A competitively-priced workhorse

Introduced to the UK market in 2015, initially as a tri-axle, the Scania Touring HD has found favour with cost-conscious operators looking for a well-specified vehicle that can be used on all types of work. Stuart Render takes a closer look at the latest 51-seater variant

There’s a hint of deja-vu with the Scania Touring. With the tri-axle landing on these shores back in 2015, and the vehicle already proving its worth with operators up and down the country, you might be forgiven for wondering why we’re writing about it now. [wlm_nonmember][…]

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In 2016, the 12.1m 4×2 variant arrived, bringing with it a 49-seater specification aimed squarely at the mid-range market. Since then, Scania has looked closely at operator reaction and has made what it describes as ‘constant improvements to the specification since its launch.’

The result is a Scania Touring HD with the company’s ‘standard’ specification. That means 51 seats in a 12.1m body together with an extensive menu of kit. A 53-seater variant with no toilet is also available.

 

 

The Touring is an imposing vehicle, the design cues starting with the now well-known Scania ‘T’ shape at the front, sweeping across the A-pillars and up to the window line. At the rear, a roof-mounted ‘spoiler’ adds that little extra.

The Scania branding is prominent on the front of the coach. There’s no shyness here. Scania is very proud of its Touring, and rightly so. On the side of the vehicle, the well-publicised ‘co-operation with Higer’ is clearly displayed.

Lee Wale, UK Retail Sales Manager Bus & Coach with Scania (Great Britain) Limited, explained the relationship: “The Scania Touring HD is 100% Scania,” he said.

“The chassis is built in Sweden then shipped over to China. The body is then built by Higer under licence to Scania. It then goes to Scania in Antwerp for final fitting out. This is very much our product, built and backed by Scania.”

Lee explains that the specification of the Touring has been carefully thought out so that it will appeal to almost every operator. “Our aim with the Touring is to give operators a vehicle that’s very competitively priced and with a very good standard specification. There are some excellent vehicles out there at the moment. We want the Touring to be a workhorse that can deliver for an operator’s bottom line.”

First impressions
Arriving at Scania’s premises in Worksop in Nottinghamshire to take a vehicle out for a test drive, I’m greeted by Steve Dunk, Scania’s driver trainer. He’s a familiar face to many operators.

Our test vehicle bears the maroon and gold livery of Wrexham-based Pat’s Coaches. It’s due to be delivered to the operator in the next few days, and looks very smart indeed.

Helping the coach stand out are the Durabrite aluminium wheels and the tinted side and rear windows, all part of the standard specification. Indeed, it’s worth repeating that everything that appears on this particular coach is part of Scania’s standard specification.

Access and passenger comfort
At the front, a plug door opens to reveal four steps leading up to the driver’s cab area, and then another two steps up into the saloon.

The grab rails for passengers are well sited, with the left-hand rail extending almost to the cab area. It’s a useful piece of design that means passengers don’t necessarily have to resort to grabbing the courier seat on the right.

The courier seat is partly recessed, giving a reasonable width of around 44cm at the pinch point with the driver’s cab binnacle. The design of the cab floor extends to offer a permanent footrest. It’s a nice touch.

The passenger saloon is spacious and airy. The aisle, which is slightly sunken with an 18cm step up to most of the seats, is mostly level, with a slight rise to the rear where a step leads up to the back row of five seats.

The overhead luggage racks are of the open variety, with three individual lockers for crew use situated at the front and above the toilet.

The 51 Kiel reclining seats (the black and red design is one of three standard colour choices for stock vehicles) are fitted with real leather headrests and piping supplied by Glasgow-based Andrew Muirhead. Scania says that operators can choose from a full range of seat colours if the vehicle is ordered more than three months prior to it arriving in the UK. Each seat has a three-point seat belt, a side-slide option, drop-down aisle armrest, footrest, fold-down seat-back tray and a magazine net.

Recognising the need for on-board connectivity, there are two USB charging points fitted into the sidewall by each pair of seats.It’s another thoughtful touch, although how the passenger seated in the aisle will easily charge their device is open to question. Seat pitch – the distance between the front of the seat squab and the back of the seat in front – ranges from 22cm on most seats to 31cm on the seat behind the centre exit.

