A ride aboard Ex-Greyhound Canada 1989 Motor Coach Industries model MC-9 'Special' #881

[jimnice74656]

I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE TO HEAR THAT ENGINE SOUND AGAIN. I'D NEVER GET OFF THE BUS

[busfanjim]

hey i forgot about adding ex greyhound  #615 it was the nicest driving bus out of them all!!!

[busfanjim]

when i worked for a charter campany, we had a fleet of ex greyhound mc 9.. #576 #640,691,613.733 #768 had a side mounted wheelchair lift.. all had 871 with ht 740 allison transmissions.. we were trained to shift these transmissions manually start in 2 and up shift and down shift manually .. great busses...

[busfanjim]

i rode on this bus in oct 99 from kelowna b.c. to kamloops. at the time it had the sunrype juice wrap .. and was standard transmission...

[busrailfan]

@busfanjim - Yep! And it would have also still had the 6V92TA engine at the time too.

[luvdat8v71]

he should've left the 7spd. tranny and change to 8v71 then the bus would've became a BEAST!!!!

[busrailfan]

@luvdat8v71 - Sure except that the 7 speed transmission was swapped out because it needed to be replaced.

[ClassicTVMan81]

I wonder what vehicle the private owner of this bus took the 8V-71N/HT-740 out of? Another MCI highway coach? Fire truck?

[busrailfan]

@ClassicTVMan81 - Yeah that engine and transmission is out of an older Ex-Greyhound MCI MC-9. All of Greyhound Canada's Pre-1989 MC-9's were 8V71N / HT-740's.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@busrailfan

I wonder if that specific donor Greyhound dated from 1975 to 1980.

Tell me, when did Greyhound Canada begin using automatic transmissions in their buses in mass?

[busrailfan]

@ClassicTVMan81 - Nope. MC-9's did not start production until late in 1978. Greyhound Canada's MC-9 fleet were all built from late 1978 and the last ones were built in 1984 and all had the 8V71N and HT-740 transmissions. The Greyhound Canada MC-9 Specials were all built in 1989-90 with 6V92TA engines and 7 speed manual transmissions.

All of Greyhound Canada's MC-8's were built with 8V71N and HT-740's from 1973-1978. Before that, most coaches were standards in Greyhounds fleet.

[busrailfan]

@ClassicTVMan81 - And to add, starting in 1985, Greyhound Canada started using manual transmissions and that ended again in late 1997 when they switched back to Automatic transmissions.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@busrailfan

That's odd that Greyhound Canada would emulate Greyhound USA and buy buses with the common 8V-71N/HT-740 powertrain for the years 1979-84, and then go back to buying buses with manual transmissions for the years 1985-97.

The 1985-89 102A3s (or 96A3s) in the Greyhound Canada fleet would have had the 6V-92TA mated to the Fuller T-11607 7-speed.

[busrailfan]

@ClassicTVMan81 - Negative. Greyhound Canada's 96-A3's and 102-A3's were 5 speed manuals. Not sure what make though. The first 7 speeds for Greyhound Canada were the 1989 MCI 102-C3's.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@busrailfan

I assume the 5-speed manuals to be Fuller T-11605D units, as it is the standard manual transmission as depicted in official MCI literature for the MC-9 and the A series.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@busrailfan

The 5-speed is the Fuller T-11605D.

[richardflint07]

I must ask you something, does the MC9 Special have more power with the 8v71, but can tell this Bus may increase the 318 to 500 Horspowered 8v71 if it would be faster.

[busrailfan]

First of all, the operator wasn't very heavy footed either during acceleration. But I am not sure of the difference between the two. This bus also originally had a 7 speed manual when it had the 6V92TA. It now has the Allison HT-740 series.

[6V92TA]

a standard 8V71 spits around 330 to 400hp depending on the injectors and the engine set up....AKA turbocharger(s). Your standard 6V92 spits anywhere from 235 to 385hp. Most highway buses wit an 8V71 were set mainly to 330 to 350hp. More torq with the 8V71 in this bus...yes. Power wise....not by much.

