(14 Aug 2020, 10:25 am)Jamie M wrote 4 pot engines are rather lacklustre top-end, and by nature have to work harder than a 6 pot varient; especially in heavy double-deckers. More cylinders = more explosions = more power. You can't change or hideaway from this fact.
A route full of NSL and motorway grade roads on hills screams for extra power, to reduce mechanical strain more than anything else.
I'm of course not saying all 6-pot engines are going to be fast, nor that all 4-pot engines are going to be slow. But it's a lot more uncommon to hear of 6-pot engines putting holes through the blocks, opposed to 4-pot systems, like Streetlites.
I find that the X-Lines B5TLs also suffer from the same issue. I'm not sure why the location of the route number needs to be stipulated, so long as it's substantially large and visible. The location should be of a suitable place, to the operator's suitability.
But wouldn't having an extra, taller gear mean less strain on the engine as it could go faster at a lower RPM?
That's exactly what you see in cars, particularly in the past you would see the same engine with a 5 speed and 6 speed gearbox, and the 6 speed would pretty much always be more efficient, and smoother on the motorway as it allowed the engine to sit at pretty much idle at 70mph.
It's why you now see cars with 9 or 10 gears. When was the last time you saw a car with a 4 speed gearbox?