[silversteed]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The new Parasuram AC Air Bus has hit the road

Thanks for the pics, binai. A few queries:
1. Is it a 6-speed transmission?
2. Doors - are they pneumatically operated?
3. What kind of permit does it run - that of normal buses, or like KPN, ABT, etc?
4. The front grill area - is it covered, or has a fine mesh?
5. Does it have projector headlamps, like volvo?

[julupani]

Originally Posted by silversteed

1. Is it a 6-speed transmission?

Are 5-speed ones still on offer?? I thought everybody had moved to a 6+1 standard.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by aalokg

Looks like the driver has a bad habit of driving with one of his legs up on the seat while the cruise control is active.

Here, he is seen with his left leg tucked under his right leg.

You mean right under left?

This is quite dangerous because its the right leg that needs to respond to emergency braking. Relaxing left leg is OK. You should send that pic over to the concerned authorities so that they can enforce the rules.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by silversteed

1. Is it a 6-speed transmission?

Yes. AFAIK, 6-Speed is now standard for 12M buses. This one has 6+1. The owner was praising the fuel efficiency of OD gearboxes.

Originally Posted by silversteed

2. Doors - are they pneumatically operated?

Yes. Infact, he was instrumental in getting pneumatic doors in Private buses. All the buses owned by this owner have pneumatic doors - he was the first in kerala to introduce pneumatic doors as well. He says he had them in 2005 itself!

Originally Posted by silversteed

3. What kind of permit does it run - that of normal buses, or like KPN, ABT, etc?

He runs on a Stage Carriage permit - the one that regular private route buses use. The ones running with tourist permits cannot have route boards!

Originally Posted by silversteed

4. The front grill area - is it covered, or has a fine mesh?

There is no mesh. Its covered. They need to keep the opening open to ensure ventilation for the engine.

Originally Posted by silversteed

5. Does it have projector headlamps, like volvo?

In fact, the bus uses the original headlamp console from a Volvo! Its got one projector and two regular beams in each unit.

[aalokg]

Originally Posted by Mpower

You mean right under left?

This is quite dangerous because its the right leg that needs to respond to emergency braking. Relaxing left leg is OK. You should send that pic over to the concerned authorities so that they can enforce the rules.

In the first picture, his left leg is under his right, and in the second picture, his right leg is under his left leg, which, as everyone has already pointed out, is highly dangerous.

I will definitely send the pictures over to the authorities soon.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Yes. AFAIK, 6-Speed is now standard for 12M buses. This one has 6+1. The owner was praising the fuel efficiency of OD gearboxes.

Was only confirming it

Yes. Infact, he was instrumental in getting pneumatic doors in Private buses. All the buses owned by this owner have pneumatic doors - he was the first in kerala to introduce pneumatic doors as well. He says he had them in 2005 itself!

That's noteworthy

There is no mesh. Its covered. They need to keep the opening open to ensure ventilation for the engine.

Bad. Kannu pedaathirikkaan aano ee paripaadi? Why would they want to design a grill that defeats the reason there is a grill out there?

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The bus has two 19inch Panasonic LCD screens.

Stage carriages in Kerala, does the rules allow to have an entertainment system such as TV/Video? I thought even stearios are against the DMV rule.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Stage carriages in Kerala, does the rules allow to have an entertainment system such as TV/Video? I thought even stearios are against the DMV rule.

I vaguely remember reading in an official circular that Entertainment system is permitted, provided a full size partition is provided for the driver. I am not very sure - but there exists a loop hole in the MV Rules.

