Detroit defends its durability
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WE ARE concerned about the heading and the implication of your article headed 'Detroit is bombed out' (CM, October 16).
To put the situation to which you refer into true perspective, CIE selected the DDA power train to reduce its maintenance costs, having identified this as a major component of its total cost of operation. It chose the Detroit Diesel 6V-71/Allison V-730 combination with its record of reliability and low maintenance requirements. Their selection has been fully justified with hundreds of vehicles now in service with CIE.
The 6V-71 is a naturally aspirated engine which we introduced into production over 25 years ago. In the meantime, we have introduced many improvements to provide better fuel economy to meet the requirements of the increasingly fuel-conscious market, while maintaining our durability record.
Following discussions with Graham Montgomerie earlier this year, CM published articles covering our engineering developments which give rise to fuel consumption improvements of 20-25 per cent. We believe it is relevant to mention that much as fuel efficiency has become a more significant consideration, nonetheless durability remains a major influence on total fleet operating costs. The market indicates that we have provided the required durability — unlike our new competition which is as yet unproven.