Golden Master proves a coaching Concorde
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Luxury is everywhere in this most impressive machine, and its semi-doubledeck allows a number of interior layouts. Noel Millier has been behind the wheel
3ERT KINCH of Loughbojh is a particularly discerning :h operator and his Plaxtonied flagship coaches have many years been regular iers at the Brighton and kpool rallies. In a break with ition this year his flagship is onckheere P90 Jubilee-bosemi-double-deck Volvo M. Gilbert invited me to try most impressive machine warm day in August.
le yellow and blue Kinch liv::ertainly catches the eye and now been adopted by the easing number of operators ing ex-Kinch coaches to their :s.
le P90 concept was first ched in Britain at the last lingham motor show and has already attracted a wide following, particularly from operators needing extra seating and luggage capacity for holiday shuttle operations.
The Kinch P90 arrangement combines a lucrative seating capacity with maximum luxury and comfort. The Golden Master, as the coach has been named, seats up to 43 passengers including nine in the lower saloon.
Because the P90 carries some passengers in a lower saloon, it is therefore only required to pass the 28 degree tilt test on initial certification rather than the full 35 degrees required for conventional and high-floor single-deck coaches.
The Golden Master has a kit
chen and servery area on its main passenger deck and this can easily be removed to increase seating capacity. The rear upper-deck windows are also panelled in to help the servery area remain cool.
As with the previous Kinch executive coaches, the coach interior provides an opulent and restful environment with its distinctive deep-blue trim and dark-grey floor covering. Vogel sleeper seats are fitted to make the coach suitable, in restricted seating form, for long overnight journeys.
The crew's sleeper compartment, which can be entered from behind the courier seat by the main vehicle entrance, can easily sleep two (even three if they were good friends).
Geoff White has for a long time driven and looked after the Kinch executive fleet and is "captain" of the Golden Master. As with every Kinch coach I have seen, the vehicle is a credit to its driver and operator and is spotless.
Geoff took the wheel for the start of a 200-mile day trip from the Heston Services on the M4 motorway and I registered my first impressions of the vehicle as a passenger.
The coach seemed slightly noisier than I expected — somehow, with the large luggage hold separating the passenger deck from the chassis, I expected not to hear the engine at all. However, the noise from the engine was not excessive and the Golden Master was quieter than most mid-engined coaches.
As Geoff drove the tall coach onto the M4 the visual advantages to the passenger immediately became apparent. Riding in a P90 is like being in a mobile cinema, with the windscreen like a Cinerama screen.
When the coach was cruising on the motorway I found it easy to walk around inside the vehicle and to visit the servery or downstairs lounge and toilet areas. Once off the motorway, though, body roll was noticeable and a little alarming.
We left the M4 at junction 8/9 and headed towards Oxford on the Henley road. As a passenger I was particularly conscious of the reaction of members of the public to the coach. As the Golden Master passed through the centre of Henley every head turned, I should imagine in admiration.
Before I took the wheel Geoff warned me to allow for body roll and the vehicle height and be aware of street furniture and low branches. The P90 is about 13ft high so there are relatively few low bridges to impede its progress.
In many respects the P90 concept, with its large horizontally split screen, keeps the driver more aware of potential overhead danger than when he is in a conventional double-deck for he can always see to the top of the vehicle. Passengers, too, are less vulnerable as the main passenger deck starts behind the driver and the main entrance area.
The Golden Master has been built on the top of the range Volvo 13101VI GT Tempo 100 chassis. It is powered by the Volvo THD100 ED engine, which develops 276bhp, and is fitted with the ZF S 6.90 six-speed syncromesh gearbox and a splitter unit which gives 12 forward gears.
The standard Volvo instrument panel keeps the driver aware of most of the coach's mechanical functions.
Unfortunately it is not possible to please all of the people all of the time and I found that the combination of a non-cancelling indicator switch, my height and the position of the steering wheel rim meant that I could not see the indicator warning light. I have to admit to inadvertently flashing while driving along a straight road as a consequence.
Probably the most important instrument is the tachometer, which is placed in front of the driver. Volvo has an immediately visible green section to enable the driver to know when the engine is operating in its most efficient power band. I found by using all available gears and split gears it was possible to keep in the green almost all of the time. In top gear the engine turns over at about 1,500rpm at 80kw/h (50mph) and 1,800rpm at 96kw/h (60mph) and it remains just in the green band at 2,000rpm when travelling at the motorway legal maximum.
I found the 910M performance pleasing although the 13-tonne unladen weight felt fully laden when empty. The brakes were near to perfect and the Telma retarder took care of most routine braking.
The powerful Telma CC160 retarder can be operated by a hand control or initial pressure of the foot brake. Using the hand control, which is well placed by the right hand, the driver is more aware of when the retarder is in use than when it is being operated by the foot pedal, for there can be a tendency to step through the retarder stage. I found, though, that light pressure on the foot brake activated the retarder sufficiently for most routine use, and left my hands free to control the vehicle. The steering was light and ponsive and, in general, handling was good. Howe the degree of body roll did s alarming and I got the imr sion that too rapid come would be extremely uncomft ble for the passengers and danger of hitting lamp p with the top of the vel seemed a real one. I haste add that this was the impres I got from the vehicle an practice the impression cre is worse that the actual roll.
However, the P90 Volvo coach that must certainly be yen responsibly.
While driving, I was surpi Just how noticeable the r from the turbocharger we: times, particularly when the nailing window was lope] distinct whine was audible though I felt it gave the irnt sion of power and would nc annoying to passengers or ers by.
As the coach was unlad. felt that fuel consump. checks would not be rele■ although Geoff said the ci normally returns between and 10 mpg, depending or type of operation involved.
he success of the P90 cept from Jonckheere is unAandable just by spending a with one for it allows a ety of interior layouts.
this particular coach, the rcase is situated at the exle rear of the vehicle been the lounge and the back
The lavatory and wash^n compartment is at the rear he vehicle at the bottom of stairs and this compartment the staircase itself separate downstairs lounge from the of the vehicle. The lounge is .efore between the rear axle the staircase.
erhaps one problem with the cept is passenger resistance ravelling in the rear lounge. I ,elled in the lounge for a tch of motorway running I found it comfortable and re
laxing although it is not the best place on the coach if you want to enjoy the view.
It could, however, prove a useful extra feature for passengers who want to remain awake and play cards during over-night travel; or it could attract a family or group travelling together.
The Golden Master has a host of features not found on most P90 coaches. Its lavish specification includes boxed-in parcel racks, Finrad and Webasto heating, a full sound and video system (which includes individual channels to allow different programmes to be played in different parts of the vehicle) and individual passenger headsets with an airline-style choice of programmes.
The video system includes a main monitor screen at the front of the main passenger deck with repeater monitors built into the luggage racks and two monitors in the downstairs lounge.
The servery and bar area can accommodate both a refrigerator and a microwave oven if required. The seating accommodation can be altered to provide extra tables if so required.
Finally, the Golden Master interior specification includes its own internal telephone system with extensions to the driver, servery area, downstairs lounge and sleeping compartment and an independent Onam diesel generator to allow all the facilities to be used while the coach is not moving, at race meetings for an example.
The Golden Master can offer up to 43 passengers the same standards of comfort and service as found in first-class aircraft cabins. It is a limousine among coaches and this must ensure repeat business.
I understand that the vehicle costs in the region of E120,000, and that this cost requires a twenty per cent premium charge per hire or per passenger. That must be good value.