DaBryan Answers the Call... Again

NATIONAL LIMO REVIEW VOL. 17 NOVEMBER 2011
DaBryan Answers the Call... Again
DaBryan Coachworks unveils the 2012 Lincoln series with
some added twists & better durability
The 2012 DaBryan Nighthawk 120”
D
aBryan is well known to produce superbly durable vehicles
and that tradition continues in 2012. This year they’ve
upped the ante by revisiting styling feature implementation and
incorporating even stronger environmental systems, all with the
intent of answering the call from fleet managers and owners.
Many of you may recall the survey we
performed in our April 2011 issue whereupon we asked operators to rank a series of
considerations in order of importance
when it comes to stretched vehicle deployment. Over 1400 respondents sent in their
responses and we in turn published this
feedback in the June 2011 issue.
Manufacturers paid heed to the number 1
ranked consideration when it comes to the
purchase of new equipment, durability.
Fleet managers and owners have quietly
voiced the issue of passenger cabin repairs
for some time, noting that in most cases
it’s an honest mistake of some big person
trying to exit the car, grabbing the wrong
surface trying to get out and ripping it.
“It’s always an uncomfortable
call to have to inform a client
they broke something and it’s
going to cost $900.00 to fix
it.” - John Moss Chase Limousine Dallas
This and a variety of other concerns
prompted DaBryan into action. Steve
McNamara from DaBryan engineering was
quick to point out that in light of the operator responses, the passenger cabin was
completely reevaluated for stress fatigue
and/or potential damage issues, with an
emphasis on reducing aesthetic damage
that happens with antsy passengers.
“We left no stone
unturned when we
went back in to
strengthen the
cabin.”
Steve McNamara —Engineering Team Leader
THE 2012 NIGHTHAWK SERIES
SETTING A NEW STANDARD
The Nighthawks exemplify steps taken to
address these client needs. For starters, the
bar area has been given additional reinforcement near exit points in the form of stronger
back-plates. This increases its ability to
withstand pull stress when people put their
weight on it when exiting the car, as well as
persons who from time to time actually sit
on them.
PASSENGER STABILITY ADDITIONS
In noting that many people tend to put upward pressure on the ceiling lighting systems to balance themselves when moving
around, two reinforced door pulls were
added to the design as hand grabs on the
ceiling edges, allowing occupants a better
way to comfortably move themselves.
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NATIONAL LIMO REVIEW VOL. 17 NOVEMBER 2011
STRONGER—MORE EFFICIENT LIGHTING
Down below, standard floor lights have
been replaced with starlight LED’s. These
lights are small, recessed, and virtually
unbreakable, as opposed to flat panel
lights, which often break or crack when
kicked.
This same concept is now applied to all
of the trim and cubby lighting in the cabin,
taking advantage of new and brighter LED
technologies. The string systems have been
further recessed to prevent unwanted hand
contact by passengers to help keep them
smudge & scratch-free. Thus no bulbs to
break, and providing a quality, long lasting
LED lighting system that uses less than a
fifth of the power of their incandescent
predecessors. A major plus here is the reduced strain on the alternator too.
BETTER DRAINAGE
Secondary considerations were also
looked at in terms of regular cleaning
maintenance. It’s well known to all of us
the beer & wine coolers get clogged up by
clients dumping trash in them. A very
simple and yet highly effective method to
stop water damage from clogged coolers
sloshing back up onto the bar was to simply add a thin mesh screen to the bottom of
the tank. This prevents the drain from being blocked. And there’s more...
The solid extrusion drink holders introduced in 2005 and faithfully utilized ever
since, have now been given small yet very
effective overboard drain lines to evacuate
liquids spilled in them. It’s long been
known passengers accidentally break
champagne flutes in these cup holders.
When they try to clean them up, they wind
up making a bigger mess all over the seats.
With these added drains this nuisance is
done away with.
LESS EXTERIOR NOISE
Now the savvy among you might consider
the addition of more overboard drains
equals more air noise coming back into the
cabin. Well, not any more… DaBryan follows through on its reputation for innovation by creating an airfoil undercarriage
cap for the drain exits. And look for this to
become a standard feature industry-wide.
All strip LED lines completely
recessed into structure
Flat panel floor lights
replaced w/ LED
Cup-holders w/ drains added
( 4 additional)
“We’ve been quite happy with the results of
our in-house stress tests and are anxious to see
them proven in the field. The message was
clear: Reduce the downtime… We took that to
heart with all the 2012 production models”
Chris Carlisle —Structural Design Manager
The foil works by allowing liquids a clear
exit and moves air around the drain lip,
effectively muffling noise pollution.
Designer Chris Carlisle is clearly amused
with this one. “Its such a simple addition
and yet no one’s ever
bothered to do it before.
We more or less had to
do something when we
added all the extra
Undercarriage Drain Cap
drains, and now its
even quieter in the cabin that when we
started. Go figure…”
AIR CONDITIONING IMPROVEMENTS
Another important consideration, and
especially down south, are the cabin air
systems. DaBryan has always been known
to have highly reliable A/C systems and
yet over time they all get clogged and tend
to lose cooling performance. This is certainly nothing new, and inevitable as well.
However one aspect that can be
addressed is find ways to increase the
length of time in-between servicing. The
system components are certainly not easy
to get to, and maintenance has always been
a days-long downtime affair.
DaBryan addressed this consideration by
adding a second evaporator core to the rear
cabin. No doubt operators in hot summer
portions of the country will love this, as it
effectively doubles the cooling airflow
surface area. With this incorporation, the
length of time between system servicing
will dramatically increase.
New Dual-Core Cabin Evaporator Coil
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NATIONAL LIMO REVIEW VOL. 17 NOVEMBER 2011
NEW BREAK RESISTANT MASTER CONTROL PANELS
INTUITIVE TOUCH-SCREEN CONTROL SYSTEMS
One other design consideration that has
gotten a lot of attention are the new touchscreen control panels. Every operator at
some point goes through the annoyance of
knobs and buttons mysteriously disappearing from the control panels. Though a minor performance issue, they cheapen the
impression clients get from your sense of
professionalism. And they’re hard to come
by when you need to replace them. Operators asked for two simple things: Make the
panels more durable, and easier to read.
And so they did.
NO MORE BUTTONS—NO MORE KNOBS
Starting in 2010 DaBryan began addressing this issue by collaborating with MasterControl Inc., the company responsible
for virtually all limousine control panels
used in the industry. In 2012 DaBryan debuts its first ever 100% touch-screen control panels. With these displays all sliding
buttons and turn knobs have been replaced
with interactive screens. As an important
safety consideration, these panels are far
easier to see at night for drivers on the
move, as well as for clients in darkened
cabins. And no longer shall the driver or
clients be pestered with button caps that
The 2012 Master Control® Driver and Cabin Touch-Screen Control Panel
are missing or fall off. Additionally, the
removal of manual controls freed up space
on the panel now used to increase the size
of the typeface, making them that much
easier to read.
VISION AND THE ROAD AHEAD
With these improvements, DaBryan
hopes to continue its longstanding reputation as a highly trusted manufacturer of
stretch livery vehicles. Enhancing the user
experience as they do year after year is
most certainly a great way of going about
that.
Operators interested in getting informational brochures are encouraged to contact
DaBryan directly, and as always they will
have the full complement of demo vehicles
at our upcoming January NLR show in Las
Vegas.
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