To follow on from a conversation on Jimmi's Flickr regarding how awful the "SimpliCity" branded Versas are on the 2/2A - see attached.

I'm not entirely sure if it'll do it justice, but I had 8306 the other day and it couldn't get past 35mph. It only managed this speed on the dual carriageway just off the A19 roundabout leading up to Penshaw Monument! The noise the bus was making was absolutely dreadful - I used to think the sound of the Versas was quite pleasant but this is much the opposite.

I also had 8324 a few days ago and it died twice. Once when it was trying to get up the small bank on Chester Road just after the hospital (see here - it died where the black car was on the left), and once when it was making another attempt to climb the bank just before The Grindon Mill. The driver took a good 30 seconds just to get over the roundabout after coming down from The Wavendon, so those of you who are familiar with Chester Road will be able to imagine how this nearly caused an accident... The latter aforementioned bank is significantly steeper and the driver had to reset the bus completely for the second time. The driver seemed quite familiar with the process, knowing exactly what to do to give it a tiny bit more power (or rather - enough to get up a bank). The 2/2A which was behind assumed the driver conked out and stopped in front of the bus when overtaking so we could get on, but the driver of 8324 ended up getting it moving again, albeit slowly...