Davie's french attraction.

[DHallworth]

Davie, if you PM me the chassis number I'll send you a build sheet for it with the entire spec, build date etc, it'll tell you what sat nav system is in it too.

David.

[daviemck2006]

Im looking at the new keepers slip just now, no chassis number on there. I will have to get it off the car when its light again. But i thought it is a gt but the new keepers slip says se. Not that that bothers me, what it is. It hasnt moved today, im suffering a bit for the travelling. All ive done today is put the 205 into the lock up at Kerris while its dry and woke our tortoise from his winter slumber.

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[Trainman]

Davie, if you get chance to have a look at the software, it should tell you which version it is, just hold the menu button down once the screen has illuminated. If it's RT3 it will be 6.** RT4 is 8.31

Those are the last updates, another way to tell, which is easier....... does the head unit have a satnav disc in it? If it does its RT3, if not, is there more than just one set of maps on the memory? If you have a list of different counties maps it's RT4

[demag]

Isn't it a bit early to wake the tortoise? [emoji39]

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[daviemck2006]

He is always woken up last week of March. Our of his winter box in the lock up and he has a bit in the garden which gets full of straw for him. He had a look round the garden before crawling into his but. He won't eat for a week or two yet. He popped his head out as soon as I took him out of his bed. He is a year older than I am at 54!

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[Zelandeth]

That will have been one of the Van-Hool Alizee coaches then...Unless it was one of the big double deckers, in which case would probably be an Astromega. Not as though there's any war of names going between Neoplan with the Sky/Starliner at all.

Not sure which chassis they're using under them these days, being Stagecoach I imagine it will be Volvo, probably B12R or similar...Have to confess that having been out of public transport for a couple of years I'm losing touch with what's current. ...Not that I wouldn't rather have an old Leyland Olympian with a thundering old Cummins L10 power unit to play with than anything modern to be honest.

Tell you one thing that drove me bananas when I had a shot of a new coach a few years ago, Volvo B9R I think - one of the first Plaxton Elite coaches they got in for the Stonehaven to Aberdeen corridor - nice coaches, easy to drive despite the size, steering back axle really helps around town, and even pretty good visibility for a coach. Somewhat harsh ride, but that's par for the course in the quest to get as much fuel economy as possible these days it seems. What drove me utterly mad though was the gearbox. Robotised manual thing with something like 12 speeds. In principle, fine...In practice, a bloody menace! I thought the old ZF and Voith boxes with no kickdown were maddening...At least they were predictable! This thing was obviously programmed for economy, so changed up dead early...Meaning as you pulled out of a junction, by the time you're across the road you're in fourth or fifth gear...Fine...Except for the fact that it takes an absolute age to go through each gear change. I honestly felt like I spent more time between zero and 20mph in neutral between gears than I did accelerating. It was also almost impossible to pull off smoothly...You always wound up bouncing off the mark like you used to trying to do a hill start in my mate's old Bedford YNT...Though that at least had the excuse of having 10 odd tonnes of coach being dragged along by a 9.6l four pot without even a turbo to help it along...

Nice coach...But give me a real gearbox please. Not fussed whether it's a manual or a proper auto like a ZF EcoMat or similar...But with that nonsense, you can keep it.

Mind you, still would take that old Bristol RE we brought back from Dundee that one day...That thing was very much from the days when National Express were after the rail market, and saw the then speed limitless motorways as an opportunity. Bristol appeared to have gone to Gardner and simple asked what the most powerful engine that would fit in the chassis was, and coupled that to the highest speed axle they could find. The resulting juggernaut is still quick off the mark by modern standards, and is quite happy to (on a private test track) run at speeds which are very illegal even for cars these days, never mind coaches. Stops and handles well for a 1966 vehicle too...Though modern tyres and brake materials probably do play a bit of a part too.

...Good on fuel however it wasn't.

The laugh on that trip was that my mate was in the car on the way back - and he couldn't keep up!

