Rides

Transferred over from y other blog to start off the blog

2013

Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer
A nice looking bus for a 55 plate with the Manchester Airport fleet quite tidy as to be expected along with the baggage rack make it look small. It sounds and rides quite well and sounded like it should going around the Airport. The vehicle overall the livery was smart and very clean inside and out and being a single door variant. I have yet to experience there duel door Pointers on duties but am quite impressed with it so it gets a 7/10

Scania Irizar PB
This vehicle was experienced on holiday in  Lanzarote going around the National Park. The bus overall was a bit scruffy and lots of scrapes and scuffs around the vehicle. The interior was looking a little run down and needed a tidy up or refurb but the seats and interior where clean and comfortable. The livery was a little bland and a mix bag of shades of the base colours. This is the first Scania product to ride on and to be honest the vehicle sounded rough and the ride wasn't that great but that can be blamed by the road surface but overall it scores a 5/10 and I would love to experience more. Was surprised to see a Mercedes Benz chassed variant in there fleet but did not experience it

DAF DB300 Wright Gemini
A superb looking bus inside and out and quite tidy for a 61 plate vehicle assigned to Arriva at Macclesfield they seem to take care of it quite well. The ride was superb but was let down by the quality of the road condition being terrible in places and it sounded pretty well. The seats are quite comfortable and look smart in there motif plus the interior looks well done too id have to say overall a eight and a half out of ten if the road condition was better it would have scored a 9/10

MAN 18.220 ALX300
A nice looking bus could use a tidy up on the outside with Stockport's Stagecoach livery freshened up a bit. The ride was quite average with some hard breaking in places it also vibrates a lot at bus stops the pulling away is a little jerky it also sounded a little rough in places. The seats where quite average the look was to be desired by the non matching seat covers. The interior was a little scruffy you could see where stickers used to be on the roof. Things need an overall tidy up to improve the overall brand so it a 5/10 from me

Optare Solo M990
A nice looking product from Optare but being a 55 reg with D&G leaves a lot to be desired the livery is kind of bland needs something to make it more attractive. The ride isn't that great a let down of its choice of engine it has it also vibrated like mad at bus stops and pulling away was quite rough. The seats where a bit bland along with the interior needed a bit of freshening up a lot. A lot of this vehicle needs improvements to make it a nice bus but overall it scores a 3/10 from me

Optare Solo M970SR
Had a ride on Arriva's 12 plate example on route 3 and id have to say its a brilliant all round bus for its age. The interior is nice and tidy apart from condensation worn adverts and it feels like a nice ride but will try and experience a longer route to get my full experience on one. The engine and ride where superb and have noticed the Optare rattle that seems standard on Solos but doesn't bring it down. The seats where nice and could be sat on for long periods the driver also was nice. Overall the livery was smart and clean no scuffs or dings and suits the vehicle so overall a nine and a half out of 10. Might experience one of Arriva's route 130 vehicles at a later date but overall am impress at Arriva's standards

Mercedes Benz Citaro
Today I travelled on a de courcey citaro around the NEC in Birmingham being a 12 plate example was a nice sight. The ride was excelent and it went quite well the seats where nice and the atmosphere was great. It sounded great and rode well on the roads around the NEC complex so overall im impressed enough to go for a 9 1/2 out of 10

2014

ADL E400
Went to the airport on the 11th April on the 369 and was expecting the ALX300 but got a ride on an E400 instead. Have to say there quite nice and smart looking in there Stagecoach livery I think they take pride in keeping them smart looking and tidy. The overall appearance was great inside and out nothing to fault it about driver was friendly. The ride was smooth and comfortable seating with the frontal window rattle but that still dosnt let it down. The performance was great is got off the mark quite well with acceleration engine sounded great. The view was nice from the top deck clear all round view the ride was great apart from the odd road condition along the route. A ride on a hybrid one might be on the books later in the year but its overall scoring a 9 1/2  out of 10 there are a few little things that means its not 10/10 but you can fault Stagecoaches pride with most of there newer fleet in keeping them looking so new and fresh

Mercedes Benz Articulated Citaro
Had a ride on this on the 19th of October from staff west to terminal one to catch a flight and sat in the rear. The ride was nice rattled a bit but you can feel the back end slide around more than usual but the let down was the loud noisy engine usually you dont hear it on other vehicles. was nice clean inside and out from what i could tell of the outside from the floodlights at terminal 1 but overall it scores a 7/10 first ride in one is an interesting vehicle to say the least and worth the ride to experience one a couple of letdowns but nothing major

2016

Mercedes Benz Articulated Citaro
Had a ride on one of these before but luck had it returning home from a Turkish trip in April gave me the chance to sample one of Manchester Airports 53 plate ex London vehicles. Not much different from the previous ride but overall quite tidy inside and out wasnt that noisy and was quite a smooth ride from Terminal 1 with there new bus stop configuration outside make for interesting photos but managed to snap it getting off at a Staff West stop. Overall id score it an 8/10 and would look pritty smart in the airports own livery instead of TFL red but thats just an observation and dosnt detract from the overall score