[studpuppy69]

8v71N faster off the line, 6V92T faster up the hill and more power over 30 MPH than the 8v71. 8v71 bad ass sounding, 6V92T sounds good. I think the 6v92T gets better mileage.

[6V92TA]

@studpuppy69 The 6V92 gets way better milage than the 8V71 simply because 6V92s are electronically controlled. The 8V71 produces the same torq as the 6V92 in most cases but in semi truck applications, the 8V71 pushes way more in torq. As far as power up a hill, that depends on the set up of either engine. Both engines can be tuned to push 400hp but the 8V71 will push more in torq with a nice tune up. This is why most semi trucks back in the 70s had 8V71s instead of 6V92s.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@6V92TA

Turbocharging and aftercooling together also increase fuel mileage somewhat.

[ClassicTVMan81]

@6V92TA

According to an old MCI spec sheet in regards to the MC-9, the 6V-92TA put out 277 hp @ 2,100 rpm (7G70 injectors) while the standard 8V-71N put out 280 hp @ 2,100 rpm (7E60 injectors).

Torque figures are 782 lb. ft. for the 8V-71N while the 6V-92TA is pegged at 816 lb. ft. This is where the 6V-92TA has the advantage over the 8V-71N.

[6V92TA]

man listen to that moan'in 8V71. Its pure music!!

[Dkels219]

The racks are some what good because it's made by the same company. But greyhound canada's buses seems to have much more options that lacks on the USA Models. I've rode greyhound canada from Montreal to Vancover and i rode a prevost H3-45 (97 Model) and it rode "flawlessly" without any problems. Beautiful Bus that is.

[busrailfan]

Yes those Prevost H3-45's have a superior ride quality over MCI Coaches. I still love MCI coaches as well, but Prevost's ride quality is beautiful.

[Dkels219]

MCI's No matter what model they make. They'll always be number one in my book. But the Prevost Still have that superior ride & comfort.

[Chadgervais]

i must disagree. last month i took a day trip, one way on a 2009 Prevost X3-45, return on a 2004 MCI J4500. the mci gave a FAR superior ride in my opinion.

[busrailfan]

Hmm... I must take a ride on an X3-45.

[Dkels219]

Love The Overhead Inclosed racks On a MC-9 (Not-12)

[busrailfan]

Kewl. Are the overhead racks on MC-12's not as good?

[Dkels219]

There good...,But they're not "Inclosed" like aircraft style racks that open & close.

[baul104]

Sounds awesome!! Great video, btw, was this bus repowered to the 8V71N engine + HT-740 somewhere in the mid-80's?

[busrailfan]

Thanks! No.. This bus was repowered very recently by the private owner that ran that bus that day for us.

[ClassicTVMan81]

IMO, it's kind of weird that the present owner would downgrade the engine from the 6V-92TA to the 8V-71N. That's not to say I don't like the former.

[busrailfan]

I didn't consider it weird. All he did was take a drivetrain out of an older coach that he owned and install it into this one. It is not an uncommon practice north of the border.

[swt32567]

An 8V71 is not a downgrade. The 8V71 was a far better engine than the 6V92. The

8V71 was far more durable & fuel efficient. The 8V71 could also produce 350HP if it was equipped with turbo. The 6 & 8V92TA's were not as reliable nor cost effective engines like the venerable 671,

6V71, & 8V71.

[ClassicTVMan81]

Does it mean you can't, from a reliability standpoint, make the Series 92 any better than Detroit Diesel did?

[6V92TA]

eh...i dont know about that cat daddy. the 6V92 is a very reliable engine. Tuned right, a 6V92TA can easily push 385hp and has been pushin 330hp in buses like the D60HF,102A3 and the awesome Eagle Model 15s. The 8V92 was breed for power. This is why you stop seeing trucks in the late 70s and early 80s switch over from the 8V71 and 12V71 to the 8V92. if the 6V92 wasnt cost effective enough, transit buses, highway buses and few RVs would have the 6V92 as power. 8V71s are jus cheaper then 6V92s

[TuneRVisioN510]

This bus sounds maaaad good