coach & bus live rrr:2 col articles 30/10/07 16:12 Page 12 Live and kicking Several of the UK passenger transport industry’s best-known names were noticeable by their absence from the exhibitor list at the second biennial Coach & Bus Live show. But one thing the event did not lack was engineering and business news, as David Wilcox discovered. Optare The radius of lower front corner Optare Solo SR: on a roll with a he tenth anniversary of Optare’s Solo midibus is being celebrated by panels has been increased on the curvaceous roof inherited from the the introduction of a new version, the SR, with redesigned front and SR to lessen the risk of accident Versa. Trear sections. Officially this is an additional model rather than a damage. This looks a sensible replacement, but it is likely that the current Solo, available in six overall precaution given that front overhang is 100mm greater. Wheelbase is lengths (7.1–10.2 metres) and two overall widths (2.34 and 2.5 unchanged. At the rear the SR is pure Versa, including lamp clusters. metres), nevertheless will be phased out in due course as customers opt Headlamps apart, all exterior lights are light-emitting diodes ( LED ) as for the SR. It comes in only two lengths (8.9 and 9.6m) and one width (2.5m). Optare managing director Bob Coombes says other lengths and narrow versions will follow “if there is customer demand.” The curvaceous bulging roof-line introduced a year ago on the Optare Versa ( Transport Engineer December 2006) is inherited by the SR. But its front-end styling looks rather cleaner than the Versa’s because the destination box is integral with the roof’s curve and does not protrude. So drag coefficient is lower, helping to counter the effect of the larger frontal area resulting from the bulbous roof. Optare technical director Glenn Saint explains that the readability of electronic destination displays has improved enough to allow them to be used behind sloping glass. “We have carefully balanced the need for clarity of the display with the style benefit offered by the roll-over top design,” says Mr Saint. Operators unconvinced by this compromise can still opt for a conventional destination-box. 12 Transport Engineer November 2007 coach & bus live rrr:2 col articles 30/10/07 16:12 Page 13 standard. Side windows are curved instead of flat, thus making them example appeared ( Transport Engineer November 2005). Since then only stiffer them and less prone to “flutter” when the bus is stationary with the one more has made it into service in the UK, far short of the sales target engine idling. of 30 in the first year alone. Richard Jaffa, BMC (UK) managing director, The Solo’s trademark design features, including integral tubular frame, of the British subsidiary of the Turkish commercial vehicle manufacturer, front axle ahead of the doorway, and quickly-detachable engine and blames this on the time taken to complete European homologation and transmission cradle are all retained with the SR. Unladen weight is up by on unavailability of Euro-4 engines. Now the plan is for a dozen King 100-200kg, according to Mr Saint, but he is confident that this will not Long coaches for the UK to go into production in China next month, all to jeopardise the Solo’s reputation as a lightweight, fuel-efficient midibus. satisfy firm orders, we are told. “And we’ve ordered another batch of 26 Unladen weight remains below six tonnes, though maximum plated for early in the new year,” says Mr Jaffa. weight has been raised to the full 11.3 tonnes design weight by virtue of The first King Long XMQ 6127 had a rear-mounted Euro-3 Cummins a tyre-size change, from 215/75 R17.5 to 235/75 R17.5. ISM 10.8-litre power unit. But there is no Euro-4 version of this engine, Front and rear axles are largely unchanged, though gear meshing is so its place is taken by a Cummins 8.9-litre ISLe. This develops 250kW said to have been refined in the Albion drive-axle’s differential, making it (335hp) at 2,100rpm, with peak torque of 1,500Nm at 1,200- quieter. Further noise reduction comes from improved insulation in the 1,400rpm. Most of the rest of the King Long running gear comes from floor and engine bay, like that of the Versa. ZF, including both axles, steering box, and six-speed gearbox (manual or The only suspension change is the introduction of “frequency selective” automatic). The 12-metre body on the two-axle chassis is 3.75 metres dampers from Koni. Their damping response varies with suspension tall. input. So less damping is generated by short, high-frequency suspension Mr Jaffa is hoping the King Long coach will help bolster BMC’s movements than by long suspension travel during cornering. flagging sales in the UK coach and bus market where its share has fallen Engine options with the SR are the familiar Mercedes-Benz four- slightly this year. A new showroom for BMC trucks, buses and coaches is cylinder 4.25-litre unit at 154hp, MAN four-cylinder 4.58-litre unit at due to open soon at the company’s UK base in Coventry. 