Foretaste of a tasty 28-seater coach
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THE ABSENCE of a luxury 28-seat coach on the UK market has led Magirus Deutz, which sells a left-hand-drive chassis over here for £9,110, to send a German demonstrator to gauge operator opinion at the Scottish Motor Show. Meanwhile, a right-hand-drive version is in the pipeline, and it will be imported for a British bodybuilder to complete.
I took the opportunity, writes Martin Watkins, to drive the lhd coach, which has MD bodywork, around Glasgow. Only a slight purr came from the rear transverse, air-cooled 120hp engine; acceleration was sparkling; the steering extreme ly light and positive; the air hydraulic brakes good; and the gear change easy.
The ZF five-speed synchromesh box is spring loaded both to the left and to the right, thus clearly differentiating each of the three gates.
The hydraulically actuated single-dry-plate clutch has automatic adjustment.
But the placing of the handbrake could be improved as it is attached to the steering column under and in front of the steering wheel. The tip of the lever had to be pulled out to release it from the park position—altogether rather a difficult performance. A flaptype exhaust brake is fitted as standard and worked well.
The engine is the Magirus type F6L 912, a six in-line aircooled four-stroke with direct injection. Capacity is 5,655cc with max power output 88kW (120bhp).
The rear-engine layout al lows a large underfloor luggage compartment right through the centre of the wheelbase.
Main interior heating is by two Webasto heater units underfloor at the front. Auxiliary engine heating is provided for the rear only.
The driver's seat has the rake of the seating cushion adjustable at front and rear as well as an adjustable backrest. The whole unit is also adjustable for height and can be slid backwards and forwards. It is the only seat I have seen which could provide a comfortable seating position for every driver.
The large side windows are double glazed with glass that automatically darkens in intense sunlight. Curtains are also provided at all the windows. All is luxury. And the wing mirrors are electrically heated.
The individual passenger seats have adjustable rake and the inner of the pair can be pulled out towards the gangway by about an inch to give more room for each passenger.
Passenger entrances are sited as standard at the front and rear, access to the back one being provided by tipping forward the rearmost pair of double seats to provide a gangway.
Single panel air-operated power doors are fitted.