Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

[mathias]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(25/02/2014 10:38)33109 Wrote:  Also DLA 4074 seems VERY slow lately, fair enuf with the college kids on the 16:20 31 duty ram packed it'd be slow but supposedly according to a driver mate of mine seriously struggles with climbing any form of hill.

4074 (S244 JUA) was the second-worst DLA when it was based at Bootle, accelerated with all the enthusiasm of a dying snail, wouldn't go above 30mph. Sad to hear it hasn't improved since then.

Nothing AND I MEAN NOTHING could beat 4028 (S268 JUA) when it came to poor DLA deckers, they should've scrapped that thing years ago!
Foot-to-the-floor-and-nothing-happens acceleration, it guzzled fuel like there was no tomorrow!
Good job Bootle got rid of them, feel kind of sorry for Winsford.
Horrible things to drive.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(26/02/2014 17:41)mathias Wrote:  4074 (S244 JUA) was the second-worst DLA when it was based at Bootle, accelerated with all the enthusiasm of a dying snail, wouldn't go above 30mph. Sad to hear it hasn't improved since then.

Nothing AND I MEAN NOTHING could beat 4028 (S268 JUA) when it came to poor DLA deckers, they should've scrapped that thing years ago!
Foot-to-the-floor-and-nothing-happens acceleration, it guzzled fuel like there was no tomorrow!
Good job Bootle got rid of them, feel kind of sorry for Winsford.
Horrible things to drive.

I've had rides on both of these which disprove the idea they have constantly been slow. Both could shift while they were based at Bootle, especially 4028 which was the best of the 4025-31 batch in my view. I had this a lot when it was at Speke and it ranks fairly high. 4074 was reasonably nippy too, very well presented and gave a great ride on the 375 while it was at Southport.

Granted, some DLAs do have difficulties with acceleration and top speed (4038 and 4065 would be good examples) but many are decent. I wouldn't say either of the above two were slow on the occasions I rode them. Their ride quality remains unrivalled amongst ex-London deckers for me and easily surpasses the VLWs and DLPs.

[R311 WVR]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(26/02/2014 17:41)mathias Wrote:  

(25/02/2014 10:38)33109 Wrote:  Also DLA 4074 seems VERY slow lately, fair enuf with the college kids on the 16:20 31 duty ram packed it'd be slow but supposedly according to a driver mate of mine seriously struggles with climbing any form of hill.

4074 (S244 JUA) was the second-worst DLA when it was based at Bootle, accelerated with all the enthusiasm of a dying snail, wouldn't go above 30mph. Sad to hear it hasn't improved since then.

Nothing AND I MEAN NOTHING could beat 4028 (S268 JUA) when it came to poor DLA deckers, they should've scrapped that thing years ago!
Foot-to-the-floor-and-nothing-happens acceleration, it guzzled fuel like there was no tomorrow!

Totally agree about S268 JUA! I had it on the 1 to Wrexham not long ago, And we got over taken by 2 Enviro's, On journeys behind us that were ON TIME! We arrived into Wrexham 20L after overtaking an Enviro!

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(26/02/2014 17:53)507009 Wrote:  

(26/02/2014 17:41)mathias Wrote:  4074 (S244 JUA) was the second-worst DLA when it was based at Bootle, accelerated with all the enthusiasm of a dying snail, wouldn't go above 30mph. Sad to hear it hasn't improved since then.

Nothing AND I MEAN NOTHING could beat 4028 (S268 JUA) when it came to poor DLA deckers, they should've scrapped that thing years ago!
Foot-to-the-floor-and-nothing-happens acceleration, it guzzled fuel like there was no tomorrow!
Good job Bootle got rid of them, feel kind of sorry for Winsford.
Horrible things to drive.

I've had rides on both of these which disprove the idea they have constantly been slow. Both could shift while they were based at Bootle, especially 4028 which was the best of the 4025-31 batch in my view. I had this a lot when it was at Speke and it ranks fairly high. 4074 was reasonably nippy too, very well presented and gave a great ride on the 375 while it was at Southport.

Granted, some DLAs do have difficulties with acceleration and top speed (4038 and 4065 would be good examples) but many are decent. I wouldn't say either of the above two were slow on the occasions I rode them. Their ride quality remains unrivalled amongst ex-London deckers for me and easily surpasses the VLWs and DLPs.

I agree about 4074, never had any complaints when that one turned up, 4028 wasn't bad. With regards to ride quality compared to VLW's & DLP's, not sure yet, haven't ridden an Arriva DLP as yet and only one of the refurbished VLW's which I couldn't make my mind up what I thought of.

[33109]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot
Don't know why 4074 has all of a sudden gone soooo sluggish? It was really nippy when it arrived at winsford but now seems to have gotten worse, is this a performance issue or maintenance maybe but probs just age cos they're all S reg so how old are these now gotta be 12+ yrs old???

Also anyone know what's the top speed of a DLA, been told by a couple of drivers that running dead back to the depot some will hit 65 along the bypass? But for worst DLA its a toss up between 4074/4143 for me, 74 is better presented & 4143 is just an absolute mobile shed!

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot
S plates are 1998-1999, so getting on for 15-15 1/2 years old. T plate is also 1999 so they will be coming up to 15 years old very shortly.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot
Completely agree on 4143, which was awful while at Birkenhead and clearly no better at Winsford. It was sluggish, rattly, squeaky, painfully slow, rough riding and poorly presented with flat and worn seats. The worst of the 57 DLAs our region received by a distance for me. Some potential rivals would be 4025, 4038, 4061 and 4065. Generally speaking though, they're a very pleasant batch of buses to ride.

[copey]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(27/02/2014 10:57)33109 Wrote:  Don't know why 4074 has all of a sudden gone soooo sluggish? It was really nippy when it arrived at winsford but now seems to have gotten worse, is this a performance issue or maintenance maybe but probs just age cos they're all S reg so how old are these now gotta be 12+ yrs old???

Also anyone know what's the top speed of a DLA, been told by a couple of drivers that running dead back to the depot some will hit 65 along the bypass? But for worst DLA its a toss up between 4074/4143 for me, 74 is better presented & 4143 is just an absolute mobile shed!

Managed to wind up 4050 to 62 mph on a 84 last summer. Mind you I think it was going downhill towards Wardle. Remember having to coast down the bank out of Tarporley to let it cool down and drive very steady back to Crewe.

[R311 WVR]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(27/02/2014 20:20)copey Wrote:  

(27/02/2014 10:57)33109 Wrote:  Don't know why 4074 has all of a sudden gone soooo sluggish? It was really nippy when it arrived at winsford but now seems to have gotten worse, is this a performance issue or maintenance maybe but probs just age cos they're all S reg so how old are these now gotta be 12+ yrs old???

Also anyone know what's the top speed of a DLA, been told by a couple of drivers that running dead back to the depot some will hit 65 along the bypass? But for worst DLA its a toss up between 4074/4143 for me, 74 is better presented & 4143 is just an absolute mobile shed!

Managed to wind up 4050 to 62 mph on a 84 last summer. Mind you I think it was going downhill towards Wardle. Remember having to coast down the bank out of Tarporley to let it cool down and drive very steady back to Crewe.

4050 - 62mph! :O I always thought that thing was dreadful!

[R311 WVR]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot
Does 3615 have a certain duty it has to go on on Saturdays on the 84's like it has to do on the 29's on M-F?