Chassis

The design of the chassis of Super Olympian is based on the Volvo Olympian. The front radiator is moved to the back of the first axle for 12 m version, or in front of the second axle for 10.6 m version (it was due to shorter wheelbase). In order to further lowering the chassis, the auxiliary passive steering function of the mid-axle was cancelled. The suspension system has also been largely modified that it is electronically controlled instead of moving passively. One special feature is that after turning, the suspension unit does not recover to the normal, instead the bus will keep tilting to either the left or right, until the bus has come to stationary.

An option for 11.3 m version of Super Olympian was also available, but none was built as no order was received.

Initially, the Super Olympian chassis were built in Volvo's factory in Irvine, Scotland. After the closure of the factory in mid-2000, production was moved to Wrocław, Poland.

The engine is Volvo D10A285, with a maximum power of 285 hp, lower than 305 hp of Cummins M11-305E used on Neoplan Centroliner and Dennis Trident 3, and 335 hp of Cummins ISMe Euro III used on Dennis Trident 3/Enviro 500.

There are several nicknames of this bus model in Hong Kong, all of which mean that the bus is not powerful enough. The most common are "豬" (pig), "扒" (meat cutlet) and "豬扒" (pork chop, derived from the pronunciation of the word "Super").

Hong Kong

New World First Bus

New World First Bus bought 103 Super Olympians in 5 batches, all are 12 metres long and were fitted with Alexander ALX500 body.

The first 40 Super Olympians (5001-5040), with electronic route displays, were introduced in 1999. Then the next 20 (5041-5060), which have their side route number boxes moved to lower position, entered service in 2000/2001. The chassis of 5060 was the first to be built in Poland.

The next 19 Super Olympians (5061-5079), with the Euro III version of D10A285 engine and ALCOA front wheels, entered service in 2001. They were followed by 10 similar ones (5080-5089) later in the same year. Among these buses, 5080-5086 had their registration numbers originated from ex-CMB buses and service cars. The last 14 Super Olympians (5090-5103), introduced in 2002, had their rear route number boxes raised to a location above the emergency window.

Replacement

Production of Volvo Super Olympian ended in 2004 after finishing the last order from Kowloon Motor Bus. Its successor was the Volvo B9TL.

Volvo Super Olympian. (2007, August 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia