A £3,894 Coach Gives 17.4 m.p.g.
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Page 53
Page 54
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Over 859 miles
Bedford-Duple 41-seat Oil-engined Coach on Extended Road -Test : Four-speed Gearbox and Two-speed Axle_ Give High Speed and Fast Climbing
By John F. Moon, A.M.I.R.T.E. DRIVEN hard for 27 hours over a route which included such hilly areas as the Cotswolds, central Wales, the Lake District, and the Derbyshire Peaks, a Bedford-Duple Super Vega oil-engined 4I-seat coach covered 859 miles at the expense of 49.3 gal. of fuel, giving overall averages of 31.8 m.p.h. and 17.4 m.p.g. This is true high-speed economy transport, further emphasized by the relatively low basic cost of the complete vehicle. Its price, including Eaton two-speed axle, is £3,894, the chassis price being only I:1,284.
The coach used for this endurance test was a standard model which had been withdrawn from a series of demonstrations to operators only the week previously.
The driving was shared between four people: Myself and Tony Ellis of The commercial Motor, and Colin
Prebblc and Guy Tidbury of Vauxhall Motors, Ltd.
Each of us drove for a total of just under seven hours and the hourly log of the journey showed that only during three separate hourly periods did the average speed drop below 30 m.p.h. This is remarkable, considering the hilly nature of many stretches and the narrow twisting roads—little more than country lanes in many places—through which the 30-ft. by 8-ft. coach was taken.
Twenty-seven hours was the actual running time and does not include time lost when changing drivers and when stopping for meals, fuel and so forth. These stops accounted for a further seven hours.
Having a genuine maximum speed of more than 65 m.p.h., the Bedford coach with Vauxhall-built 300-cu.-in. oil engine and Eaton two-speed axle is well suited to the type of service simulated by the long-distance test. The eight forward ratios are so spaced as to give the high cruising speed necessary for normal point-to-point touring, combined with the gradient ability that is often called for when out-of-the-way tourist spots have to be visited.
This flexibility of performance is invaluable also on Continental tours, enabling the coach to keep up with other traffic on high-speed roads and in the mountainous areas found in central and southern Europe. The coaching business is still expanding, and operators are turning towards the lower-priced type of coach chassis, such as the Bedford, for long-distance tours both in this country
and abroad. Therefore this test assumes topical importance at this time of the year, indicating, as it does, just what can be done with .a 41-seater costing leSs than £4,000.
The kerb weight of the coach was 5 tons 61 cwt., and was tested at a gross weight of 8 ton 41 cwt., showing it load to be 2 tons 18+ cwt. This is equivalent to 41 passenger, and driver, plus about 6 cwt, of baggage, sandbags having been loaded into the boot to make up the gross weight. The front-axle loading was 2 tons 17 cwt., the rear axle carrying less than twice this weight.
We joined the coach at Harpenden, at Cohn Prebble'.. home, and the weather was cloudy and damp, the forecast suggesting that we might tun into rain as we headed west. A start was made at 7.45 a.m. with Colin driving. Five minutes later we entered St. Albans, which, because of heavy traffic, took nine minutes to negotiate. The narrow winding A4I4 road was taken from St. Albans to Hemel Hempstead, at which point A41 was joined. This is little wider than A414 as far as Aylesbury, which was reached 58 minutes after leaving Harpenden.
Two minutes later the first hourly check showed that we had covered exactly 30 miles. From Aylesbury the A418 road was taken in the Oxford direction, and for the first time reasonably clear stretches of road were encountered. enabling the coach to be cruised at some 45 m.p.h. A Petrometa had been installed in the fuel circuit of the coach and while cruising at this speed a spot check over a mile showed the consumption rate to be 19.2 m.p.g.
Having joined A40 just outside Wheatley, the Oxford by-pass was reached at 9.20 a.m. and left at Eynsham 14 minutes later. Because of the higher cruising speed obtainable along this stretch of road the second hourly check at 9.45 a.m. showed that the average speed had increased to 33 m.p.h. It was possible to maintain a cruising speed of 45 m.p.h. or so while crossing the Cotswolds between Oxford and Cheltenham, but at Andoversford traffic speed was reduced to 25 m.p.h. by the presence of a slow-moving indivisible load, and this was the maximum attained for the rest of Prebble's drive until the first change-over of drivers just west of Cheltenham.
