The weight reduction of over 1 ton has been achieved, if you read properly, by Volvo/Wright's transition from B9TL/EG2 to B5TL/EG3. Using that as an example, the weight came out from:
Exactly. ADL played that card when the E400 was launched, which is why the benefit is not as significant these days. However, I looked at the weight of a 9.9m London Trident/ALX400 and found that the E400 is only about 40kg lighter, which surprised me a little bit.
One key point is that ADL now has a very broad customer base and they have been very proactively trying to keep that market share. Also, off all the manufacturers, they are the only one that has a product lineup that straddles all sector of the UK bus market. I think these are the reasons why they have won the big groups' business this year.
On the B5LH btw, the weight-saving is actually not that much of a surprise, because Wright already said the Gemini 3 is 700 kg lighter, so the actual numbers is now stacking up with their claim. More than that, its transition to Euro 6 does not seem to impact its chassis design, unlike the E400 (both the E40D and E40H), and hence it can bag all that weight saving from the body.
ATENU 所謂減左差唔多大半噸都好 (相信係用最重既 ATE 比)，其實同 ATR 比都差唔多重，ATENU 只係比 ATR 輕 100-200 kg 左右
(其實未必差咁多添，最低個數字好大可能係用低載 ATENU1 計出黎)
調返轉，好多人話 AP APM AVW AVBW 重，其實都係 16 噸咁上下數字，ATE/AVBE 所謂輕，只係比個 d 所謂重既 Wright / Neoplan 殼重 100-200 kg 左右，大約 3-4 個乘客重量
講到尾，ATE 車廂內只要比起隔離架 AVW 多幾個客，兩部車根本已經一樣咁重，顯然 ATE 撞起車黎係傷得誇張過 AVW (雖然真實比較到既例子就唔多)
結構安全同車重似乎無乜大關系，結構安全係同設計有關
Your point about weight creep is actually very important, and not a lot of people (esp. here) actually realise how bad it got in the last decade. For a like for like size, a Trident and B7TL is anything between 600-800kg heavier than a Volvo Olympian. On top of this, the larger variety of those types also became the favoured choice by operators to compensate the loss of seats in low-floor designs, so we went from the Olympian where the 9.6m version is the norm in the 90s, to the low-floor buses that are 10.5m or, in some cases, more. All that pushes the weight up.
However, are the AP, AVW etc really weigh only 16 tons? I find this very hard to believe because a single door tri-axle Olympian weighs some 17.2 tons, and like I said before, I expect low floor designs to be heavier. If anything, I though they would be closer to 18 tons, if not over that.
Like I said, that 13xxx basically stacks up to Wrightbus' claim of 700kg saving in the Gemini 3.
On Euro 6 E400, I will find some time to track down 9544 actually, since of all the visits I have done at London lately, I only saw it once, and very briefly.
You say that, but I have a gut feeling that we will not see a B8TL in any shape at all. In its place, a tri-axle B5LH will be offered instead. The reason I say this are 1. it can share with the existing B5LH production, and the design has got pretty decent power output; 2. The type has been well proven, both from reliability and economy points of view; 3. Volvo have already done away the diesel-only option for the 7900 and offer the hybrid as the only version; and 4. Doing this will drive down the type's price, and with greater volume production, the production cost shall come down as well. The lower purchase price can well be a market shaking move, considering the hybrids are 50% more expensive than a diesel equivalent.
On your last point, we probably have come to a point where low floor chassis design (esp. transverse engine design) has matured so much that there is very little that can be changed. The current E400 is basically a 2-axle Trident, and the B5TL is very much the same design as the B7TL as you said. The only one that is different is, ironically for all the sentiment it received from outside, the LT. That is the only UK double decker design that remotely resembles the full low-floor designs from the leading European rivals. I personally think that the StreetDeck can well be a very clever little package.
原帖由 NV58 於 2014-5-5 03:31 發表
However, are the AP, AVW etc really weigh only 16 tons? I find this very hard to believe because a single door tri-axle Olympian weighs some 17.2 tons, and like I said before, I expect low floor designs to be heavier. If anything, I though they would be closer to 18 tons, if not over that.
Exactly. ADL played that card when the E400 was launched, which is why the benefit is not as significant these days. However, I looked at the weight of a 9.9m London Trident/ALX400 and found that th ...
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