"Adrian" wrote in message
. 244.170...
d ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Not to mention (Bendis) more fuel-efficient (due to their modern
engines) (than RMs)

Don't forget that all recent service RMs were rebuilt mechanically
only a very few years ago, and meet at least Euro2 emission
standards.

Their engines aren't new designs, hence their massive noise. And
emission standards have little to do with fuel economy

More to do with it than "noise" - and the drive-by noise is more to do
with
the fact there isn't acres of (heavy) sound deadening.

And the fact their engines are massive diesels right at the front of the
bus, exposed on 4 sides to the street.

The Citaro G Bendis are Euro3, but they *CERTAINLY* won't be "more
fuel efficient", due to the fact they weigh ELEVEN TONS more than a
Routemaster.
That's before you consider the wasted time and fuel in traffic due to
the unwieldy extra length where a Routemaster would get through.

That doesn't make much sense. You can't just look at the weight and
make all your conclusions from that. The engines on the new busses,
and all the bits connecting them to the wheels, are brand new designs
(compared to the RMs).

You forget that all RMs were re-engined within the last decade or so,
hence
the Euro2 compliance.

Re-engined does not mean they have brand-new engine designs. The amount of
legacy requirements for any engine replacement for such an old vehicle would
mean it can never be 100% new.

As far as the weight goes, it costs fuel to drag that much lard about.

Most emissions are expressed in parts per million, Burning far more fuel
means that far more millions of parts are emitted, which means that far
more pollutants are emitted.

But if we're talking about efficiency, then it's parts per million per
traveller, right? And, not forgetting bendy busses are FAR more aerodynamic
than RMs, even with their flat fronts (as only one floor is having to cut
through the air, as opposed to the RM's two.

"Wasted time and fuel in traffic"? Bendy busses can overtake traffic RMs
would struggle to.

Indeed. But the excessive length makes for big problems elsewhen.

Sure, if they were going down Lombard in San Francisco, they might have some
problems.

I've used lots of RMs and lots of bendy busses, and the two aren't even
comparable when it comes to speedy driving. Bendy busses out-accelerate
RMs, which counts for everything in London traffic.

Not when a bus can't get through the junction no matter how quickly it
accelerates, because it would end up blocking it solid. And when there's
that many passengers standing, is fast acceleration a good thing? One
thing's for certain, accelerating 18ton of bus plus another 10ton of
people
quickly uses a LOT of fuel.

Doing the same with a worse-performing engine and heavy-weight chassis
quickly uses a lot of fuel, too.