Irizar i6S

The i6S is the coach Irizar launched in October 2016. The maker’s own news archive for that month, in an Internet Archive capture of 8 June 2017, puts it plainly: “A year on from unveiling the Irizar i8, Irizar is launching the new Irizar i6S, a high-tech coach that replaces the Irizar pb.” Irizar offered it as an integral vehicle — body and running gear as one product from one company — and as bodywork on chassis: its i6S integral page, in its capture of 3 August 2025, carried the note “Available in integral and chassis versions”. Every figure here belongs to the integral vehicle: both of the maker’s technical tables are headed that way. Irizar’s i6S on-chassis page, in its capture of 23 November 2021, gave body dimensions, turning circles, luggage volumes, seat layouts and the same maximum authorised weight band as the integral coach’s page; it gave no engine, no wheelbase and no overhang. Irizar’s own model page described the coach, in its capture of 3 August 2025, as “a coach for medium and long distance lines and occasional use”.

The 2016 generation and the current range

The 2016-generation i6S is not the coach Irizar sells today; Irizar’s legacy site and its technical catalogue documented it. The legacy site’s i6S pages now redirect to Irizar’s home page. Irizar’s current model list, read on 23 September 2026, runs i8, i6S Efficient, i6, i4, i3 and the electric range, with no plain i6S. Irizar’s launch item of May 2022 presents the i6S Efficient as “a new generation of the Irizar i6S model coach” and says consumption and emissions were reduced by up to 13 per cent, weight by up to 950 kg, and the aerodynamic coefficient by 30 per cent. Irizar’s i6S Efficient page links a technical catalogue for that coach, filed on a third-party reader under a 2025 name. Two documents carry the figures instead — the technical catalogue Irizar still hosts, which its datasheet index linked in the capture of 3 August 2025, and the i6S model page on the same legacy site, in its capture of the same day. The table’s “Fuel cell” and “Range on hydrogen” rows are not the 2016 coach’s: they carry the figures in Irizar’s news item of 28 July 2026 for the second-generation i6S Efficient H2 FCEV, which the last section sets out, and every other row is still the 2016 coach’s.

Ten configurations, nine equipment columns

The catalogue’s contents page names ten builds: 10.8, 12 and 13 m on two axles, 13.2, 14 and 15 m on three, each on a 3.5 m or a 3.7 m body except the shortest and the 13.2 m. All ten are 2,550 mm wide; the 3.5 m body stands 3,731 mm high and the 3.7 m body 3,931 mm. The two-axle coaches measure 10,780, 12,200 and 12,920 mm, the three-axle ones 13,220, 14,070 and 14,980 mm with a steered third axle 1,500 mm behind the drive axle. Wheelbases run 5,280, 6,100 and 6,820 mm on two axles against 6,135, 6,370 and 7,280 mm on three; turning circles run 21,174, 23,200 and 24,290 mm against 23,340, 23,396 and 24,680 mm.

Those figures reproduce themselves: adding front overhang, wheelbase, any third-axle spacing and rear overhang gives the printed length exactly on all ten builds — 2,690 plus 6,100 plus 3,410 makes the 12,200 mm coach, 2,690 plus 6,135 plus 1,500 plus 2,895 the 13,220 mm one. The catalogue prints the parts and the totals, not the sums. The model page gave the same coach as 13,200 mm, and 13,200 is the figure of the two that the maker’s own overhangs and wheelbase do not add up to.

Front and rear doors are 900 mm wide on every configuration, except that the 10.8 m column and both 14 m columns give the rear door as “900mm / 800mm**”, the double asterisk keyed to “Rear toilet on the floor / rear door”; the free-standing aisle is 2,060 mm and the first step 360 mm throughout. The equipment matrix that follows has nine columns for those ten builds: the 13.2 m coach has a dimension column and a seat table, and no equipment column at all.

Five engine steps in two families

The powertrain table carries five columns, all six-cylinder in-line, 24-valve common-rail units with a variable-geometry turbine, all declared EURO 6 with no letter sub-step. Three are the 10.8-litre MX11 at 271, 291 and 320 kW; two are the 12.9-litre MX13 at 340 and 375 kW. Neither the catalogue nor the model page names an engine manufacturer.

