Is there any noticeable turbo lag from a driver point of view in these vehicles? B7RLEs tend to have a very poor reputation among drivers and passengers because of this but I haven't experienced any serious sluggishness from riding CDCNSW Optimus vehicles (other than on 6377...) Would also like to hear your thoughts regarding driving these vehicles on the M2 because they seem more suited towards urban runs. From a passenger point of view 6386 is one of the more comfortable of these along with 6131, 6346, 6640 and 6660 (since transferred to the Hunter Valley) if I'm not mistaken - might have gotten a couple of the fleet numbers mixed up. From experience 6338, 6342 and 6377 are the worst of the lot but 8463 is also pretty uncomfortable.
Not turbo lag as much as economy power settings. Compared to the CR228L B7R's I drove at a previous depot, they lack takeoff power and some buses' kickdowns tend to be sluggish to unwilling. While a little frustrating at times (e.g. climbing the hill from Abbott Rd T-way stop takes forever...), mostly I haven't ran into any really dangerous scenarios because of the lack of power. It just needs a little patience. For M2 runs, with the exception of the first B7R's delivered in 2014, the rest are mostly limited to 90km/h (not 100km/h like the rest of the single decker fleet here). This can be a point of pain for some drivers who like to travel at 100km/h, although realistically on M2 runs, the time difference coming out of the city even if you have a 90 bus isn't that huge. Other than that, the power is plentiful and it clears uphill stretches at speed decently enough. Can't speak for the passenger point of view, although I do like the interiors of the newer deliveries (2016), they're still holding up well and clean. Some newer examples don't have the loose panel "jingles" (yet). P.S. The rear cabin lighting of the Optimus tends to have failed on a lot of the examples I've driven. As in, the rest of the cabin lighting works but the rear is left in the dark. Not sure what this says about the build quality...
@@atypicalbusdriver The lighting failing in the rear could be a maintenance issue - on the CDC Optimus units there's often a lot of dead LEDs while on the Busways Western Sydney's Volvo B7RLE Volgren Optimus vehicles which date from 2016 (like the 63xx and 66xx series Optimi with CDC) the LED strips still appear fully functional. Could also be loose wiring on the CDC units considering how some of them vibrate when idle.
Comfy to Drive and Pretty Solid for These Volvo B7RLE Volgren Optimus Since they have been in revenue services for CDC (Hillsbus) ever since 2014/2015, Oh tho I wouldn't say they comfy because If you dare sit at the back you might experience a lot of vibrate Which makes you kinda sick and Feel like you're about to Vomit.
