(15 Mar 2016, 9:18 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote Yes its 15 years, But Optare products age faster than the likes of Wrights and ADL Products so id put a 12 year mark on them ( if they can make it till then! )I'm surprised the 09-reg Versa's have lasted seven years, even one or two of the Citylink examples sound a bit off.
Versas are a worse product than the Solo, The Chassis/Suspension gets very torn and twisted, and the bodywork quality is comparable to a Wilkos toy car.
The mechanical part of Optare is quite simple but also complicated at the same time because both types have the same engine choices but here it is :
Solos : 4 Cylinder Mercedes ( Arriva have these ) or 6 Cylinder Cummins ISB ( most Scarlet Band ones ) with a Allison 5 speed or in some cases 4 speed Voith
Versas : 4 Cylinder Mercedes ( Same as in the Solo ) or a 6 Cylinder 5.9L Cummins ISB ( GNE Versas ) with the same Allison.
South Tyne Versas's have their Kickdown Disabled ( apart from 8294 ) and their engines have got to the state comparable to a Limp mode Pulsar. and have bodywork problems of a wide variety.
Euro 5 Versas are a lot better than Euro 4s but the bodywork and chassis lets it down.
I'm interested to see how the new Metrocity will be like.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2016