LaW
Page 20
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PASSENGER
continued from page 17 12-litre engine produces 165bhp in its derated coach form and is undoubtedly noisy —but to my ears the deepthroated roar was by no means unpleasant. The unit is remarkably vibration free, but the empty Plaxton Elite body did produce a pronounced boom at over 50mph„ which, combined with the high-pitched whistle' from the driver's window, was rather annoying.
The feeling of solidity was accentuated by the large (20.5in), diameter steering wheel and the massive handbrake lever on the driver's right. Both Steering and brakes were excellent and combined with the semi-auto box made handling the 5-ton coach light work.
The SCG gear selector— mounted on the steering column directly below the wheel rim—seems much neater than the larger pedestal-mounted gear control on the Ley land Leopard. The gears engaged and disengaged instantaneously with the lever being moved, thus making smooth changes very easy. Even when I tried to abuse the box by making full-throttle upshifts and foot-off downshifts it came through with flying colours.