Upon checking the engineering drawing @ their website, i notice
they now use the same citybus dashboard which was used on the SL252
(similar as on O 405) on the 18.280 as well !
But i sense something's not quite 'right' in that they pass off the
18.280 shown in the website photo as 'chassis' only because the
bodywork certainly does appear to me to be of 'sufficient' quality
in design & finish to pass off as original MAN citybus body
instead !?! The 'themes' in the styling is certainly consistent
with MAN integrally constructed CBU OEM bodywork which 'flows
smoothly' from their bus to coach to truck product lines, i
observe. Most unlikely therefore they should say it's 'chassi' only
as such ? Maybe the body shown only used as 'model' for
illustration purposes ?? As such i find it somewhat confusing
because looking @ the complete bus purely on looks it would likely
be though to be a SL252 or SL262 instead ?!?
For the 18.313 i note the 12-litre engine is vertically mounted,
which i do believe is similar to that used on the earlier 16.240
(also vertically mounted) used by SJE except that SJE's is the
normally aspirated noisier version with lower output & exhaust
emission standards. I also note the truck derived dashboard used
instead of the citybus dashboard, not surprising since they target
the 18.313 for coach use.
In conclusion, i'll say that what's currently shown @ the MAN
website is probably only their current product line-up for the
Malaysian market i.e. they don't show the older models like those
SL252 used by Intrakota & these are the ones my 'engine
perception' instincts (based on perceived levels of 'soildness'
& 'sound power') tells me that the 12-litre was ever used on
their citybus model like the SL252 & in view of the larger
physical dimensions of a 12-litre (compared to say a much smaller
7-litre unit) it's most certain in the SL252 that the 12-litre
engine was horizontally mounted like on O 405. If it's a coach body
then maybe they'll consider vertical mounting as well in view of
the lesser need to ensure a low floor level compared to in the case
for a citybus body.
I note there's no 18.250 mentioned @ the MAN website, so that'll
mean one can't be too sure yet that the engine on the 18.250 is
vertically mounted ??
Why i don't think the engine is vertical is because in order for it
to be vertically mounted onto a citybus body (with the emphasis on
as low as possible as floor height) the engine would have to a
'small' cc engine (like 7-litre instead of a much bigger 12-litre
unit) so that the longitudinal protrusion is not too 'long' that
they need to raise the rear section of the body too high &
long. If the 18.250 uses the 7-litre engine then possible it's
vertically mounted since the protrusion into the body is minimal.
BUT having actually 'heard' the 18.250 on my rides taken, the sound
characteristics simply tell me the engine used cannot be as small
as 7-litre, which means to me the next larger known engine they use
is the older noisier 12-litre unit, which for citybus body mounting
would most certainly have to be horizontally mounted.
So, you could be right that the 18.250 has vertically mounted
engine but i think the best way to be sure is to flip open the
bonnet to find out...but for the reasons mentioned above, i'm still
doubtful.
As for the MAN models used in HI's fleet, assuming they use only
the current models available on CW2, i then expect it to be 18.313
instead of 18.280, as earlier though, unless MAN offers 2 versions
of the 18.280 i.e. citybus & coach versions ?? But if it's the
18.313 the engine doesn't sound like a MAN 12-litre engine to me,
more like a 7-litre instead ?!
