(10 May 2014, 7:05 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote I must say that I'm rather impressed with the new E400. Alot of thought and R&D has gone into it. ADL have made many improvements to the previous version. Despite me being sceptical about the Cummins 6.7, the weight reduction will aid the reliability of the engine and the fact that ADL have put alot more thought into the E400 in terms of reliability will improve the reliability too. The 6.7 in the VDL DB300's is actually alright due to the build and bodyweight. I would put it on par with the Volvo D9B with the weight reduction and better build / reliability in mind. It would be tempermental on a constant foot to the floor route like the TTX but on routes like the X18 and X93 with a mixture of driving conditions, the chassis, body and engine is a perfect combination.

I think that with the order announced by Go Ahead, we should start seeing them up here soon either on the 27 or with them on the X1 and the 27 getting the 14 B9TL's of the X1.

Despite the chances of GNE ordering ADL products being rather slim, service X1 is more demanding than service 27... Would keep the Volvo B9TLs on there for that reason alone.