The standard specification includes carpet on the aisle, but not under the seats. It’s good to see two full-draw curtains for every window. These simply fold back into a clip on the window pillar. No ‘decorative’ curtains here, or any faffing about trying to fasten buttons or studs.

Above each seat is the usual instrument cluster of reading lights, ventilation and a loudspeaker. The familiar ‘Stop’ button continues to appear, even if its use is more likely to be to summon the courier. There are individual LED reading lights with on/off buttons. The saloon is illuminated by single colour white LED lighting. The emergency exit is centrally located on the offside. There are five steps down to the pavement, each step being a reasonable 22cm.

The joy of drinking
The standard specification of the Touring includes what is described as a ‘Frenzel FOB 580 kitchen unit.’ I’m intrigued and keen to find out more, but the unit is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it’s due to be fitted later, I wonder.

I’m just about to mention this to Steve when I notice what appears to be the door of a storage unit in the wall of the emergency stairs, opposite the toilet door. The cover of the unit opens to reveal, yes, the kitchen unit. The cover folds down to provide a shelf on which the courier or driver can prepare refreshments.

Closer examination reveals a water boiler, a coffee machine, a 50-litre fridge and a small sink. There’s also what Frenzel describes as a ‘sausage cooker’. Who knew? The location means that whoever is preparing refreshments (or sausages) stands with their back to the toilet door – a safer and more secure location than standing in the aisle as on most coaches.

However, it does also mean that additional care is required when carrying drinks up the relatively steep emergency steps to the main saloon. Couriers and drivers need strong legs these days!

The challenge with all on-board catering, unless you have the bigger facility at the rear of the coach, is storage space for the crew to store cups and sachets etc. The Touring has useful, lockable storage in the overhead luggage compartment. A second, smaller fridge, handy for those bottles of water, is located in the front bulkhead in front of the courier seat.

The standard specification for this model includes a centre sunken toilet. This is relatively easy to access, with a handrail on the side of the emergency stairs.

Entertainment and announcements
The standard specification comes with a Bosch radio, CD and DVD player. There are two 19” LCD monitors, one located at the front above the windscreen and the other at the centre door above the toilet. At present there’s no facility to play an MP3 source through the vehicle’s audio or video system.

For onboard announcements there’s a stalk microphone located to the right of the driver, and a traditional microphone on a lead located in the front bulkhead between the courier and driver.

Exterior and underneath 

Three cantilevered locker doors on the nearside provide access to the spacious hold. Total luggage capacity is certified at 8.47 m2. A sign above the driver’s cab indicates a maximum of 770kg of luggage. In a fully-laden coach, that’s around 15kg

of luggage for every passenger (roughly one large suitcase each).

The lockers are manually operated but can be locked centrally from the driver’s instrument panel. The smaller side lockers, open outwards, so care is required when parking up – especially if you need something when you’re on a ferry. One of the lockers holds the fresh water container that services the Frenzel mini kitchen unit.

There’s good access to the two fuse boxes, the second box controlling the vehicle’s air-conditioning.

Open up the back and it’s noticeable just how much space there is around the engine itself. Not only does this allow air to circulate freely, but it’s also a boon to engineers who will welcome the relatively easy access for maintenance.

The driver’s workplace
For the driver, the standard specification of the Touring offers a comfy, fully-adjustable leather Isringhausen seat (ISRI 6860).

Two offside mirrors and one nearside mirror can be adjusted electronically. Scania’s stalk-mounted engine retarder sticks out of the right-hand-side of the steering column.

At the bottom edge of the steering wheel are the buttons for the three-speed control functions: cruise control, adaptive cruise control and downhill speed control. Two further safety requirements, required by law since 2015, are Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB).

The Scania AEB system uses front-mounted, multi-antenna radar technology to measure the distance and relative speed of any obstacle. A camera mounted behind the windscreen determines how wide each obstacle is, its lateral position and its nature. If the driver doesn’t take action, the system will apply the brakes.

The camera also monitors lane position as part of LDW. This time, if the camera identifies that the coach is moving out of lane without any clear driver involvement, the driver’s seat will start to vibrate on its left or right-hand-side as appropriate.

