MASTER YOUR GEARS

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 184, 6 August 1925, Page 6 (Supplement)

MASTER YOUR GEARS

AN EASY BUT NEGLECTED ART.

SAFEGUARD IN EMERGENCY

AXD ESSENTIAL TO ORDINARY DRTVEvG.

The proportion of motorists who have more than a passing knowledge of the function of the gears and their operation is surprisingly small. An every day indication is the grinding and grating attending changing when the gears are forced into mesh instead of being allowed to mesh naturally and harmoniously. The reason is probably attributed to the vogue of the high-powered car, which limits the necessity for changing and further to the purely automatic instruction which the learner obtains i" 1 his driving lessons The general principles for changing are to slacken off the engine speed on changing up. and to accelerate on changing down. Cleared of technicalities the object in changing is to have the engine, and consequently the crank shaft, revolving at the same speed as the gear wheels and when this is obtained the teeth enmesh without a sound. In strating off the engine outstrips the gear speed and in consequence is allowed to slow down as the change is made. But in changing down, particularly on the flat or an incline, up or down, the'gear wheels are revolving faster than the engine and the latter has to be speeded up to make the change. Adjunct to Brakes. The great virtue of having a thorough knowledge of the changes is so as to be able to use them in cases of emergency and in this connection there enters the great asset the gears offer as an adjunct to the braking system. Trouble with brakes is quite a common thing, and many drivers have long discarded the brake, and now use the gears for brakes. This idea is all right, and perhaps saves the brake bands, but tbe fact that brakes are defective should make the driver doubly proficient in the manipulation of gears. Even with defective brakes, we have the driver with us who can only come from top to second gear with difficulty, and if he is forced to drop down he has to pull' the car up. Then there is the danger of the brakes failing on an incline, and if there is any difficulty in getting into lower gears the ear is liable to back down the hill with disastrous consequences. Just why a driver is unable to change down is hard to explain, but perhaps it would be correct to say that the modern car is able to get over most of our hills on top or second and a driver is not called upon to use the lower gears. Learn to Change Down. Admittedly it is harder to change down than up, but is an essential in the driver's attributes, which some day he will be called upon to exercise, whether it be an ahsolutely emergency measure or just arise in the ordinary course of driving. Fancy coming unexpectedly upon the Pokeno hill. To drive down it on top will probably mean burning out the brakes, yet. by dropping down .into second, or even first as a further precaution, it can be encompassed with absolute' confidence, even though the brakes- may be defective. The aver" age driver will, he forced to bring his car to a standstill to .make the change. But suppose the brake's develop d veakness:and the e;ir. proceeds'to get; out. of control. The case of emergency arises. How few drivers could accelerate' their engine speed (declutching, of course) and. make the 'change to the braking gear? On many cars the change from second to first, which, after all, becomes an emergency movement, is the hardest of all, and it is a fact that there are hundreds of drivers who have never completed the movement. The traffic department, when testing drivers never ask for it. You simply start from first, run into second and top, and you have completed all the gear changes necessary. Some motorists who are proficient in all changes will never believe that such a condition . rules among motorists. Nevertheless, it is a fact, and the motorist who knows that he has never completed the change down would be wise ,to tackle it immediately, as it isperhaps one of the best emergency tactics the motorist has. It is equally important that a driver, for fear that his brakes might fail, should be in a position to throw his engine into first. Should he be able to do this he can keep the car on the road and eventually bring it to a standstill. ■ Gear changing both up and down should be practised at all speeds. After all, a good silent change is a matter ot revolutions of the engine, and after tests it is surprising how confident you become when you are master of the gears. Remember, the gears are the best emergency, and who knows when one may be called upon to effect a gear change which will pull one out of danger ?