road friendly

[asavage]

Ginger, I think it's more likely that the buses you've driven were geared for 60 MPH max, rather than governed for that speed.

School buses do more stop-n-start than cruise, need to get out of and into traffic quickly (as do urban buses), and don't "need" to run at highway speeds much, so they're geared for the duty.

All diesel engines have RPM governors (most non-diesels these days do too, due to fuel injection programming). Diesel engines' internals can exceed their mechanical limits too easily with over-revving to rely on a driver's ear.

[rlaggren]

Sharkey, thanks for the links. The last two look "new to me" and I'll get educated as time allows.

Al, thanks for chiming in. I shoulda known what was on the Ford but happily have not yet encountered a "need to know".

Rufus