Three minutes were lost while I changed places with him, and it took me eight minutes to drive through the centre of Cheltenham, shortly after which heavy rain fell. A check at the third hour since starting, just after Cheltenham, showed the average speed to have remained constant at 33 m.p.h. and the distance between the outskirts of Cheltenham and Gloucester was covered in seven minutes. Gloucester itself took It minutes to negotiate, the coach being driven through the centre of the town.
Nearly 10 minutes were then spent in the indirect ratios between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye because of another wide load which never managed to achieve more than 20 m.p.h. and was impossible to overtake on the narrow road. Its speed fell sharply on the steady climb after
Huntley. Nevertheless, Ross was reached 50 minutes after leaving Cheltenham, and the fourth hourly check yielded an average speed of 28-1 m.p.h.
Monmouth, with its quaint old archway bridge, 128 miles from Harpenden, was reached at 11.58 a.m., and Abergavenny, 18 miles farther on, was reached 32 minutes later. Five hours after leaving Harpenden a check showed that the average speed had again risen to more than 30 m.p.h., and by now we had crossed the Welsh border and the road was starting to climb.
The A40 road was left at LIwyn-crwn, whence the A479 was taken. Between Crickhowell, on A40 and Pen-y-genffordd. just south of Talgarth, the road rises 800 ft. in a matter of seven miles. This distance took some 22 minutes to cover, with third-low gear necessary in places. Unfortunately, during this climb the radiator blind (which had been raised at the start to hasten engine warming-up) jammed, and the climb was made with the radiator completely blanked off, bringing the temperature-gauge *needle into the red " danger " area. This did not seem to affect the engine performance unduly, although not a practice to be commended.
From Pen-y-genffordd, the road drops sharply through Talgarth as far as Llyswen, where a stop was made for lunch.
The contour falls some 750 ft. over a distance of little more than six miles, and during this descent the brakes showed signs of fade and pedal travel increased appreciably. Nevertheless, the gears were not used to obtain engine braking effect, and fade was brought about only by exaggerated driving conditions. The Llyswen stop was made at 1.15 p.m.Sf hours and 172 miles from Harpenden-whilst the Petrometa which by now had started to behave erratically, indicated the overall consumption rate so far to be approximately 19 m.p.g.
After lunch, Tony Ellis took over the driving and Llyswan was left in light rain. Builth Wells, 14 miles from Llyswen,
was reached in 20 minutes, despite the winding nature of the road, and some quarter of an hour was lost in the town through the route out being mistaken. From Builth Wells northward the road climbs for three miles, most of this gradient being ascended in low top, and the 15 miles of narrow and winding road to Rhayader was covered in 25 -minutes.
At Rhayader A44 was joined and the first hourly check after reaving Llyswen produced an average speed of 32 m.p.h., the Petrometa showing approximately 16 m.p.g., which is good considering the nature of the roads, which made speeds above 40 m.p.h. impossible.
Llangurig was reached 1 hour 10 minutes after leaving Llyswen. By this time the sun had begun to break through the clouds, but heavy traffic slowed down the speed and low top gear was used extensively during the steady climb to a height of 1,350 ft. at Eisteddfa Gurig. From this point the road falls progressively down to sea level at Aberystwyth, where the coach was taken on to the sea-front through narrow back streets, as would occur during a tour. The total running time to Aberystwyth from Harpenden-a distance of 236 miles -was 7 hours 20 minutes.
Aberystwyth was left by the A487 road, another narrow twisting, climbing stretch, passing through Talybont and running up to the River Dovey. The 21 miles to Machynlleth took 36 minutes and nine miles farther on, just north of Upper Corns on A487, the fourth driver change was made. Guy Tidbury taking the wheel. The road from this point to Dotgelley took the coach through the Cader Idris area. At Dolgelley, a turn was made on to A494, heading towards Lake Bala, this section of the road being reasonably easy but still narrow.
