Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[2900]

J789 most people on this forum know I hate ADL enviro 200s ,quite simply complete and utter crap I,ve nothing good to say to be honest , I can't understand how a company that produced the mk1 enviro 400 trident2 came with up this pile of shite. West brom garage 62 plates are horrendous turds.ADL hang your heads in shame for festooning these contraptions on the uk bus driving force. If this was a car I would have returned it to the dealer and asked for me money back plus compensation to boot.

[BU07 LGO]

J789 most people on this forum know I hate ADL enviro 200s ,quite simply complete and utter crap I,ve nothing good to say to be honest , I can't understand how a company that produced the mk1 enviro 400 trident2 came with up this pile of shite. West brom garage 62 plates are horrendous turds.ADL hang your heads in shame for festooning these contraptions on the uk bus driving force. If this was a car I would have returned it to the dealer and asked for me money back plus compensation to boot.

Sounds like 6757! I've driven 2 of the WA ones they was bad but not that bad, the brakes are stupidly sharp though

[MW]

The most sluggish buses I've driven are some of the Presidents, and the B7RLEs (mk2's). The B7RLEs, whilst low revvers, weren't slow tbh. On the 5, up the Hill at Widney Manor towards Solihull Sixth Form, they'd rev very high however. You could actually hear the sound of the Mk1 B7RLEs.

[BU07 LGO]

4072 - Plaxton President

This one was my first president and I was expecting bad things after hearing @MW 's reviews! I was actually really impressed by it, the steering wheel seemed the same as a Gemini (not the big ship one ive heard all about :p) the brakes were nice and smooth and it had a decent turn of speed on flat ground! It was a bit sluggish uphill but not as bad as some of the B7 ALX I've driven!

The mirror took some getting used to because it was through the doors instead of the windscreen like every other bus!

I was surprised how smooth it was, with a b7 alx the braking took a bit of getting used to but the president was really nice!

[2900]

A good president is hard to beat fortunately for us here at west brom we don't have any real sheds.

On the 87 yesterday towards Dudley kids messing about on the upper deck didn't think any thing of it on arrival Dudley bus station a chap told me the kids had destroyed every single bell switch upstairs with a lighter exposing the bell switch workings, the bus had to be removed from service right in the middle of the peak so not good on a busy service like the 87 , felt sorry for the driver behind he must of got hammered to cape hill.

[Ronnoc]

A good president is hard to beat fortunately for us here at west brom we don't have any real sheds.

On the 87 yesterday towards Dudley kids messing about on the upper deck didn't think any thing of it on arrival Dudley bus station a chap told me the kids had destroyed every single bell switch upstairs with a lighter exposing the bell switch workings, the bus had to be removed from service right in the middle of the peak so not good on a busy service like the 87 , felt sorry for the driver behind he must of got hammered to cape hill.

I cannot believe this! Kids should not be allowed lighters, these kids should be reported to the school.

[Liverpool Street]

A good president is hard to beat fortunately for us here at west brom we don't have any real sheds.

On the 87 yesterday towards Dudley kids messing about on the upper deck didn't think any thing of it on arrival Dudley bus station a chap told me the kids had destroyed every single bell switch upstairs with a lighter exposing the bell switch workings, the bus had to be removed from service right in the middle of the peak so not good on a busy service like the 87 , felt sorry for the driver behind he must of got hammered to cape hill.

Gone are the days where they used to just pile the old metrobus bench seats into a little fort at the back.

That, or throw them out the emergency exit whilst you're driving along.

'The good old days'

[B.C Driver]

4072 - Plaxton President

This one was my first president and I was expecting bad things after hearing @MW 's reviews! I was actually really impressed by it, the steering wheel seemed the same as a Gemini (not the big ship one ive heard all about :p) the brakes were nice and smooth and it had a decent turn of speed on flat ground! It was a bit sluggish uphill but not as bad as some of the B7 ALX I've driven!

The mirror took some getting used to because it was through the doors instead of the windscreen like every other bus!

I was surprised how smooth it was, with a b7 alx the braking took a bit of getting used to but the president was really nice!

When we had them at BC, they were a bit quicker pulling away than the 42xx Volvos, the heaters were always warm and they were pretty good, only niggling thing a lot seemed to have lower than usual platforms and would often scrape loudly across the cassel curbs often resulting in shocked looking passengers!

[2900]

Gone are the days where they used to just pile the old metrobus bench seats into a little fort at the back.

That, or throw them out the emergency exit whilst you're driving along.

'The good old days'

you,ve just brought back memories of what kids did to metrobuses, I remember driving down hagley rd towards brum  and coming across blue seat benches thinking they look familiar.
I recall one time teenage school girls on Dudley rd threw a load of seats into the stairs I left them there the girls had to jump over them to get through the dumb bitches.

[2900]

When we had them at BC, they were a bit quicker pulling away than the 42xx Volvos, the heaters were always warm and they were pretty good, only niggling thing a lot seemed to have lower than usual platforms and would often scrape loudly across the cassel curbs often resulting in shocked looking passengers!

yes I can recall some presidents catching the humps on the entrance to new st brum when traffic use to go down, now I find some ride really high up.

[MW]

yes I can recall some presidents catching the humps on the entrance to new st brum when traffic use to go down, now I find some ride really high up.

There's a couple of kassel kerbs that the Presidents scrape off on the 11 route. On approach to the stop, I use the tail lift and then lower the platform when stationary. The door often gets stuck open when the platform is lowered so I manually raise the platform with the switch.

[BU07 LGO]

There's a couple of kassel kerbs that the Presidents scrape off on the 11 route. On approach to the stop, I use the tail lift and then lower the platform when stationary. The door often gets stuck open when the platform is lowered so I manually raise the platform with the switch.

That happens a lot on certain stops where the road has sunk!

Interestingly when I drove 4820 on the 935 (whilst on loan) I noticed it scraped badly on the speedbumps on the crescent in Walsall but our 57 plate ones have no trouble!

[Ronnoc]

There's a couple of kassel kerbs that the Presidents scrape off on the 11 route. On approach to the stop, I use the tail lift and then lower the platform when stationary. The door often gets stuck open when the platform is lowered so I manually raise the platform with the switch.

Kings Heath Vicarage road (11A)?

[MW]

Kings Heath Vicarage road (11A)?

Yeah that's one, and the one further down where the 35 turns off. Pineapple cross is it? That ones really bad because of the slope in the road, the Geminis hit it as well. Always use tail lift at that stop.

[Tony]

4053 I have just driven to Dundee was just about perfect. Shame about the top speed of 43mph, speedo read 45, but was able to drive flat out for a full hour to check how far I travelled