Torque is recorded here for the MX13 alone, at 2,300 and 2,500 Nm. The catalogue gives the 271 kW step 1,580 Nm and the model page gave the same step 1,600 Nm, and no Irizar document opened here settles it. The catalogue’s other MX11 figures are 1,900 Nm at 291 kW and 2,100 Nm at 320 kW.

No rated speed is published either. Maximum power is quoted at 1,650 rpm for the smallest step and against bands for the rest — 1,450 to 1,700 rpm for the larger MX11 steps, 1,425 to 1,750 rpm for both MX13 steps — and peak torque against a second band from 1,000 rpm. A band is not a rated speed, so the field is blank; what a power figure does and does not cover is set out in reading truck power figures.

Gearbox, retarder and axles

Two transmissions are offered: a ZF Ecolife six-speed automatic with torque converter, “Capable of transmitting torques of up to 2,300Nm” and carrying an inbuilt ZF Power Retarder, and a fully automated twelve-speed ZF AS Tronic, capable of “up to 2,700Nm” and carrying an inbuilt ZF Power Intarder. Both retarders are quoted with three brake points. Neither Irizar document opened here pairs engines with gearboxes; the Ecolife’s 2,300 Nm is exactly the torque of the 340 kW engine and is under the 2,500 Nm of the 375 kW one, while the AS Tronic’s 2,700 Nm is above every step. The catalogue’s availability statements are general ones: the seat tables’ note that “Some of the distribution options shown may not be available depending on the selected powertrain”, and the dimension tables’ note that “The information shown above may vary depending on the selected country, powertrain and configuration”. What each device does on a descent is in retarders and engine braking. Axles are ZF throughout — RL82EC front, A132 drive, RL82EC again for the steered third — on electronically controlled air suspension with kneeling, and disc brakes on all wheels under EBS.

Maximum authorised weight

Irizar’s i6S model page, in its capture of 3 August 2025, gave maximum authorised weight as 18,000 to 19,000 kg on the two-axle coaches and 25,000 to 26,000 kg on the three-axle ones, and the on-chassis page, in its capture of 23 November 2021, printed the same two bands. That is a band, and it appeared on the maker’s web pages alone: the technical catalogue has no weight row in its eleven pages. No Irizar document opened gives a gross vehicle weight as a single figure. How a coach data sheet’s weight rows are read is in how to read a coach data sheet.

The 12 m seat table lists, among other layouts, 55+1+1, 53+1+1 and 51+1+1 with a low toilet or none, at 710 to 750 mm minimum pitch, and 51+1+1, 49+1+1 or 45+1+1 with a high toilet and a kitchen, at 710 to 800 mm. At 12 m luggage is approximately 9.1 m³ on the 3.5 m body, less 1 m³ with a toilet and 1.8 m³ with a driver’s bunk, and approximately 12.59 m³ on the 3.7 m one, less 1.2 m³ and 2.1 m³ for the same two. The deduction row is headed only “with WC” and never says which of the low, high and rear toilets it costs.

What the safety tables declare

The model page, in its capture of 3 August 2025, said the i6S “complies with the R/66.02 safety regulation”. Irizar’s corporate passenger-safety page, captured the same day, said that “Irizar coaches comply with R66/01 regulations on the roll-over resistance of the structure (effective in 2017)”. Both are Irizar’s, and neither refers to the other. Under paragraph 4.2 of UN R66 the first two digits of the approval number “shall indicate the series of amendments incorporating the most recent major technical amendments made to the Regulation at the time of issue of the approval”, as rollover strength under UN R66 sets out. A separate regulation, UN R107 on general construction, says at its own paragraph 3.2, for approvals under R107: “In the case of an application for approval of a vehicle made by assembling a chassis with type-approved bodywork, the term manufacturer refers to the assembler.” The R66 text cited here contains no such provision.

