| Chassis: | Volvo B7L |
| Engine: | Volvo DH7A |
| Transmission: | ZF (5HP500?) |
| Length: | ? |
| Width: | ? |
| Body model: | Fully low floor |
| Number of seats: | 39 |
| Operators: | HKL |
The Volvo 7000 is the first bus manufactured by Carrus that is being sold under the Volvo name. The model is comprised of a Volvo B7L chassis and Carrus bodywork that answers to the name K 206.
The Volvo 7000 has a fully low floor from the front to the rear, although the corridor is rather narrow in front of the back doors. Like the Scania Omnicity and Mercedes-Benzin Citaro this chassis looks quite stylish. The familiar coulours, seats and floor are very similar to older Carrus low floored buses. The overall result is still very good and the nicely integrated lighting and well positioned clock add a positive final touch. All of these buses also carry neatly integrated LCD-displays which also show the buses destination in writing, an all too long awaited feature in Finnish buses.
The Volvo 7000 offers a very nice ride with much better suspension than the Omnicity. The amount of seats (39) is adequate, although there could be more. The low emission 7.3 litre engine is a positive change for the environment. The only broblem with this model is that the sound of the engine is much too loud in the rear part of the bus, even though the engine does not shake the bus at all. More sound insulation should be added.
While test riding this bus in Herttoniemi on the 21st on October 1999 (on route 84) I had a little conversation with the driver and heard about some problems with this new model which need fixing. The most severe problems were that the windscreen strongly reflects the interior of the bus when it is dark outside, thus lowering visibility and the troublesome doors that delayed the bus on every stop. The windscreen can probably be fixed by adjusting the lights in the bus and coating the windscreen. The doors could be fixed either by removing the door brake that stops the bus from moving with an open door from the front doors or by making the door opening lever remember commands given before the bus has come to a full stop. The last problem concerns plexiglass wall behing the driver, which should be darker. This could also alleviate the windscreen problems. After these bugs are fixed, the Volvo 7000 could well be the next editor's choice.