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Foden first a delight to drive
Page 49
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FODEN now has a prototype running of its first double-deck bus for 20 years (technical specs CM May 28), When 1 visited the Sandbach works last week I learned that all components for this rear-engined Northern Counties-bodied vehicle have been designed for maintenance accessibility and easy replacement.
Production vehicles will differ slightly from the prototype which I test drove as this bus has too much weight on the back axle. This will be put right with thinner section chassis members at the back— and perhaps by the loss of some weight from the axle.
Foden executive director Mr Jack Mills and Northern Counties general manager Mr David Cherry told me that production vehicles will be fitted with the Gardner 6LX13 engine, Allison MT640 gearbox and Ferodo retarder, but the engine compartment layout will allow other makes to be fitted should the customer want them. RollsRoyce or Cummins engines, or the Voith gearbox could be used.
The Foden chassis is to be marketed by Northern Counties, but any make of body may be specified by the customer. Any height of body and any door layout will fit on the chassis.
The Gardner 6LXB is mounted rather higher in the Foden than in other rear-engined bus to allow the Allison MT640 gearbox, the bevel drive box to the propshaft and the Ferodo friction retarder (see page 49) to sit in line mounted on a subframe in front Of—and lower—than the engine itself.
The heat exchangers for the retarder and the fully automatic gearbox are also mounted on the frame, as is the alternator which is gear driven at 2.26 times engine speed to charge on tickover.
Care with the detail design of the chassis is just as apparent as with the major components. All the pipe unions are staggered to allow easy replacement of sections. 'The wiring harness is protected by high-temperature plastic conduit throughout and is also mounted on plastic clips away from the chassis. SAB automatic brake adjusters are standard fitments. Also all spring shackles are of the quick-release type to simplify spring removal.
All box members on the chassis are Ziebart sprayed to protect them from corrosion.
Included as standard is a Bendix Westinghouse air dryer which is designed to remove water, oil, carbon and dirt from the compressed air before it enters the bus braking system air reservoirs.
The body fitted to the prototype is standard Northern Counties—the only clue to the different chassis under it being the high engine cover at the rear and the small " FodenNC " crest at the front. For production models the square lines of the rear end will be restyled to give an appearance similar to the ECW bodies on the Bristol VRT3.
The Foden has similar air ducting arrangements to the Bristol to give an air flow of 16.8cum (600cuft) of air per minute through the radiator and across the engine. The air intake is high up on the offside with the outlet on the nearside.
Drivers should be delighted with ease of handling of the Foden bus. The Burman integral power-steering takes all the effort from the steering without reducing the amount of " feel." The traditionally heavy Gardner accelerator is also lightened by the addition of air assistance on the fuel pump linkage. Brakes also are very light but come on suddenly. The action of the Ferodo friction retarder is hardly distinguishable from that of .the normal service brakes. Later models will have a light on the dashboard to show the retarder is operating.
With the gear control in automatic changes both up and down are of very high quality— but also take place quickly without apparent slip. The automatic can be overridden to give semi-automatic changes and this seems to give quicker acceleration. But one snag is that when the gear control lever is pulled back to first gear it gets in the way of the handbrake air valve.
The suspension too is probably as good as can be achieved with traditional springs.
Some whine from the Foden transfer box can be heard even from the driving position but Foden is confident that this can. be eradicated by modifying the' oil jets from the integral oil pump. The production Foden buses are predicted to be offered at around the same price as a bodied Fleetline and seem to offer significant advantages.
The attention to detail should pay off, and if the Allison box and Ferodo retarder live up to expectations then Foden should have a winner on its hands.