Two-point belts on seats are standard on all nine columns of the equipment matrix and three-point belts optional on all nine, matching the safety page’s wording that “In addition to two-point belts, customers may opt for” three-point belts and Isofix. The same page said Irizar seats “comply with the most stringent new regulations, R.14 in Europe, 20G in the USA and ADR80 in Australia”. That page has a live successor at a new address on Irizar’s current site: read on 25 September 2026, it still prints the belt sentence word for word, and prints neither of the other two. Its rollover line has become “Structural design taking into account resistance to roll-overs, head-on collisions and cabin deformation”, naming no regulation at all, and its seat paragraph now ends at the residual-space test. Among the Irizar documents opened, only the capture of 3 August 2025 carries those two sentences. Whether a given coach had to carry belts depends on its class and its date, and under paragraph 8.1.7 of UN R16 a three-point belt “shall” be provided unless one of three conditions is met, in which case a two-point belt “may” be, as bus seat belts works through. A fire detection system in the engine compartment is standard on all nine columns and a suppression system optional on all nine, while the toilet and the driver’s bunk are options each listed as including a smoke detector. Those markings are the catalogue’s options list, not a statement of what the law required of a given coach. UN R107 Annex 3 paragraph 7.5.1.5 says that “In the case of vehicles having an internal combustion engine or a combustion heater located to the rear of the driver’s compartment”, “vehicles of Classes I, II and III shall be equipped with a fire suppression system in the engine compartment and each compartment where a combustion heater is located”, and that “Vehicles of Classes A and B, may be equipped” with one; no Irizar document opened here states the i6S’s class, where its engine sits, or which series of R107 a given coach was approved to. Paragraph 7.5.6.1 of the same Annex says vehicles “shall be equipped with an alarm system detecting either an excess temperature or smoke in toilet compartments, driver’s sleeping compartments and other separate compartments”; the rest of the fire rules are in bus fire safety.

Equipment and options

The catalogue’s equipment matrix runs across nine of the ten configurations — the 13.2 m three-axle build carries a dimension and seat table but no equipment column — and marks the same items throughout: standard, optional, or, for a handful of items, “according to country standard” (ACS), the catalogue’s own term for a fitment it leaves to each market’s rules rather than marking either way. The matrix is printed in five headed categories.

Under heating and ventilation, a bizonal air-conditioning system and a heating system are standard on all nine columns; an “Artic Heating/Isolation system”, a programmable pre-heater and a convector fan in the WC are all marked ACS.

Under driver and guide, a moquette driver and guide seat, a multifunction steering wheel, a driver-microphone, a guide-microphone, a luggage-rack locker for the driver and guide, tyre pressure and heat sensor monitoring, a driver’s safe and a refrigerator in the dashboard are standard on all nine columns. Black leather driver and guide seats, a swivelling driver seat, a heated driver seat, a multifunction leather steering wheel, a third windscreen wiper, a driver-seat-mounted microphone, a wireless microphone for the guide and a heated windscreen are listed as options on all nine; a guide flex map light is marked ACS. The catalogue prints only three markers, not nine, against a driver seat armrest.

Under the passenger area, i6 seats in moquette fabric with synthetic leather headrests, two-point safety belts on seats and individual air conditioning with LED lighting per seat are standard on all nine columns. Options on all nine: i6 seats with leather inserts, three-point safety belts, a Tecam seat fixing system, extra padded seats, a coat hook, a table, a magazine net, a central armrest, a footrest, luggage-rack locker lids, aisle/driver’s-area/rear carpet, a wooden-effect floor and a waste bin at the entrance and central door. I6 Plus seats, in moquette fabric or with synthetic leather headrests, are marked ACS; i6 Plus seats with leather inserts are an option on all nine.

Under electricity and electronics, Actia audio equipment, a digital clock and LED interior lighting are standard on all nine columns. Options on all nine: Actia and Bosch DVD packages with a 22” or 19” front screen, Bosch Classic- and Professional-line audio, Actia and Bosch 15” second and third screens, a Bosch 19” tilt-down monitor, a digital TV tuner, a camera over the central stepwell, a road camera, parking sensors, a rear-view camera, GPS linked to the screens, front/side/rear destination signs, Wi-Fi internet, a wheelchair lift, remote-control opening and alarm, contact sensors on the luggage lockers and a driver fatigue warning system.

Under “Others”, pneumatic luggage lockers, fire detection in the engine compartment and Alcoa aluminium rims are standard on all nine columns; double glazed windows and extra-tinted side windows are marked ACS. Options on all nine: USB/220 V plugs for every pair of seats, individual entertainment systems, a vacuum cleaner, a kitchen next to the central entrance, bixenon front headlamps, a stainless-steel structure, a fire suppression system in the engine compartment, an air purifier system, additional fuel tanks (no litre figure is printed anywhere in the catalogue), a towing hook, Alcoa Durabright aluminium rims (black tag) and a ski-box fixing system. A central sunken toilet or a rear floor-mounted toilet, and the driver’s bunk, are each an option that the catalogue says includes a smoke detector.

