Originally posted by hseochin:
[b]Citaro can be offered with 280 BHP 6.37 litre engine, besides
the 12 litre.
I suspect these new generation in-line 6 cylinder engines are
similar to the 7 litre types now used in Malaysia by Handal Indah.
Quite potent units i find the those in Malaysia despite their small
cc !
I'm surprised you find the build & finishing quality of the
Citaro bad ?
Did you ascertain if the Citaro you sampled used full original M-B
bodywork, not just the front & rear sections, with the middle
portion of the body coming from unknown (dubious ?) sources ?? Some
O 405 in Hong Kong are like that.
In what way ? Too much squeaking, cracking & rattling noises ??
Inferior paintwork/fittings etc. ? If it appeared so, did you (in
your observation) isolate the sources of such noises, meaning
ascertain that such noises were definitely coming from the bodywork
itself ? I've observed that quite often locally (non-original
offered) fittings added on later tend to cause much if not all of
any such noises. If still not the case, then i'll put it to lack of
regular maintenence in tightening up loose ends, which with even
the best bodywork around still ultimately does require such
maintenence, which appears often neglected !
Of course there's some 'species' of bodywork like those from Walter
Alexander & Duple Metsec, even Volgren that it's very much a
hopeless case whereby inherent in their design such rattling,
cracking & squeaking noises are there from brand-new day 1 !!
Not much can be further done to tighten any loose ends to 'silence'
these !! Their standard is 'like that' only !
The integrally constructed original bodied buses & coaches like
M-B, Setra etc. does NOT tend to come with such noises & i find
these definitely a class above any other. But like any good car,
they still need some tightening up now & then, especially in a
commercial vehicle where milleage goes to the millons of km in just
a few years.
I can confirm without any need to check that the body is Citaro.
It comes complete with the Citaro badges on the ends, and the
interior and seats are from the citaro. It is also the same as the
interior of the fuel-cell citaros, which ARE an integral body and
chassis. All of these demonstrators have the same body, seating
arrangements and upholstery. The windows are by Daimler Chrysler
AG. Like the fuel cell buses, these buses were assembled in Germany
(Mannheim, I think) and imported (making full use of the exchange
rate between the euro and GBP). I think the declining quality of
these bodies comes with the constant rain, the use of salt on the
roads for melting snow, and the bad roads, as well as the usage of
aluminium body frames.
