The 'ultra low floor theme' that appears to me as to why both
the Habit here & HI's bodywork adopted this black glass
section, so as to make the vehicle appear lower than it really is.
Not much practical point to me, only aesthetical !
In TIBS case, i believe back in 2000 when the Habit was launched
here, they probably found the O 405 GN too expensive so decided to
stick with O 405 G while the habit body may have been done with O
405 GN in mind instead. So Hispano might have then simply 'blanked
out' the excess glass area as the O 405 G is only a normal 3-step
low floor citybus & not ultra-low floor with zero steps.
Anyway, this black glass effect only makes the bus appear lower
than it actually is during daytime only, because during nitetime
with the interior lights on the higher actual height of the window
stills become so obvious that it's a normal higher height
bus.
As to no low floor buses in Malaysia, i don't think so.
What's low floor in the 1st place ? I consider the O 305, O 405,
N113, Lance etc. as low floor citybuses as the step count @ normal
step height does not exceed 3 steps. Ultra low floor those with
zero step or just 1 step from the road to get in. Anything > 3
steps @ normal step height (like the OF & OH series etc.) these
then are not low floor vehicles.
For a bus to be classified as a (purpose built) citybus, the basic
requirement is low floor as mentioned above. Low profile tyres too
i'll say. Higher height buses used as citybuses are NOT real
citybuses as such & should not technically be classified as
such.
The 1st low floor bus in Malaysia i'll consider as the MAN SL 252,
with roughly similar dimensions as the M-B O 405, both of which ARE
purpose built citybuses & the 3-step floor low enough to be
classified as a low floor bus. It's of course NOT ultra low floor
though since there's > 1 step onboard from the road !
As for HI's new M-B like those with the kampung roof bodywork &
that unit shown in your photo, the floor height is low enough &
step count & step height all low enough to be classified as a
low floor hence 'real' citybus chassis. Of course NOT ultra low
floor though. Same as with the O 405 G with Habit bodywork here.
Not surprising then to note of M-B's new model normenclarature like
CBC, which stands for 'citybus chassis' while IBC for 'intercity
bus chassis' etc.
