[Sound] ZF Ecolife Buses

[Bus-1809]

Hi Folks,

Here's 3 recordings of buses with ZF Ecolife 6AP1400B Gearboxes, to try and demonstrate just how smooth they are.

The first recording is of Transdev's 2208, which is a Mercedes OC500LE. The OC's are set in Economy Mode (2/5) which is suitable for the 12L, 299hp engine. These are still one of the smoothest set up's in the current age of buses.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/deizc5v ... 08_(1).mp3

The next one is Transdev's 2113, which is exactly the same as 2208, but this unit is being driven on kickdown in this recording. It demonstrates the quick acceleration & smooth gearchanges that these buses offer in times of needing to be worked.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/mlrrbt1 ... 13_(1).mp3

The final recording is of PATH Transit's 2314, which is a Volvo B7RLE. At the time of this recording, the B7's were set in "Balanced" Mode (3/5) which is a slightly more enthusiastic program and also makes "Hill Decent Mode" slightly more effective, as heard in this recording. The B7's are programmed without kickdown, but don't really need it in this program, as the gearbox is able to effectively cater for hills when the bus has to negotiate them.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/tap1clv ... 14_(3).mp3

Enjoy & as always, comments are welcome.

[Bus-1809]

From a previous post by PoweredbyCNG:

As many of you may already know, three Volvo B7RLEs in the Transperth fleet have been fitted with 6-speed ZF-EcoLife gearboxes as part of a PTA trial (those units being 1662, 2244 and 2314). Since delivery, the gear shifting profiles on all three have been reconfigured to provide increased levels of driveability and shift comfort. The results are plain to see and are extremely pleasing - fantastic acceleration, ultra-smooth gear shifting and amazing hill ascent and decent intuitiveness thanks to optimised ZF TopoDyn technology.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of being a passenger on PATH Transit's (2314), the ZF unit based at Kalamunda. There's no better operating area in Perth to sample the performance of the ZF-EcoLife gearbox as the Kalamunda area features some of Perth's most challenging topography for suburban bus services. During the entire time that I was onboard, I closely analysed the gear shifting performance and found that the gearbox seems to be very difficult if not impossible to upset. Rapid changes in topography are dealt with seamlessly with no rough up or downchanges, no unwanted vibration or grinding during gearchanges (like what occurs with the Voith units) and no unnecessary 'hunting' up and down the box that would be considered the fault of the gearbox. The ZF gearbox clearly has the smarts to ensure that any upchange does not result in a loss in road speed on even the steepest inclines, with TopoDyn not hesitating to hold the lower gear at higher engine speeds to ensure an efficient hill climb wherever required. On the opposite side of the coin, the ZF-EcoLife gearbox will downchange very early and hold the engine at higher speeds on decents, ensuring both efficient engine braking and efficient application of the (very strong yet smooth) retarder to bring the bus at a constant speed safely down a hill.

I must say that I am extremely impressed with the passenger comfort levels provided by the ZF-EcoLife gearbox on the Volvo B7RLE bus chassis. I can only imagine how good this combination would be from a driver's perspective and hope that the PTA will consider purchasing more of this combination in the future. The combination of the ZF-EcoLife gearbox and the Volvo B7RLE bus chassis gets my two thumbs up opposed to the same chassis with a Voith gearbox.

and from myself:

Over the weekend, I was given the opportunity to ride PATH Transit's ZF Ecolife 6AP1400B equipped Volvo B7RLE No. 2314. As I have already shown with my recording of Veolia Transport Perth's 2244, the 3 ZF Volvo's have recently had their gear shift patterns altered to make them more driveable than they were on delivery.

Upon delivery, the 3x ZF units were in their most economical setting, with gearchanges occuring at a mere 1100rpm. In this setting, they had great off the line performance, but were very, very slow thereafter. Very recently, the 3 units were reprogrammed to a higher shift setting, which now has them changing at 1600rpm and holding out to 2000rpm on hills thanks to TopoDyn. On application of the retarder, the gearbox goes into "Hill Decent Mode" (which the Voith's do have & it works quite well), regardless of whether they are going down hill, on a flat road, or going up hill. They also hide the hideously dangerous turbo lag that the Voith's are known for. When climbing a hill, the ZF units will smoothly kick back a gear or 2 almost straight away and power up the hill, where as the Voith units tend to upshift just before a hill, resulting in massive drive shaft vibration, before harshly kicking back a gear, at the absolute minimum engine speed, causing discomfort for passengers, especially standees.