Good time was made between Bala and Corwen, the 14 miles taking only 26 minutes, and at Corwen we turned on
A5, covering the nine miles to Llangollen, past Llantysilio ountain, in 13 minutes. Shortly after this the fifth hourly ck since lunch showed that an average speed of 29.6 m.p.h. I been maintained from Llyswen onwards and after passing 3ugh Wrexham a stop was made for dinner in Chester.
.eaving Chester at 10.30 p.m. with Colin Prebble driving :e more, we encountered a little difficulty (through Jequate signposting) in finding the A56 road out to rrington. Instead of taking the direct road we diverted to t A49 just outside Cuddington, the 26 miles to Warrington ing 51 minutes.
kt 11.39 p.m. the coach was pulled into an all-night garage refuelling just outside Haydock racecourse and, as so often 'pens at this time of night, 17 minutes were spent in obtain21 gal. of fuel. Little traffic was encountered once on the d again and good time was made from Wigan, three minutes tr which the coach entered the southern end of the Preston pass.
'his gave us a chance to try the coach under high-speed. ditions. and it was driven "flat out over the 81-mile tch, the speedometer indicating a full 70 m.p.h. . The torway took 91 minutes to cover, giving an average speed just over 52 m.p.h. A close check on the Petrometa, which t jumping madly by this time, showed the fuel-consumption during this dash to have been approximately 19.5 m.p.g. h-speed running over a high-speed road does not necessarily ilt in high fuel consumption.
'ressing on northwards, Lancaster was reached 21 hours :r leaving Chester, some 81 miles south, and just outside nthorpe I relieved Colin Prebble at the wheel, the changer time being 1.30 a.m. Extremely good time was made mgh Kendal and northwards over Sham and when descendthe northern side of Shap I took the precaution of using gears to save wear and tear on the brakes. Kendal to rith—a distance of 27 miles—took 55 minutes, but the miles to Carlisle were covered in only 25 minutes.
ri Carlisle we decided to take the coach over the Scottish der. We drove as far as Gretna Green. turning round in ir park. and straight back to Carlisle, where the A69 road taken in the direction of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Just outside Haltwhistle, at 4.30 a.m., Tony Ellis took mei the wheel again. By this time the heavy rain had stopped, although the roads were still damp. The 17 miles between Hexham and Newcastle were covered at an average speed of 32 m.p.h. Newcastle was left by the Al road at 5.57 a.m. and Durham, 13 miles farther south, in 18 minutes—an average speed of 43.5 m.p.h. This high average was maintained down Al through Darlington and into Boroughbridge, whilst the Petrometa showed that the fuel-consumption rate over this stretch had been approximately 18 m.p.g.
Delays in Doncaster
At Boroughbridge Guy Tidbury started driving again, and in his first hour covered 35 miles, despite a seven-minute stop at the level crossing at Hoppeton. Boroughbridge to Doncaster —48 miles—took 1 hour 20 minutes and, as usual, long delays occurred in Doncaster because of the bridge-widening work. Nevertheless, two hours after Tidbury took over, 60 miles had been covered, by which time we had reached the centre of Rotherham en route for Sheffield, early-morning traffic not having delayed us unduly.
A stop was made for breakfast in Sheffield at 9.55 a.m. We were then 705 miles and 214 hours' driving time from Harpenden. It was rather difficult to get breakfast in Sheffield at this time, but eventually a "right Yorkshire" meal was found and we left Sheffield at 11.33 a.m. with Tony Ellis driving, taking the undulating A621 road through Baslow to Bakewell, whence A6 was followed down to Matlock.
Just outside Matlock, 29 miles from Sheffield. Tony's hour of driving expired and I took over again, carrying on down A6 in reasonably clear traffic and through the centre of Derby as far as Hathern. where a stop was made for 10 further gal. of fuel and a light lunch.