The catalogue’s closing panel defines EBS, ABS, ASR, ESC, BFD, ECAS, ACC, AEBS, LDWS and TPMS without marking which configuration carries which. ECAS is described there as giving kneeling and manual height adjustment as standard, with third-axle suspension controlled by weight distribution.

The model page, in its capture of 3 August 2025, said Irizar offers the i6S in “six lengths, three types of WC, new seats with optional side movement, a range of entertainment systems” among other configurable items.

The hydrogen fuel-cell i6S Efficient (H2 FCEV)

Irizar’s news items describe a hydrogen fuel-cell version of the i6S Efficient, the line its launch item of May 2022 presents as a new generation of the i6S. It is a later generation of the model line, not the 2016 coach described above. Fuel-cell drive in buses, and the EU rules on hydrogen refuelling, are covered in city bus propulsion.

The first generation was shown at Busworld in 2023 as the first prototype of what Irizar called the Irizar Hydrogen i6S Efficient. Its item of October 2023 gives a range of up to 1000 km and charging times of around 20 minutes, and says the coach can run in 100% electric mode for short times if required. Its item of April 2025 gives the drive as a 510-horsepower electric motor with an integrated three-speed gearbox and reports a round trip between Ormaiztegi, where Irizar is headquartered, and Briançon in the French Alps: 2,500 km in total, with an elevation gain of more than 1,400 meters, a range of 900 km demonstrated during the test, and a full refuelling time of under 20 minutes.

Irizar’s item of 29 May 2026 presents the second generation, launched at the general assembly of SHYNE, the Spanish Hydrogen Network, and says it had passed type-approval tests. The item of 28 July 2026 gives it a 190-kW Bosch hydrogen fuel cell and an electric propulsion system designed for medium- and long-distance operations, seating for 69 passengers and up to 18 standing, and a range exceeding 1,000 km, a lower bound rather than a single figure. Its refuelling time is around 10–15 minutes in the July item and around 10 minutes in the May one. Among its improvements over the previous version Irizar names increased luggage and passenger capacity, greater range and reduced weight, and gives no figure for any of them. The July item reports the coach running with Alsa in Madrid during June and July, and says it was tested on both intercity and long-distance routes. It also says the coach will be available for production in the first half of 2027, a plan stated on 28 July 2026 rather than a production start.

No Irizar item read for this page gives a hydrogen-tank mass, volume or pressure, a battery capacity, a motor output, or dimensions or weight for the second generation. This second generation is also set out, alongside fuel-cell buses, in hydrogen fuel-cell buses and coaches.

Source notes

The grid above describes the 12 m x 3.5 m two-axle integral coach. Irizar’s model page, in its Internet Archive capture of 3 August 2025, offered six lengths; the catalogue prints ten configurations of them, on a 3.5 m or a 3.7 m body, and every one is 2,550 mm wide. The 3.7 m body stands 3,931 mm high against 3,731 mm. Maximum authorised weight was published as a range and not as a single figure: 18,000-19,000 kg on the two-axle coaches and 25,000-26,000 kg on the three-axle ones, on the maker’s web pages alone (read in their Internet Archive captures) — the technical catalogue has no weight row anywhere in its eleven pages. The 12 m coach holds approximately 9.1 m3 of luggage on the 3.5 m body, less 1 m3 with a WC and 1.8 m3 with a driver’s bunk, and approximately 12.59 m3 on the 3.7 m body, less 1.2 m3 and 2.1 m3 for the same two. Torque is recorded for the MX13 alone: the catalogue gives the 271 kW MX11 step 1,580 Nm and the model page gave it 1,600 Nm, and neither document resolves the other. Axles are ZF throughout — RL82EC front, A132 rear, and RL82EC again where a steered third axle is fitted — on electronically controlled air suspension, with disc brakes on all wheels under EBS. The fuel-cell and hydrogen rows are not the 2016 coach’s: they are the figures in Irizar’s news item of 28 July 2026 for the second-generation i6S Efficient H2 FCEV, a 190-kW Bosch hydrogen fuel cell and a range exceeding 1,000 km. No Irizar item read for this record gives a tank, pressure, battery or motor figure for it.