[TheARUN]

Awesome Bus the PARASURAM. According to the MV Act for Stage Carriages, they were permitted only on the ASHOK LEYLAND 210" Chassis and the TATA 5200mm wheelbase Chassis. I never knew a 12M Chassis could be registered as a Stage Carriage

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Awesome Bus the PARASURAM. According to the MV Act for Stage Carriages, they were permitted only on the ASHOK LEYLAND 210" Chassis and the TATA 5200mm wheelbase Chassis. I never knew a 12M Chassis could be registered as a Stage Carriage

Thats quite a news. The Stage Carriage norms only specify minimum wheelbase, not maximum, IIRC. KeSRTC uses 222 WB buses - they've been using this atleast since early 2000s. A good share of the new stage carriages registered in Kerala are Lynx or SWB Cheetahs. They too don't fall into your definition!

More over, even the earlier Parasuram was a 12M bus!

[prmd_cochin]

Nice to see the brand new Parasuram. Nice paint job and kudos to the owner for being a true professional.

[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Thats quite a news. The Stage Carriage norms only specify minimum wheelbase, not maximum, IIRC. KeSRTC uses 222 WB buses - they've been using this atleast since early 2000s. A good share of the new stage carriages registered in Kerala are Lynx or SWB Cheetahs. They too don't fall into your definition!

More over, even the earlier Parasuram was a 12M bus!

Binai, I have a doubt. If there is a minimum wheelbase specification for stage carrier permit, how the "kutti" buses (buses on 407 and 607? chasis) running in local routes got permit? Do they have a different permit?

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by julupani

Are 5-speed ones still on offer?? I thought everybody had moved to a 6+1 standard.

6 speed GB are standard.
But difference is AL gives 6 speed with OD but TM gives 6 speed in some variants with DD and not OD - This kills the very basic purpose of offering 6 speed GB.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

6 speed GB are standard.
But difference is AL gives 6 speed with OD but TM gives 6 speed in some variants with DD and not OD - This kills the very basic purpose of offering 6 speed GB.

What kind of gearbox depends on the characteristics of the engine. Its not so simple as OD means more mileage.

The idea is to maintain a decent cruising speed of the vehicle, while maintaining the engine at an rpm where it is most fuel efficient. If this requires an OD 6th gear, then you need it. If it can be managed with a direct drive, then you can give that. At the end of the day, nobody wants an OD gear, as long as they can find a way to not go for it. Simply because, even though it provides a higher road speed, it actually loses you torque, ie the torque output of the gearbox in overdrive is actually lower than the engine is providing to the gearbox.


More gears are provided, so that you can stay in the rpm band of high efficiency all the time. The higher number of gears allows the engine to stay in an rpm range of as low as 200rpm, no matter what the speed and what the load.

But leaving aside the technical reasons for choosing gear ratios, Tata's standard gearbox is the GB600, which happens to have on overdrive. I think the ratio is 0.77:1. The other gearboxes are the 5-speed GB50, and the 6-speed GB750. The GB750 is a higher torque rated version of the GB600 and has the same gear ratios. There are certain variations, mostly gearboxes with a higher 1st gear for heavy duty applications and gearboxes with PTO options, neither of which I think will be used for buses.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by julupani

What kind of gearbox depends on the characteristics of the engine. Its not so simple as OD means more mileage.

The idea is to maintain a decent cruising speed of the vehicle, while maintaining the engine at an rpm where it is most fuel efficient. If this requires an OD 6th gear, then you need it. If it can be managed with a direct drive, then you can give that. At the end of the day, nobody wants an OD gear, as long as they can find a way to not go for it. Simply because, even though it provides a higher road speed, it actually loses you torque, ie the torque output of the gearbox in overdrive is actually lower than the engine is providing to the gearbox.


More gears are provided, so that you can stay in the rpm band of high efficiency all the time. The higher number of gears allows the engine to stay in an rpm range of as low as 200rpm, no matter what the speed and what the load.

Unfortunately all these technical theotrical reasons are known for all.

I just gave it as a prevailing market feedback of not providing OD and DD.
No matter the number of gears they provide.

TM is still providing 5 speed gearbox then why should there be two gear box without OD.
Instead they can standardise with 5 speed DD and 6 speed OD