Hathern was left with Colin Prebble driving in squally rain, and .18 minutes later the 24 hours' driving time elapsed. By then 773 miles had been covered, giving an average speed of 32.2 m.p.h. Traffic was moderate through Loughborough. Leicester and Market Harborough, and at Desborough, Tidbury took over for the last stage of the journey. Kettering to Bedford-26 miles—took nearly an hour because of heavy traffic, which tended to drop our overall average speed, and more time was lost farther down A6 when I decided to conduct a six-mile fuel-consumption spot check over my usual course between Barton and Clophill. This yielded a rate of 21 m.p.g. at an average speed of 29.3 m.p.h.
Journey's End
We finally arrived at the Vauxhall works at Luton at 5.45 p.m., having covered 859 miles in a running time of 27 hours, equal to an average speed for the whole of that time of 31.8 m.p.h. Fuel added at the works totalled 18.3 gal. We had used a total of 49.3 gal. for the complete journey, giving an overall average of 17.4 m.p.g., which is as much as any operator could ask for on such a route.
Next morning, short-distance performance tests were conducted, acceleration figures being entirely satisfactory, both through the gears and in direct drive. Braking results were more than adequate for a coach of its size, although the pedal pressure required for normal braking was heavier than both myself and Tony Ellis would have expected from a vehicle of this weight. Exceptional hand-brake efficiency was shown by the ability to make a 0.52g stop from 20 m.p.h. as recorded on the Tapley meter.
As if we had not done enough hill-climbing during the previous two days. a temperature-rise check was made up the 4-mile 1-in-101 gradient of iliSon Hill. which took .3 minutes cl
51 seconds, and showed a coolant temperature rise of only 10° F. to 157° F. The lowest ratio used during this climb was second low, which was engaged for a minute.
A fade check in neutral, down the hill, which lasted for 2 minutes 20 seconds, with the foot brake restricting the speed to 20 m.p.h., revealed a reduction in maximum braking efficiency from 77 per cent. to 45 per cent. and 34 in. pedaltravel increase. Returning up the hill to the 1-in-64 section the hand brake held the coach with ease and a smooth restart was made in first high.
During the afternoon an unladen fuel-consumption test was made over the Barton-Clophill circuit; this gave an average figure of 24.7 m.p.g. at an average speed of 30.2 m.p.h.
Maintenance tests showed the coach to be reasonably easy to service, the water-level check taking 24 seconds; engine oil, 1 minute 51 seconds (it is necessary to remove the engine cowl); gearbox oil, 63 seconds; and rear-axle oil, 41 seconds.
With the engine cowl off I was able to remove No. 6 injector in 2 minutes and replace it in 2 minutes 37 seconds. The battery levels took 2 minutes to check, access to the batteries being given by a floor trap under the near-side seats.
The spare wheel, which is stowed beneath the floor at the near side, was removed single-handed in 2 minutes 6 seconds and replaced (with a certain amount of difficulty) in 2 minutes 26 seconds. The front brakes were reset in 3 minutes and the rear brakes in 81 minutes. A switch-box to the right of the driver has a hinged panel to give easy access to the wiring and fuses, and I changed a fusewire in 1 minute 7 seconds. My last job was checking the air-cleaner oil level, but I foresaw that this was going, to be as involved as on the Bedford-Duple Vista (The Commercial Motor, April 4, 1958), because of the rather complex method of securing the air-cleaner cover and bowl behind its removable panel. This panel took 1 minute 50 seconds to remove and 3 minutes 41 seconds to replace, whilst the air-cleaner level on the Vista took 10 minutes to ascertain.
Summing up the coach generally as assessed during the long run, it would appear to be a good speculation for all coach operators. It is reasonably comfortable and quiet, and com bines good performance with fuel economy. The rear suspension is, it must be admitted, harsh, which might tend to make some passengers feel sick (as I did), whilst, as is often the case with Bedford chassis, the gearbox is by no means silent in the indirect ratios.
Extensive foam' plastics insulation around the engine and front panelling successfully reduces engine noise, however, and even in the front seats it is not unduly obtrusive. The steering is pleasant to handle, with a useful castor action, but the relativepositions of the pedals, the steering wheel and the gear lever result in a somewhat awkward backward stretch when engaging second and top gears, which can become tiring in hilly areas.