A look at the poor design faults on an Enviro 400 bus

And from the passengers point of view: the squeaks. Alexander's standards of putting things together really took a downturn from the ALX400. Not to mention how flimsy those touch sensitive buttons usually area; you want buttons that make a nice satisfying click so you know it's worked, not to mention the durability

What I love is the fact Arriva in Luton still use their 1999 ALX400s and they still work completely fine as if they were new, whereas Streetlites, Enviro400s (Euro 5/6 only), Wright Gemini 2s and sometimes Pulsars are either breaking down constantly or just absolutely gutless in terms of any good enough acceleration. ALX400s were designed very well and have stood the test of time, as well as Presidents and Geminis (even the DAFs with their plagues of problems were better!) It's a shame. Good video though!

I know the feeling with the throttle delay. Its so bad that when at a roundabout or a junction with the handbrake on, I'll be maintaining low revs on the throttle pedal and then disengage the handbrake to negate the delay. The only issue with this workaround (and I don't know if you get this with your E400s) is that sometimes, the bus will go into some weird sort of "anti-kickdown" mode where it will accelerate poorly and change gears at the lowest revs possible.

Yeah the older E400’s are genuinely better by miles (Euro 4 T’s/TE’s) and feels like you can actually move.

Totally agree with everything you’ve said there! A couple of other thing that spring to mine. The style of buttons are terrible too. I know this was a very popular complaint, and as such they’ve changed back to proper switch gear on the newer models. The fact there there isn’t a proper red bell light on the dash! Just the silly green symbol on the dash screen, which I believe vanishes after a certain amount of time. It’s such a shame that buses as good as Darts and Tridents, are replaced with this rubbish.

Peter spot on video, as a Scotsman, I was so very proud of the "old" Alexander product,alas the modern day ADL product seems to have adopted the "poundland" spec, comparing to Wrightbus, yes the Eclipse & Eclipse Gemini were good, but & I speak from driving experience, the Streetlight & recent Gemini B5's & indeed Streetdeck are not in the same league as their predecesors, once again costs dictate the quality of the finished product. Which sort of begs the question in one of my shift buses earlier this week, a 2011, Citaro, everything worked, no spueaks or rattles, 11 years old, build quality to last, how did we end up here mate, roll on retirement

Some very good points having driven one over the weekend

Great video Peter. Shame the Ts have many issues as they’re generally faster than the DWs. The older Enviros anyway.

Nice video Peter, what a shame these ADL Enviro 400's are uncomfortable for drivers but only comfortable for passengers. I think most drivers at Enfield garages hopes that these poor buses get transferred to another garage in or out of London because they just can't stand it anymore. I don't mind the Wright Pulsar ones as long as they don't go slow on a uphill 😂

There are also E400 Tridents at Dartford bus garage

I drive the hybrid E400s on the 56s at Stagecoach and a design flaw I'm not happy with is the large windscreen surround's proximity to the side window frame. When approaching a roundabout, you have to physically move yourself in the cab to be able to see any oncoming traffic. Always thought this to be very dangerous.

spot on, also the amount of times i pressed the isolator button instead of the hazards!

The reflection in the dashboard panel plays havoc with your carefully-protected anonymity I am afraid Peter.

My issue with driving these is that they're painfully slow, but I absolutely love them otherwise. They sound so satisfying

I drive the hybrid environment, it has the same problem with the dashboard and heating system. Thornton heath has changed the seat height , it is now too low for taller drivers.

Yes the MMCs have the buttons the same way, Another annoying thing with the Hybrid MMCs is you got to put your foot down on brake to release them to allow to pull off which doesn't work mostly first time

Throttle delay in the E400s at my depot are absolutely shocking. Some worse than others but it makes for a very unpredictable drive and highly irritating when needing to pull away quicker than usual. Can cancel out the delay by giving it some revs with parking brake applied before setting off, but still shouldn't have to be doing that.

I don't like the low ceiling on the E400 or the low depth to the side window. I sit fairly high up and find myself having to duck slightly to see to the right. The Wright cab is light and airy, feels much more spacious and is far better laid out in general.

Have you ever driven a Streetlite? If so, what are they like?

They are very prone to condensation too