(10 Nov 2017, 4:05 pm)Tom Bloody hell what has happened to the pulsars... on 1481 and it’s possibly one of the most underpowered buses I’ve been on. Are all of them like this now?

(10 Nov 2017, 5:56 pm)BusLoverMum Quite a few of them were speed limited, last year.

On a sapphire 6 E400 this morning, that had to slow down significantly from 60 (I could see the speedo) when it caught up with a sapphire 7 pulsar.

(12 Nov 2017, 12:02 pm)Multi21 This is due to a computer program called "Econospeed". You may have heard some drivers complaining about it.

What it does is, it limits acceleration when pulling away, limits the amount of kickdown a driver can use and the top speed is also limited. The main problem is when it reaches the top speed (which on most is 53mph) if you push beyond the limited it will let you for about 3 seconds then drops the speed back to 45mph.

Mercedes/Daimler designed this program so as you can imagine it works as designed on Mercedes products most solos are fitted with it. On VDL products it just doesn't work which is why passengers feel the difference between one that's fitted with it and one that's not.

Any more questions PM me.

(12 Nov 2017, 10:44 pm)BusLoverMum Some of those Pulsars didn't half go, pre-econospeed. When it was first fitted, you could tell the difference between a Darlo and Durham pulsar, pretty quickly - though at least a couple of belmont's were already knackered and sluggish, anyhow.

(12 Nov 2017, 12:02 pm)Multi21 This is due to a computer program called "Econospeed". You may have heard some drivers complaining about it.

What it does is, it limits acceleration when pulling away, limits the amount of kickdown a driver can use and the top speed is also limited. The main problem is when it reaches the top speed (which on most is 53mph) if you push beyond the limited it will let you for about 3 seconds then drops the speed back to 45mph.

Mercedes/Daimler designed this program so as you can imagine it works as designed on Mercedes products most solos are fitted with it. On VDL products it just doesn't work which is why passengers feel the difference between one that's fitted with it and one that's not.

Any more questions PM me.

The Econospeed is a weird thing. In Pulsars if you try to engage kickdown whilst on the move (or the bus tries to do it itself) you find that the bus will jerk between gears. However, if you pull away engaging kickdown it works fine and without the jerking. It would be interesting to see if this jerking causes additional wear and tear to components such as gearboxes. In a vehicle such as a Solo or Enviro 200 when they are working fine (not in limp mode) then I don't feel you can tell that the system is in place. Our Volvo B7/Alx 400 at Durham don't have Econospeed stickers so I am unsure if its fitted (however these are limited to 50mph anyway).

When I did my training at Ashington, they didn't have Econospeed turned on as 'buses which used high speed roads were unable to keep to their timetables.' I am unsure if Ashington have it activated or not.

Limp mode, does significantly reduce power to the vehicle - the E200's we have at Durham are an example of this. I was once heading towards Gilesgate after coming around the roundabout at the bottom of the A690/Claypath and my bus was in limp mode. I had a full standing load and it was so slow going up the hill, the speed didn't even register on the speedo. The main reason I have found for limp mode is emissions light. However, I have had other warning lights which have triggered limp mode such as an oil light.

(17 Nov 2017, 7:25 pm)V514DFT Why was 4512 kept instead of anything else from that batch (4501-4515) bar the ones that became driver training vehicles,was stuck behind it today and the decibels coming from it were ridiculous

(24 Nov 2017, 4:10 pm)Smarty93 1923 has returned to Stockton depot in the new livery.

(23 Nov 2017, 6:24 am)Jimmi The next stop announcements on the Sapphire 7 buses at Darlington are currently not playing any announcements, just showing a static Sapphire slide. Unsure as to why this is the case.

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(25 Nov 2017, 10:34 pm)JoshP Why does service 3 have NSA's and a monitor? I've used service 3 a lot recently and none of them work... seems pointless.