(04 Aug 2020, 9:06 am)morritt89 wrote Fast forward to more modern Wright products and we end up at the Streetlite. I (unpopular opinion coming up) enjoy driving them. Acceleration is good and on start stop town work they are in a league of their own. The Drifter examples have a higher top speed than all the others at Deptford (58mph instead of the usual 50mph) which was handy when allocated to the X6/7. Streelites also climb hills well and probably better than anything else I've driven. The only downside is the poor build quality (rattles and squeaks) plus I've found the Daimler engined ones to have a particular bad idle (akin to the ex London E200 at Belmont).

It's an unpopular opinion which I share broadly similar views to you on!

It takes a particular skill to drive the Streetlites, I think, as they're very unique in the way that they do have some odd gear changes. That said it's possible to control them providing you react to the gearbox, and actually benefit from the kickdown to get the extra power you need on a hill, rather than keeping your foot planted to the floor.

It always fascinates me how fast and nimble they are, and how it feels like you're driving quite a small vehicle (especially compared to something like a Citaro, which feels huge and a bit of a chore to drive at times, especially if you get a bad one!) The brakes on them are also perfect for me, compared to other buses (Citaros, Solos, etc).

If the Streetlites had the creature comforts of air con and such that other buses such as Citaros do, and less of the odd gear changes, I think they'd be a lot more popular.