I rode 2314 on round trip of 283's from the Esplanade Busport to Kalamunda Bus Station via Crystal Brook Rd, which is one of the most ideal runs for testing the performance of any bus (the other runs being Routes 282 - via Welshpool Rd, 296 - via Gooseberry Hill Rd and 299 - via Kalamunda Rd

The technical bits: On flat roads, the bus was happy changing at 1600rpm, giving imperceptible gearshifts, absolutely nil drivetrain vibration (as can be felt when the units fitted with Voith DIWA 864.5 Transmissions, change gear) & brilliant off the line power & very quick pick up, thereafter. When faced with a hill, thanks to "TopoDyn", the gearbox will shift back to the previous gear and hold to maximum engine RPM to ensure that no speed is lost. If the gearbox cannot maintain current road speed in the gear it is in, it will automatically & very smoothly kick down to the previous gear to ensure that no speed is lost. This was certainly noticeable during the climb up Crystal Brook Rd's steep hill. Topodyn kicked the bus back into 5th gear, then when it realised that we were still losing speed, it kicked back into 4th, where it was able to accelerate to 2300rpm and hold, until the top of the hill was reached. After turning onto Welshpool Rd, the gearbox held every gear to 2200rpm until we were required to stop at a bus stop for alighting passengers.

On the return trip, the bus operated exactly the same as the outbound service, but when we reached Crystal Brook Rd, the bus held the gear it was in, at 2300rpm to keep the bus at a safe speed and allow for efficient engine braking to assist the retarder, which works extremely well under all braking situations. The bus will only upshift if the driver depresses the accelerator pedal whilst on the down hill run, but again, will shift back down as soon as the brakes are applied, to keep the bus in check and stop it from "Getting away from you". Another fantastic feature of the highly superior ZF Transmission. The Voith units have a similar function, but it is very uncomfortable due to the harsh Voith Retarder and it's delay in application.

All in all, the ZF units have proved themselves over pretty much everything that has been thrown at them & I believe that the Public Transport Authority would be very wise in considering a change in gearbox for future B7RLE Deliveries, perhaps starting when the CR229L body comes into full stream production.

Here is a picture of 2314 at Kalamunda Bus Station & also 2 recordings, one which demonstrates the Hill Descent Mode.

[Mr. VOITH]

So, this EcoLife transmission that you're so fascinated about needed to be reconfigured by ZF because it was under performing (i.e. too slow of the mark), it goes through a lot of gears to get you there, it holds on the engine on high speeds when going up and down hill supposedly to get a better engine brake control, etc....and you still want more of these in PTA fleet? Really? Fuel wise is also not as good as Voith so I really question why are you doing this mate because for sure is not for a good reason.

[PoweredByCNG]

It's not ZF's fault that the Volvo D7E engine doesn't perform admirably until at least 1200rpm. In contrast, the Mercedes-Benz OC 500 LE can comfortably run at low engine speeds simply because it has far more torque in that engine speed range.

Sorry to say, but the Voith D864.5 on the B7RLEs is hardly smooth when you consider that it bangs in and out of gear like a rough gearchange almost every time and is easily confused by changing throttle positions (i.e. quite often the gearbox will rev into the red in 2nd gear after throttle is applied after cornering, for no apparent reason!). Also, the retarder application is still sudden and harsh rather than smooth and gradual and the hill decent doesn't work, you either get too little or too much force from the retarder so you have to vary brake pedal position continuously to adapt just like in any old bus. With EcoLife, you just keep your foot on the brake pedal in one position and the gearbox does the rest (i.e. keep the bus decending at the same speed given a continuous grade). This was tested in the Kalamunda area in the Perth hills. I could go on and on but I won't waste my time.

[MrBus]

So, this EcoLife transmission that you're so fascinated about needed to be reconfigured by ZF because it was under performing (i.e. too slow of the mark), it goes through a lot of gears to get you there, it holds on the engine on high speeds when going up and down hill supposedly to get a better engine brake control, etc....and you still want more of these in PTA fleet? Really? Fuel wise is also not as good as Voith so I really question why are you doing this mate because for sure is not for a good reason.

But when you tell a ZF to go they don't hesitate.
I also wouldn't be so sure on your fuel claim.
I would think a bit more before you go ZF bashing.

[Bus-1809]

Really...? We start this again

This was NOT meant to be a ZF v Voith thread. We've had that, we've been over it, lets not have it again. Mr. Voith, we know you favour Voith and I know there are other members on here who also favour vVoith. HOWEVER... I am a ZF person and I always will be. We are entitled to like what we like. That goes for other members on here who are ZF people too.