The only Arriva E400s I've sampled are the Belmont ones for the 24 and they seem capable, if spartan. When they were temporarily doing our on route through the summer, they coped well with Witch Hill/Silent Bank and showed no signs of fatigue through Sherburn House . both of which tend to test the worth of a bus (and some cars - forget it with a 1l Corsa with 4 occupants) pretty well.
From what I've picked up, speed limiting seems ot have a lot to answer for with certain buses. People complain about how underpowered streelites are, for example, but they actually feel quite consistent over the challenging route tou our house from Durham. There are no panic points where you thinks the bus is either going to grind to a halt or burn out. When we first moved here, 12 years ago, that route was a regular killer of lowlanders and various other buses built through the 90s, whether deckers or midis.
RE: Arriva North East: Latest News & Discussion - September 2015