I always loved the whistle these buses made before they inevitably got replaced, turns out I might have been a bus fan too all this time. Cheers, this brings back some good memories.
Great video.☺️ Edit: Wow, I never expected that from this bus. One of the best Allison AT-545 gearbox Whines I’ve ever heard. If only this was a Euro3 Engines bus, that would be the cherry on top.☺️ Amazing bus. I like the Euro2’s as well, they’re a classic and I grew up with the Euro2 Dennis Darts in my area in London. They use to be with London Central and London General which is now Go Ahead London.☺️
That's bloody quick. Must be an air throttle with a kickdown throttle switch. I've only ever driven one or two 5.9 Alison Darts that have been quick but not as quick as this one.
Yes boys your quite right it's definately having those 1, 2 and 3's selected on that shifter. I used to do exactly the same thing driving Firsts Plaxton Pointers when they were around. It's a shame only the 5.9 6BT had this feature (D, N, R, 1, 2, 3). The 3.9 4BT replacement was just D, N, R. I felt privileged to be one the last of the 'New' bus drivers to drive the last of the 5.9 Dennis Darts. These new drivers are all being raised on 3.9 and 4.5 Wright Streetlites. How downhill the industry has gone!
stagecoach continued to order their darts with hold gears right until the end of 2004, to say the least many drivers have absolutely no idea what to do when it comes to using the handy 1,2,3,D+4 (or 5) which is a shame because when used correctly you can keep your momentum on hills, merge into fast moving traffic, handy if kickdown is non functioning, engine braking down hill or prevent it from upshifting at a really stupid time i.e when taking corners or approaching a hill
