK, there's no auto tranny available for these Non-A/C Marcopolos.

[fifthwheel]

The driver of the bus in which I traveled, also said the same thing.

Somehow, these MTC drivers feel, TATA buses are more feminine (at least the buses & not the cars!!) & doesn't suit them

AL Viking SLFs do not have that hump.[/quote]

All LOW FLOORS / Low entries will have these humps. It is the AQ of the body builders to conceal them

[AkMar]

Attached a pic of BEST's new Ashok Leyland low floor AC bus. This looks quite different than DTC's buses. The DTC look is far better. Some differences I noticed:

1. Mirrors are different.
2. Side is slightly curved in BEST's bus.
3. Only one door in BEST's bus.
4. The door in BEST's bus is smaller than DTC's front door.
5. Tiny glass on front door of BEST. That looks horrible.
6. Different windscreen. In DTC's bus, there is a black surround around destination board. But in BEST's bus that black part is missing.
7. Windows are smaller in BEST's bus. In DTC's bus windo glasses go right doen to the wheel, in BEST's bus they end about 1.5 feet above wheel.

Overall, DTC's bus looks much better.
EDIT: Please see post #135 on page 9 of this thread for pics of DTC bus.

[kadri007]

Hey they copied the Kinglong New series of buses. The new BEST Kinglong buses comes with single door and design looks almost the same.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by kadri007

Hey they copied the Kinglong New series of buses. The new BEST Kinglong buses comes with single door and design looks almost the same.

May be the chinese design used for DTC was tweeked by AL to match BEST spec...

[LPT2625]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Most people who travelled in Chennai's Marcopolos liked it. My friends from Chennai said, they are brighter and spacious than the AL. (Bus fans like us know by spec, both are pretty much same in size, but the arrangement is what makes it spacious i guess). Seats are much better than an AL. Overall, they liked Marcopolos better than AL, (Of course they are not hardcore AL fans, but unbiased normal commuters). Anyway it a good change for MTC.

A small observation about Marcopolos: They have a longer wheelbase when compared with MTC's new SLF Ashok Leylands. That means more revenue per trip.

If I could make a small suggestion vis-a-vis the Marcopolo, it would be that the location of the door-ajar warning buzzers should ideally be on the dashboard on the driver's side and not at the door. And it is very irritating for passengers. Also, the horizontal grab rail on one bus I had travelled in seemed like it may come off at any time.

Someone wrote about the bus struggling to make its way on bridges and inclines. The reason I think has to do with the style of driving in Chennai, where the technique is to shift into top gear as quickly as possible (within 10-20 seconds of moving from standstill) without bothering about engine rpm.

Query: Is the Marcopolo non-A/C equipped with power steering?

[nbr]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

people,

any news of Volvo to be introduced in Mangalore/Udupi route. I heard they were planned for 16th March but delayed due to non availability of politicians is it true?

mods,

kinldy merge the post with previous one.

The Mangalore-Manipal route has finally been launched today .Finally people can travel by A/C to Udupi& Mangalore. They have priced it at Rs.60 from Mangalore to Manipal which is reasonable.

Source: Gulfkannadiga.com

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by LPT2625

If I could make a small suggestion vis-a-vis the Marcopolo, it would be that the location of the door-ajar warning buzzers should ideally be on the dashboard on the driver's side and not at the door.

That's really irritating for the passengers. And perhaps that's the reason why it's placed there - Irritated passengers would ask the driver to close the doors to silence the buzzer. I've seen MTC drivers ignoring the buzzers on the dash (in some of the AL SLFs) and continuing to drive with the doors open.

Originally Posted by LPT2625

Someone wrote about the bus struggling to make its way on bridges and inclines. The reason I think has to do with the style of driving in Chennai, where the technique is to shift into top gear as quickly as possible (within 10-20 seconds of moving from standstill) without bothering about engine rpm.

But with the same style of driving, the ALs I've traveled in manage to traverse flyovers and grades quite effortlessly even at very low rpm.

Originally Posted by LPT2625

Query: Is the Marcopolo non-A/C equipped with power steering?

I guess it is. (I've read somewhere in T-BHP that it's mandatory for heavy vehicles now. Please correct me if I'm wrong)