At this angle, it is very hard to tell. Nevertheless Wrightbus did say previously that the Streetdeck bodywork is interchangeable with the Gemini 3, so I am not surprised that this can will be the one. Their weight shall be very comparable as well.
The Lothian B5 is never a good comparator, with its staircase glass panels, it's bounded to bring the weight up a bit.
Where have you seen the weight figure for the Stagecoach B5LHs? I have not seen data from a reliable source. However, if your figure is correct, the new B5LH/Gemini combination is nearly 900kg lighter than Stagecoach London's latest E400Hs, which is quite a gap. I wonder what ADL has done to the new E400 to bridge that.
Lately ADL sales team have been very aggressive on securing business with the big groups and the E400s gaining ground is hardly a surprise (which is more a tried product comparing to the B5TL). I think both the B5TL and, certainly, the StreetDeck are not matured enough to properly compete with the E400s. Given time though, I expect the tide to turn to a slightly more balanced market share.
Actually, Volvo have been selling Euro V products as well, like all those B9TLs that went to Go North East. Volvo have started to catch some orders for the B5TLs though, but both of the orders come from Ireland (and NI shall I say) - Dublin Bus and Translink.
From what I have heard directly and indirectly so far, drivers' feedback has been positive and it is said to be quicker than the B9s (in London traffic anyway). I caught a ride on V6 last year and really don't feel it's massively different - it's hard to judge in traffic anyway. The one thing I don't like is its engine sounds like one coming out from UD, which to be fair, is where the D5K comes from. I have not seen any proper feedback on fuel economy, except in a recent issue of Buses where Volvo is said to be satisfied with how the V6 was doing, which is supposed to be 10-15% better than the B9. At its time in London the V6 seems to be running fairly reliably in its first 3 months in service, but again, I have not seen any concrete feedback from industrial sources.
At this angle, it is very hard to tell. Nevertheless Wrightbus did say previously that the Streetdeck bodywork is interchangeable with the Gemini 3, so I am not surprised that this can will be the o ...
Got it, thanks. It actually looks like 11,243kg to me. For comparison, recent B5LH/Gemini 2s weighs about 12,000kg, so that backs up Wrightbus' claim that the Gemini 3 body is 700kg lighter. In contrast, Stagecoach's recent E400Hs weighs 12,220kg, so actually the gap is a little bit bigger than I thought, which makes the E400 even more interesting, in terms on how ADL will take weight out of the new bus.
That glass panel, I don't think it needs further strengthening really. The strength of the bodywork shall come mostly from the structural frame, so it shall not be a major issue. I thought Volvo and Wrightbus did say that the single-door version shall be closer to 10 tons, which tells a lot about the penalty of the glass panel.
But that goes for every buses anyway doesn't it? Nevertheless, I had previously looked at the specifications on the D5K engine. Basically it has about 10% less torque than the D9B-260, but than the B5TL is about 10% lighter, which shall compensate (until it is fully loaded). The other thing that can go against the B5TL can but turbo lag at low rev, which, in a smaller engine, shall be more noticeable as well.
Off the line, the hybrids are just on a different league, both the E400H and B5LH. Funny enough, the B5s got so much power that the early one suffer wheel spins, but I read that the problem has been corrected when the production batch came along.
I am not so sure about V6. I don't know why every time I went to London for it, it would break down before I got to see it.
In addition, I am not convinced about the "smaller is better" trend. Reading the books regarding older buses, they actually got better fuel economy figures from a larger engine under lighter loads, than a smaller engine under heavier loads. The turbo lag generated on recent new buses is just appalling compared to the older buses.
I found this excerpt from the Routemaster Enthusiast's Manual (Morgan 2012, p. 14):
The change to a larger engine proved London Transport's belief to a smaller engine being made to work harder; not only does the larger engine produce better performance without being over-stretched. The additional 6cwt (50.8kg) weight disadvantage was decided to be a sacrifice worth making.
報導好似話應該同幾架 B5TL 樣板 10.81 噸差唔多
報導好似話應該同幾架 B5TL 樣板 10.81 噸差唔多
