At the beginning of September, at the Comtrans exhibition held in Moscow, KAMAZ presented its newest self-developed medium-sized bus. According to the article published on the website of the manufacturer in Tatarstan, the new product is not a “shortened version” of the longer city bus, but has its own platform. Its development took years, and during the work, a lot of research was used to create a car that meets the latest passenger expectations. Of course, this is supposed to be just a PR text, but the fact is that no one saw that there was a completely self-developed KAMAZ bus on the corner.
The well-known brand in our country also plays a leading role in the field of electric buses and city buses. Regarding the novelty, it is expected that it will push KAMAZ to the forefront in a completely new category. The medium bus, model number 4290, is only 9 meters long and weighs just under 13 tons. The low-floor, double-door bus can accommodate a total of 70 people. Of these, 25 passengers can sit in upholstered seats. Strikingly, its design does not resemble any of the existing KAMAZ buses, although the dark lamp sockets are somewhat reminiscent of the 6282 buses.
Clearly, modernist designers identified asymmetry as the leader. The bottom of the windshield is not straight, and the side without the door looks as if the bus visually has thick B- and C-pillars. (This is only because of the stickers.) The belt line is not straight on this side either, but for this reason it can be considered a fairly distinct and easily recognizable bus. Although no photos of the interior have been published yet, KAMAZ says it fully meets 21st century expectations. LEDs are used to illuminate the passenger compartment, and the driver’s instrument panel is partly digital. The height of the steering wheel can be adjusted as desired, and all necessary switches are close at hand.
KamAZ uses many self-developed and manufactured units in it. These include a front axle with a payload capacity of eight tons. But most importantly, it was equipped with a 206-horsepower four-cylinder engine developed and produced by the Tatar manufacturer, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Meanwhile, the company plans to launch a gas-engined version soon, but an electric version is not on the table at the moment.
Production of the bus will begin in the fourth quarter, and serial production of the CNG engine may begin in the first half of next year.
