MAN NL232s

General Transport Discussion not specific to one state
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TA3001
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MAN NL232s

Post by TA3001 »

Just curious, what do users here think of this particular bus chassis?

I haven't seen many videos of them on the internet, and they don't seem to be as prolific as the O405 chassis. The CNG ones have unusually slow acceleration compared to chassis types such as L94UBs. They are very slow up hills, but on a positive note, they're mediocre regarding reliability. It would be interesting to see how they would've performed on the Adelaide O'bahn compared to the O305s that operated on it until 2009-2010.

I think their ABM bodies are a joke personally, and they seem to have their own characteristics visually. They seem to be rather unsturdy, and their internal mirror frames are so ridiculously high that it's not funny. They have this weird panel in the centre of the bus that protrudes inwards and reduces legroom, which saw them have a single seat installed adjacent to this instead of two. Regarding the sound they make, I'm almost stuck for words here... all I can say is that they remind of a typical CNG MAN low floor, and absolutely nothing else!

BTW, does anyone know if there are any videos of these buses around the place getting to 100kph? It would probably take at least 60 seconds for them to reach this speed assuming their engines don't seize...

Don't get my wrong, I don't hate these buses by any means, but if I was looking for a high performance vehicle, this wouldn't be my pick! I sort of wish Adelaide had gotten more than just 50 of them.

Despite every other 1980s-2000s Adelaide metro MAN bus having a Facebook page in recognition of them, there isn't one for this particular bus type. Not really surprising.
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1whoknows
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Re: MAN NL232s

Post by 1whoknows »

Adelaide's about the only place in Oz to have them - in any numbers at any rate.
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Bus-1809
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Re: MAN NL232s

Post by Bus-1809 »

Remember that the Adelaide NL202/NL232 CNG's were fitted with awfully tall diffs hence why they are sluggish. In Europe they would have a much shorter diff, giving them a top speed of around 80km/h but allowing them to accelerate at a better pace. They are by no means, as quick as an 18.310 gassie or anything, but still better than the S.A. ones.

A number of people claim that the NL202/232 Gassies don't have kickdown enabled, however I wonder if it's more of a case of the Modern MAN, where you have to physically stand on the accelerator, to get the kickdown switch to activate?
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