Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[Liverpool Street]

Hated them at BC, was so glad to see the back of them after almost 10 years.

Very slow pulling away, dangerously so at major islands like Five Ways etc.

As for the comment about it being down to drivers, I dont think Lewis Hamilton could make one move any quicker.

I liked them. Very smooth. 4242 and 4247 from BC I recall as when I drove them were the better ones.

B'ham Central Driver, I can't remember if 4300/4301 etc was any good from Dundee, maybe you could share some light on it.

The Dundee ones were just as bad if not worse. 4242 and 4247 were just as bad as the others. As 2900 said, there was a delay between pressing the gas pedal and the bus moving, infuriating when you're running late.

I never had any issues to be honest mate.

Although for delay of everything, try the E200's. Even the horn takes a few seconds to realise it has been pressed.

[2900]

Totally agree with you b,ham Central driver.  Can't remember the fleet no there is one at west brom it flyes it's extremely rare to get it . Yes I agree they can be smooth , it's been a while since I,ve come across one that ticks most boxes.

[2900]

Never driven any b10l,s I seriously doubt I ever will, remember them brand new on the hagley they seemed pleasant enough from a passenger point of view . I can recall comments from various drivers at the time some were faster than others. Few months back I,m travelling around darlo I boarded a b10l a refurbed example  sat down back I thought to myself this sounds nothing like the hagley road examples. IMO this is a far better bus than those. Very nice example can't be to many left now . Did some arrive new with different specs?

[2900]

I just remembered a few years back at Walsall training centre I drove an alexander b10l nice smooth drive. To any one who knows does alexander drive like a wrightbus example? 

[lauren1993]

Must be the voith gearbox maybe it just doesn't suit Volvo engines? In Coventry drivers hate the Gemini's and say they're sluggish, and they are voith, but love the alx 400 b7tls, which are zf and say they're a lot faster! Must be Zf gearbox that's better because people say the Gemini's in Birmingham are a lot faster than the ones in Coventry.

[Liberator9]

Whilst not B7TLs, the Dennis Tridents at YW have voiths (although slightly different voith gearboxes as they sound more bass like). Soon of them are a bit sluggish pulling away - once they are going they can be pretty rapid but they seem to love over revving! Prefer the Scanias or Presidents when I am in rush coming back from school as they pick up speed much quicker (and actually can cope with the Stratford Road poor road surface - in Tridents it is just bang into any drain cover, pot hole etc. The Scanias and the good Presidents meanwhile glide over them)

[Liberator9]

@2900

There were some of the Volvo B10Ls built with a ZF gearbox -1431 to 1440. You may have ridden one of these, hence why it sounded different and better than the Voith examples.  I don't think the ZFs were used on the Hagley Road services - they started off at Coventry, then got moved to YW, AG predominantly. I had these buses on the S2 and 40A/40C for over 7 years when they replaced the Leyland Lynxes on the 40A/40C (Solihull Circular). They were excellent buses on these routes - had some character to them and were reliable and comfortable to ride on. The ZFs at AG were always favourites of mine - 1435, 1431, 1440 and 1438 in particular were excellent buses being very fast and smooth. Certain voiths were very good such as 1441, 1442, 1423 and 1429. 1419 at YW is still excellent to this day. 1480 was also an interesting one, with a weird sounding diff, but fast. Some of the voiths sounded different to each other. 1421 for example sounds different to 1441 - 1453 being more raw sounding and slower. 1441 had a sound like the one in the video linked to - it had a turbo sound and was a real good ride on the dual carriageway near Solihull. The drivers I knew at AG never had a bad word to say about them - preferred them to the loud, bouncy Crusaders!

Shame they are nearing the end of their working lives at NX now, as they have been superb buses. I would do anything to have them back on my local route now - the Optares of Blue Diamond that replaced them are abysmal - break down constantly and rattly. The nearest replacements to the Liberators are the Scanias. The Scanias are proving to reliable as them, and having ridden them on the 27 along with a Liberator on the same day, they were both similar. The ZF gearbox on both, slight rattles but solid ride and dim interior décor! 

Sorry this is such a long post, but they are essentially my child hood bus and have good memories of them - Enviros will never come close to the likes of these buses.

    more raw sounding - lack of turbo when accelerating

   1460 sounds the same as 1441 does - for example at around 0:37 there is turbo
sound

  1429 also has this turbo noise and good acceleration .

[Stu]

I forget which ones they were now, but there were one or two B10Ls at AG that sounded just like Metrobuses!

[Liberator9]

There certainly were - 1407 in this video sounds rather like a metrobus

  1407
    Metrobus

1428 also sounded rather like a metrobus -

Two great bus types in my opinion - wish we still had the Metrobuses for the nostalgia.

[Sh4318]

Didn't the Alexandra Ultra B10s have a Voith gearbox

[trident4370]

1450 used to really sound like a metrobus when it first arrived from Pensnett, it was gorgeous, not so much now it sounds a bit different but still great! The B10L is a bus I will be Very sad to see go, truth be told I will miss these a lot more than the mercs and b6.

Didn't the Alexandra Ultra B10s have a Voith gearbox

The Ultras are all ZF, don't think any were ever ordered by any op with a voith gearbox tbh.

[John]

Good ones I've drove are 4254, 4255, 4279 and 4286.

Bad ones are 4239 and 4301 (awful brakes), 4253  (so sluggish)

I do like them to drive, but they do seem a lot more sluggish pulling away than our Geminis

[andyr]

During my short time at Walsall garage on the 301 rota 2 of them spring to mind. 1401 smooth, quick and a warm cab always a pleasure to drive. Then 1470 our route branded bus, slow, awful gear changes and cold cab with very heavy steering, a truly horrible bus.

[2900]

Appreciate the detailed posts helps to get some understanding of these b10ls , I think back now the hagley road b10s did have voith like whine quite distinctive , know you have guys have pointed it out very metrobus like the whine is. 

[2900]

4291 where do I start with this one , recent refurb still looks ok on the outside , oh the interior new cushions in in the last twm spec looks so much better than grey and it's all down hill from this seriously grimy very sticky floors upstairs simply awfull oh yes chicken bones completes the picture.  Upper saloon front windscreen leaks badly,  Cab rattles hopeless on rough roads , when turning left or right I could hear water swooshing side to side above my head this is normal after rain. slow to pull away fine once rolling , gearbox does jolt abit , 4.5 /10