Ours aren't bad, but the LA stuff, I've never been on buses overtaking cars at 40 lmao. The pickup from a standstill is insane and they're still way quieter than those old NABIs with the ridiculous AC fan LA always has. LACMTA hasn't been the same since the end of the DD50s (same with the city, I guess), but it's still something else getting flung around on those buses.
Yeah, those LACMTA buses are the truth. You've got the combination of fast roads, buses geared for speed, and a long distance between stops, and you just fly. It's a shame the long headways make it such a pain to get around via bus because once you're in motion, it's better than any other major US city. When I was there back in '17 they still had the un-repowered C40s and NABIs and it was a treat hearing those DD50s working. I bet the 6v92 era was even crazier, but I pretty much missed that clean.
Yeah, we must just be gearing them for economy and dealing with it. Probably makes sense from a bean-counting perspective, though of course if you set a vehicle up to accelerate slowly and consequently have to floor it to go anyway, you actually lose all your fuel savings. Lots more lugging on MTA buses, but on the other hand nice and efficient when they're sitting in traffic/crawling around (which our buses sure do). It's a balance. I wonder when stop-start will come to buses. You'd think the hybrids at least could do it pretty easily, switching motors, but I guess the HVAC is a real bitch to power up.