The cab area is nicely designed, but Scania clearly faces a challenge when it comes to providing convenient space for the driver’s belongings and paperwork. There are spaces for some paperwork in pockets located above the driver’s seat and, unusually, above the front door. There’s also a lockable compartment above the driver at the front of the offside luggage rack.

But there’s an oddity. The space to the right of the driver’s seat, underneath the driver’s window, often a useful area for paperwork and other items, has been designed with a slope. Scania says that in considering the design of this particular area, it was keen to prevent drivers placing drinks there that might spill and affect the electronics beneath. A separate drinks holder is located further forward.

On the road
Our road test route takes us from Worksop on the Chesterfield road and on to the M1 at junction 30.

The comfortable driving position means I very quickly become used to the vehicle. It’s positive and firm. The Scania eight-speed gearbox offers a very smooth ride, I tell Steve.

“With only eight gears, the ‘box doesn’t have to change up and down as often as it might on a coach with more gears,” he explains. “Take it steady and don’t rush and your passengers will have a really smooth ride.”

We didn’t use it on this test, but the Touring has a ‘Power Mode.’ The gearbox will typically change up around 1,400 rpm. Click the gear selector, however, and it will hold the gear change to around 1,900 rpm, a useful power boost when you need a quicker gear change when climbing hills or mountain passes.

The M1 gives an opportunity to take the coach up to the limiter. Road-holding is good as we pass slower-moving lorries.

It’s a sunny day and I lower the electronic window blinds. These have a mesh within them to ensure passengers can see through them when lowered.

At junction 29 we turn off and head into Mansfield, the coach performing well on the relatively steep incline of Pleasley Hill.

Town centre traffic is reasonably light, and we make good progress onwards to Ollerton, Retford and Blyth. There are many opportunities to use the exhaust brake to take a few miles per hour off the speed of the vehicle without wearing the brake pads.

At junctions and roundabouts, the size of the B-pillar immediately to the right of the driver requires some modest acrobatics to peer round to see what’s coming. Equally, turning right at a T-junction means positioning the coach at the correct angle to see past the front row of seats and see what’s coming from the left.

Near Blyth, I hand over to Steve so that I can experience the onboard ride and sound quality. As expected, the ride quality is very good. There’s some wind noise at the front of the saloon coming from the mirrors, and a low rumbling sound at the rear of the saloon. Steve identifies this as being linked to the rear axle, but it’s no more or less than you find on most coaches.

Back at the dealership, Steve explains how the vehicle’s telematics system is able to support operators. “Every new coach we sell comes with a free 10-year Scania Fleet Management package,” he says.

“This is a telematics package that constantly monitors fuel consumption, mileage, driver performance and braking characteristics. Every Monday morning the operator receives an email with a full weekly breakdown.”

Steve presses a couple of buttons and the results of today’s road test are displayed on a panel in the centre of the dashboard. “We’ve driven 63.8 miles with an average fuel consumption of 9.94 mpg,” he says. “Looking at driver performance – which measures braking, acceleration, and how you’ve read the road ahead – you’ve scored 80%.” Apparently, anything above 60% is good, so I’m quietly chuffed!

Steve reverses the Touring back into its space on the forecourt at Worksop. I say my goodbyes and head home, pleased at adding another name to my list of coaches driven, and pleased that I didn’t embarrass myself by kerbing the Touring.

A few days later I receive a phone call from Lee Wale. I’d asked him for a guide price for the coach. “The RRP for the Scania Touring HD, with the standard specification that you’ve seen, the Scania Fleet Management package, and a two-year R&M (repair and maintenance) contract, is £219,000.”

Verdict
In many ways, the Scania Touring HD has similarities with Doctor Who’s TARDIS. There’s more going on inside than you might expect.

But the important element in all of this is whether it’s good for your business. Kerb appeal is good, and the feel of the interior is impressive. With the Scania name, residuals can be expected to be strong.

This is a vehicle that Scania hopes will appeal to the cost-conscious operator looking for a well-specified coach that can be used on a variety of work. Operators also have Scania’s comprehensive global service network as back-up.

Lee Wale says that the Touring can do the same as higher-end vehicles. Operators will make up their own minds, but it’s hard to disagree with Lee when he says that, pound for pound, it’s one of the best coaches on the market.

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