MOTORING

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20807, 17 March 1933, Page 8

MOTORING

BY "ROADSTER."

"Eoadster" incites articles* and paragraphs of interest to motorists for this page. NOTES. Although there were only 10 entries in the light car hill-climbing test held by the Pioneer Sports Club at Monck's Spur on Saturday, some really fine climbing offered sufficient compensation and the club should be encouraged by the results, to continue with the tests. J. B. Tench (Singer Nine), who won the open class, and was placed second in the sports cars, was perhaps I the outstanding driver. B. J. Tench. [ who secured 1000 points for a non-stop run in the light-car trial on the previous Saturday, also drove well to secure the first place in the sports class (in a Singer Junior) and fourth in a Singer Nine in the open class. Both J. E. Tench and H. D. Christie beat the record time of ,56sec established by D. C. Crozier for 1932. Crozier did not com- ! pete on Saturday. [ Traffic congestion within a three-mile radius of Charing Cross (London) causes a wastage of £11,250,000 annually, it is estimated. A wireless transmitter has been installed at the headquarters of the Edinburgh police, and two police motorcycles have been fitted with receivers so that their riders can be communicated with while on duty. The steel-studded crossings for the j security of pedestrians in Paris are not regarded as successful, as they have proved dangerous to motorists. Powerful street lamps flashing alternately red and yellow have been installed at one boulevard crossing as an experiment. The new creosote-oil substitute for petrol, which is being produced at Beli fast Gas Works, Ireland, is now available to private motorists at sixpence a gallon. A special carburettor is needed for use with the new fuel. Production is at the rate of 500,000 gallons a year. An interesting experiment is being made on the. .Stirling-Carlisle (England) road at the instance of the Highways Department. Part of the route is being laid with iron plates, which are ribbed to prevent slipping, perforated to let water escape, and interlocked to ensure that there will be no dangerous gaps. It is claimed that the new method dispenses with costly foundations; only a layer of ashes and a covering of tar macadam are said to be necessary. In permanence and cheapness of upkeep it will be greatly superior to all existing plans. A motorist from an adjacent town driving into Llandilo (Wales) through a thick fog, ran through a hedge and dropped eight feet into the river beneath. The car turned a somersault and sank with the wheels uppermost, but the headlights remained above water sufficient time to draw the attention of a passing motorist. He ran and released the submerged motorist from his perilous position just before the car sank entirely. He was taken homo suffering from shock, and the cas was left in the river. If the owner of a cur titled with hydraulic bivkcs cannot yet tlio prescribed thud tor filling tnem ho can mix a harmless combination of liquids to tide lihn over the emergency. The combination is ono of equal parts ol medicinal caster oil and No. .5 denatured alcohol. There are times when front-wheel wabble is due to nothing more serious than the state of tyre pressures. I) thcro is greater pressure in one tyre than in Hie other, the result is likely to bo tramping or shimmying of the front wheels. Moreover, unless tyres arc inflated to from throe to 'five pounds aH)vc the normal pressure the same trouble will be encountered when driving at higher than average speeds. Car owners should remember that a high generator charging rate not only is bad for tho generator, but causes an excessively rapid rate of evaporation of water in the battery. A ourt horse owned by a Chippenham (Wiits)_.farmer is said to possess an uncanny road sense. It refuses to cross a white line or to go past "Slow" warning painted on the roads without considerable persuasion. So many Parisians arc pawning thencars as a result of business stagnation that a nciv garage has been erected by the pawnbroking department. This will i accommodate 2000 cars. I Second-hand values for aeroplanes aro amazingly high in England. It is not possible to obtain even a 192G light aeroplane tor much less than £2so—a depreciation of only about 60. per cent, in six years. The driver was travelling at a steady sp< j ed ol 45 miles an hour over a highway upon which the hot sun had expanded tho expansion joino tiller. He noticed a serious whip in the propeller shaft and a decided discomfort in tin: operation of the car. The universal joints, he concluded, must be seriously worn. A stop at a service station revealed thai the rear shock absorbers were empty, permitting excessively free spring action on the rough road. Owners of cars fitted with freewheeling or automatic clutch control can give their automobiles the rolling test very easily. It is just a matter ol coasting, noticing at the same tune how easily the car rolls. If. it docs not do as well at one time as another, general conditions being the same, it probably is a clue to poor lubrication or under-inflated tyres, or, perhaps, to dragging brakes. It is worth while to use the coasting interval t>- note the freedom with which the car moves. Motor-car doors are of heavy construction these days and the chc -ks which limit their outward swing perform a distinctly useful service. A motorist who failed to replace a broken check discovered this fact recently. !!c opened the door hastily and allowed it to swing free, with the result that the hinge was badly sprung. Pho repair expense was manv times more than the replacement of the check would have been. Eaising the car windows when parking in a busy street is one way of keeping the interior clean which apparently escapes many motorists. A new word, "Auto-scrvitoriuin," has recently been coined in the United States to designate an "ultra-modern" servico station, which may be taken down, moved, and re-erected on a new site without damage, or enlarged as business grows. • If clean rain water is obtainable, it is preferable to tap water for use in a radiator, as it is less liable to causo "furring."