There is a reason why Volvo is now offering adjustable air suspension on the newer 9400 series B7R and B9R. I saw this feature first hand recently on the Mumbai-Bangalore KSRTC B7R. The lane leading into the pick-up point in Pune (camp) is very tricky : the dirt road is 6-8 inches lower than the main road. The driver made full use of the air-suspension, lifted the whole bus by a few inches and had no trouble whatsoever negotiating this obstacle. It looks pretty cool as well!
Here is another example. Recently one of KSRTC's old Volvo B7R had a tough time negotiation a small lane in Mangalore's 'Chilimbi' area.
The blocked bus also resulted in a traffic jam!
The repaired underbellyPics and info from - www.mangalorean.com
6 comments:
The main use of an adjustable air suspension is to lower the bus when people alight or get into the bus.
Another best example is the Majestic Bus stand. you can see the buses climbing down from the volvo depot to into the bus stand takes a tough time
to the drivers.
SS: as far as i know (and the press releases state), the adjustable suspension is for bad roads. Having traveled on the Pune-Bangalore-Pune stretch on the Volvo on more than 30 occasions, i have seen and felt how the bus touches its underbelly easily between Haveri and Chitradurga.. for routes like these, the adjustable suspension is now offered on B7R as well as B9R. U can only raise the suspension i guess, not lower it - to help passengers get in (like u said in the comment) :)
Ohh ..quite possible.
I had seen buses in the UK ...where the front left of the bus lowers down automatically whenever the door is opened.That was to enable people to enter and alight from the bus.
Maybe in India,the main use is the bad road...after all, passengers come last for most auto companies ;)
When there arent seat belts for all passengers (the same bus model has seatlbelts for everyone in other countries),I am not surprised at all ,if the press release says the adjustable suspension in India for a bad road :)
Wish I had an opportunity to give piece of my mind to someone at Volvo India ...but then ...who cares ...i had written an email ..no one bothers to reply .
Indian roads are pathetic at most of places and adjustable air suspension is for that bad roads. Its make traveling little comfortable.
this feature is needed for the volvo buses around Chitradurga area. i have seen so many volvo buses scrape the bottom in the bad streches.
for city buses these are needed for easy access ( especially for elderlly people ).
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