177hp, and Cummins six-cylinder 6.7-litre ISBe unit at 201hp. Introduction of the MAN engine option with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR ) rather than selective catalytic reduction ( SCR ) for cutting oxides of nitrogen ( NOX ) at Euro-4 has proved an Optare masterstroke. Fully 40 per cent of Euro-4 Solo and Versa models are now specified with this engine, reports Mr Coombes. SR list prices will be higher than those of the current Solo but Optare is not yet ready to say by how much. SR deliveries are due to start next March. King Long he long wait for the King Long is almost over, it seems. At the TBirmingham coach and bus show of 2004 came the first announcement from BMC (UK) that a 12-metre coach from King Long of China was about to go on sale in the UK ( Transport Engineer December King Long XMQ 6127: powered by 2004). But it was not until the rear-mounted Euro-4 Cummins 8.9- following year’s show that the first litre ISLe at 335hp. November 2007 Transport Engineer 13 coach & bus live rrr:2 col articles 30/10/07 16:12 Page 14 Indcar Topless crowd-puller: the Indcar o vehicle at this year’s coach and bus show stopped more Mago 2 Cabrio is based on an Nvisitors in their tracks than the Indcar Mago 2 Cabrio on the Iveco EuroMidi chassis. stand of Esker, the coach and bus supplier based in Kilbeggan, Irish Republic. Bulbous bodywork and huge overhangs front and rear already attract an ugly-duckling epithet for the standard version of the Spanish-built Indcar Mago 2 midicoach. Removing the roof to make a 10-tonnes-gvw, 8.9-metre cabriolet for open-air sightseeing does nothing to take it nearer to a beautiful swan. The vehicle, with a list price around £95,000, is based on an Iveco EuroMidi chassis (conventional ladder-frame) with front-mounted 5.9-litre, six-cylinder Tector engine rated at 160kW (215hp). Even without a roof, the coach passes the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Regulation 66 rollover test, courtesy of steel roll bars front and rear. The bodywork is mainly glass-reinforced plastic (grp), with all glazing bonded to enhance rigidity. The left-hand-drive example at the show includes a wheelchair lift at the rear nearside. There is a roof section over the driver’s cabin but all passenger seats (34 or 29 plus a wheelchair) are in the open. The plastic Fainsa seats incorporate lap belts and drain holes. A concertina-style folding roof is an option. Esker’s first customer for the Mago 2 Cabrio is Paddywagon Tours, a Dublin-based backpacker travel company. MCV CV has been busy tidying up the styling and Mfinish of its Evolution, introducing options such as bonded side windows to do away with clunky- looking gaskets, and a one-piece windscreen to allow wipers to be parked less obtrusively. Every lower panel used to be dotted with half-a-dozen fixing bolts, but now their mountings are out of sight on the lower edge of the panels. This 10.2-metre Evolution, part of a batch for London operator Metroline, keeps the two-piece screen and gasket-fixed side windows. It is on an MAN 12-tonne underframe with rear-mounted and vertically-installed, six-cylinder, 6.9-litre D08 engine rated at 236hp. Transport for London’s specification includes a two-door layout, power- operated ramp at the rear doors for wheelchair-users and a Johnson Matthey/Eminox CRT More Evolution than revolution: (continuously Transport for London’s regenerating trap) specification for the MCV diesel particulate Evolution includes two doors and filter. a powered ramp at the rear door. 14 Transport Engineer November 2007 coach & bus live rrr:2 col articles 30/10/07 16:12 Page 15 Darwen Group his show provided the first opportunity for the new Towner of East Lancashire Coachbuilders to set out its stall in public. Darwen Group was established in August, only days before buying East Lancs Coachbuilders from administrators. The main Darwen Group shareholder is Roy Stanley, founder and chairman of Tanfield, the Washington, Tyne-and-Wear-based parent of companies such as Smith Electric Vehicles ( Transport Engineer September) and UpRight Powered Access, a manufacturer of aerial lift platforms.