[daviemck2006]

It was a decker, really nicely finished off, and it had a robotised manual which seemed to be in too high a gear all the time. I tried to count the gears but kept losing track of them. I can only once remember driving one coach with a gearbox like that, the change took too long and the drive was very frustrating. The exact same as the c2 sensodrive i had and hated. Thats why when i was looking for the new to me car it had to be a full auto and not a semi auto aka a picasso 1.6. The 407 has a tiptronic function, click the selector forward to go up and back to go down, but it is a conventional full auto. When i was driving touring coaches i preferred a manual box, when i drove stagecoach service buses on the then service 305 the fully auto on the volvo b10m were great. I was at macduff depot when they has the s reg jonckhere chassis. However i preferred the plaxton bodies, due to a better driving position and better visibility.

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[Zelandeth]

Aye, the Jonkheere bodied B10M coaches went well. The only issue I had with the old Plaxton Premieres that they replaced was that the headrests were way too far forward for me, which made it impossible as a passenger to get into a comfortable position to doze.

...Which given I used to get the bus at about 5 in the morning to get to uni was usually high on my list!

A couple of those have apparently reappeared in Aberdeen in the last year or so.

I've yet to come across a "modern" auto box or semi auto I can live with. The DSG from VW, no thanks...Other robotically controlled manuals, nope...If it's an auto, it will be an old fashioned one with a torque converter thanks.

Only semi autos that are allowed are the old pneumocyclic boxes that Leyland used to use. Those are just fine - even if changing gear with my right hand the first time I drove a National took a few minutes to get used to.

NSU Ro80 also gets downright odd points...It has a three speed manual box, no clutch pedal, and a torque converter. The clutch is disengaged by pressing down on the gear lever...So you do that to engage first, then let go of it...And move off as though it's an automatic...Then have to remember to press the gear lever down while changing gear. It's odd as anything for the first few miles, but actually works okay to be honest.

[CitroJim]

Try the BVH in the proper Citroen DS Zel... It's a true pre-selector. Select the wanted gear and it swaps to it when you lift off the throttle...

I love them... No clutch that you know of, in fact it does but it's hydraulically operated, as is the gearbox itself... Basically a standard clutch and manual gearbox all controlled by LHM-powered hydraulics and fully mechanical - no electronics or electrical trickery involved...

The gear selector is a little joystick on the steering cowl that also serves as the starter actuator so no chance of starting it in gear!

Magical...

[Zelandeth]

Sounds interesting Jim, hopefully at some point in life I might be lucky enough to get a chance to try one out. Granted, I can't really complain at the variety of things (cars and otherwise) that I've had a shot of!

Somewhat amusingly, not yet including a tank. Several military things, but never actually a tank.

[demag]

I was a passenger in one once. Lovely motor and quite quick but the lad who owned said they can be a pig to set up.

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[CitroJim]

I was a passenger in one once. Lovely motor and quite quick but the lad who owned said they can be a pig to set up.

What? A tank or a DS? Or both?

[elma]

Try the BVH in the proper Citroen DS Zel... It's a true pre-selector. Select the wanted gear and it swaps to it when you lift off the throttle...

I love them... No clutch that you know of, in fact it does but it's hydraulically operated, as is the gearbox itself... Basically a standard clutch and manual gearbox all controlled by LHM-powered hydraulics and fully mechanical - no electronics or electrical trickery involved...

The gear selector is a little joystick on the steering cowl that also serves as the starter actuator so no chance of starting it in gear!

Magical...

That sounds absolutely brilliant.

I'm a big fan of the Saab sensonic, which I think is a Vauxhall system. It has an automatic clutch so theres no clutch pedal at all. The gearstick is a traditional 5 speed manual and it's brilliant to drive. I think it's set up just right, pulling away on a hill is easy as is changing gear and stopping. I really hate using clutches, I tend to only use them for pulling away and stopping. Most of the time I just rev match and shift without the clutch so I think I made a wise choice buying an auto this time.

[demag]

A DS Jim. Could be described as a tank by some I suppose.

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[Stickyfinger]

or a tractor with nice suspension and a good looking body