Comparison and Analysis of Daewoo City Buses and Hyundai City Buses

▶ Study on the Daewoo BS106 City Bus Models

First, the BS106 can generally be classified into Urban Type, Urban Low-Floor, City Seat Type, and Intercity Type. The Urban Type and Urban Low-Floor can be distinguished by the front door shape – the front door is at a right angle. The Low-Floor model has a larger middle door compared to the regular Urban Type. Also, there is a route sign above the front windshield. Inside, the floor height is the main clue: a low floor for the Low-Floor model, a higher floor for the Urban Type. The middle door on these models has a vertical pole in the center.

The City Seat Type and Intercity Type look quite similar but have their differences. In appearance, the front windshield angle differs from the Urban Type, giving the front door a slanted angle. Inside, both have two-seat arrangements, but in the Seat Type, the right-hand seats from the front door to the middle door are all single seats. From the rear, if there is a route sign, it’s the City Seat Type; if there’s none, it’s the Intercity Type.

For the Royal City Intercooler, apart from the engine sound, the only way to tell is the “Intercooler” sticker on the rear of the vehicle. The Royal City’s interior poles have been changed to green, and the interior grab handles are triangular.

Royal City <2001 Model>

The 2001 model has the same exterior as the previous Royal City, but since an intercooler-equipped engine was standard, it delivers a powerful 290 horsepower. Externally, the main change is that the black molding around the wheel housing disappeared, and the wheel housing became smooth, similar to the BH116.

Royal City <1998~2001>

The 1999 Royal City had a redesigned sticker on the rear panel, and the 2000 model featured a roof design with smooth curves similar to the BH116.

Looking at the seat layout, the early Royal City models had five rows of seats after the middle door, with a gangway-like section starting from the rear wheel housing. Starting from the 2000 model, the seating after the middle door was reduced to four rows, and the gangway after the middle door was removed.

“Fake Royal” <1997 Release Model>

※Note: “Fake Royal” is not an official model name but a nickname used by bus enthusiast communities for the 1997 BS106 model.

It can be distinguished similarly to the Royal City, but the exterior is slightly different. The front and rear look the same as the post-1996 Hi-Power. The sides are similar to the Royal, but there is no “DAEWOO” lettering above the front or middle doors. Instead, “Hi-Power” is written next to the front door. (No intercooler.) Also, the interior poles were changed to gray.

The seat arrangement inside is the same as the early Royal City. Initially, purple seats were used, but later models had fabric seats with a gray base and green/red triangular patterns.

The dashboard used was the same as the Royal City’s.

BS106 Hi-Power <1996~1997 Release Models>

※Note: “Hi-Power” is not the model name but refers to the engine. Bus enthusiast communities use “Hi-Power” to refer to this vehicle.

The front view was the same as the previous Hi-Power, but starting this time, Daewoo’s emblem was used. Initially, the Daewoo emblem was placed above the lamps, but later it was moved between the headlamps.

There was a slight change in the rear appearance. The engine room grille was split into upper and lower sections, and the engine room lid became larger. The front door used a large, rectangular window. At this time, for a short period, air-conditioned urban models were equipped with purple seats. Also, the poles became more streamlined in design, as did the armrests next to the seats. Around 1997, the same dashboard as the “Fake Royal” was used.

For the early 1996 models, the interior dashboard was the Hi-Power type, and the material quality of the interior parts was the same as the pre-1996 models. However, by mid-1996, the interior wall materials were changed to match the “Fake Royal.”

For the low-floor type after 1995, the front wheel housing had a protruding “bowler hat” (凸) shape. From mid-1996, the front wheel housing was changed to a cylindrical shape. In the case of low-floor air-conditioned models from 1995, there was a gangway in the interior after the middle door.

This photo shows a 1995 low-floor air-conditioned vehicle.

Hi-Power <1993~1995 Release Models>

From 1993 to 1995, the front view of the Hi-Power remained the same, but a grille was added to the engine room area. In the Urban Type, most buses used steel window frames, but from 1995 onwards, with the addition of air-conditioning, aluminum frames replaced the steel ones. The window format was a 2/3 opening type.

In 1994, the spacing between the steel window frames became wider, and the size of the steel-framed windows slightly smaller. From around September 1995, the front door began using a rectangular window. From 1994, the route sign was positioned in the center, as shown in photos.

Hi-Power <1991~1993 Release Models>

The front appearance is the same as the Hi-Power described above, but the rear does not have a grille on the engine hood. The side view is also almost identical to the Hi-Power produced up to 1993.

Up until 1992, the seats were light blue. Starting with the 1992 model year, the “Hi-Power” sticker was added, and the seat color changed to gray.

▶ Hyundai AERO CITY

The Aero City is broadly divided into the 520 and 540 models. The differences are in engine output and body length. One way to distinguish them is by the presence of a small window behind the middle door — if absent, it’s the 520. The 520 was produced until the introduction of the Super Aero City.

Aero City <1991~1993 Release Models>

The front view is the same as the Aero City still in operation today. The difference is whether the Hyundai emblem is present. The rear lamp arrangement was different at that time — arranged horizontally. Early Urban Type 520 and 540 models had two-lamp systems, while the seat and intercity express types had three-lamp systems.

Inside, if there are four rows of seats after the middle door, it’s a 520; if there are five rows, it’s a 540.

Aero City <1993~1996 Release Models>

The rear lamp arrangement changed to a vertical style like today’s air-conditioned buses, and a central grille was added. The photo above shows a 1996 Aero City 540.

Aero City <1996~1999 Release Models>

The side window frame design was changed to the 2/3 opening type. In 1997, a model equipped with an intercooler was introduced (examples include Seoul Seung-hap Route 21 and Daejin Transport Route 16 — Hi-Power contribution: yjh106@hanmail.net).

For intercooler-equipped models, the rear lamp spacing between the brake lights and reverse lights is wider. If there is no gap, the vehicle is non-intercooler.

Aero City <1999 Release Model>

From this year, the engine position in the Aero City changed. For the early 1999 model, there was no black plastic panel at the far left end of the window frame. In the late 1999 model, the black plastic panel reappeared on the left, and the right panel was removed. The characteristic route sign under the rear window of the Aero City was replaced with a plain metal plate in the late model.

Inside, starting from the 1999 model, the seating arrangement after the middle door changed to four rows.

In the late 1999 model, the side mirrors were changed from the lower-mounted type to the typical bus-style mirrors mounted higher up. The driver’s seat ventilation duct on the front disappeared from the 1999 model.

Super Aero City <2000 Release Model>

The front of the Super Aero City looks almost identical to the Aero City, except that the turn signal lenses are now transparent. The rear is similar to the previous Aero City, but the route sign just below the rear window has been removed and replaced with a fake air intake like that on the Royal City.

The Super Aero City has many changes on the side: the black moldings were removed, and the standard five-window layout for city buses was changed to six windows. The Urban Type is equipped with yellow vinyl seats, and the middle door was widened, adding vertical handrails equipped with so-called “bar bells.”

Super Aero <2001 Release Model>

The 2001 model is almost identical to the 2000 model, except the coolant filler cap behind the right window frame was redesigned into an air duct shape.