(22 Jul 2020, 10:26 pm)mb134 wrote You can pretty much pinpoint the beginning of Wright's downfall to their pushing of integral products. First and Arriva, 2 of the main UK operators, both moved away as soon as they realised how poor a product the "Street" buses were - onto far more robust E200/400 MMCs. 

Contrast that to the late 2000s and early 2010s - I still believe that the Pulsar was/is a far better vehicle than any E300 ADL churned out. Robust VDL running gear underneath, and the Wright Eclipse Urban/Solar/Pulsar is one of the best bits of single deck bodywork ever imo. Nice and airy, as comfortable on an express service as it is on city work and actually feels like it's a well put together single decker bus - rather than an extended minibus. 

It's a shame that Volvo never partnered up with ADL to produce a B8RLE with MMC bodywork - operators up and down the country will be needing to replace ageing Citaros/L94s/Omnis/B7RLEs over the next few years and at the moment there's probably only the 6 cylinder E200 as an option for them. Wright seemed hell-bent on selling folk Streetlites rather than bodying B8RLEs - possibly another reason for their demise, some money is better than no money.

That’s the thing, Wright should have never left VDL. They were the a good supplier and the DB series are some very good buses. Personally I think the Streetdecks got better over time but it’s like they had to start all over again whereas ADL have always built Chassis so they lost ground. In reality Wright should be streets ahead of ADL and I believe they will gain ground again. Latterly First and Arriva went back to the Streetdecks so its not doom and gloom. But I don’t think the E400 is robust at all. It’s a posh toilet in my opinion and that’s huge promo about being the first rattleproof Bus seems to be long out of the window. ADL are very good at promoting their products but they’re not nothing special and that’s just the truth.