ON GOING ROUND CORNERS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22484, 19 August 1938, Page 19

ON GOING ROUND CORNERS

WAYS SAFE AND UNSAFE “DRIVE THROUGH WITH CAR ACCELERATING” Recently a very well-known motorist, with a good deal of experience in motor-car competition work, expressed the view that the most serious fault of the average driver lay in his method of taking a corner. He said, also, that if the elements of correct cornering could be instilled into every driver, 90 per cent, of the highway accidents caused by cars running off a curve would be prevented. The views of this motorist are corroborated by other drivers of experience, all of whom point out that when a corner is approached properly, the chances of entering it at too high a speed are reduced considerably. In other words, most accidents on curves are due to a wrong approach. From observation, it would appear that many drivers, particularly when they are new to motoring, approach a corner at what they think is the right, speed,...and.Then,-if the subsequent unfolding of the curve indicates that it is too high, reduce speed by braking hard while the front wheels are turned into the corner. Nine times out of 10 this may be achieved quite successfully, but, on the tenth occasion, the car may take complete charge. If that happens, the rear wheels will go into a dry skid, and. before correction is possible, the car will_ probably be off the road, and possibly upside down at the foot of the road bank. Correct Method The experienced driver has found that by far the safest method of negotiating a corner is to drive through it with the car accelerating. To do this, he reduces speed before the corner is entered and the car can be stopped within a few yards if necessary. Then, if the road ahead is clear, he goes through the bend under acceleration in a series of short, straight runs rather than on one curve. By doing this, the car is always under his complete control. Right through the curve the steering wheel is in constant movement instead of being held set with the front wheels on one radius, and thus the car has no chance of building up sufficient centrifugal force to pfit it suddenly into a broadside skid. The good driver always alms at having a margin of safety in everything he does, and by cornering in this manner he achieves it. The car enters the corner at a safe speed, but, as it is accelerated while on the bend, it actually goes through much faster than is possible with the usual haphazard method. Also, it has been proved that a car Is always more directionally stable with the engine pulling than it is on the "over-run,’’ that is, with the engine throttled back and the car’s own momentum pushing it forward. That is because there is a steady force propelling each rear wheel evenly. On the ‘‘over-run’’ this is absent, and the design of the-differential which allows one wheel, to revolve faster than another has some tendency to allow the wheels to revolve very much as they likey with a certain tendency to slide about if the front wheels are turned from straight ahead. More than this, however, the chances are that the brakes are also being applied when a car is cornered in this fashion, and this, Jn turn, is apt to make a wheel lock if some road inequality momentarily throws it into the air. When the locked wheel hits the ground again, the sudden retardation on one side may be sufficient to put the car into a skid. Cornering on the “over-run,” with brakes applied and steering on a set angle is slow, and sometimes positively dangerous. When, driving through a corner at any speed above 20 miles an hour, the motorist should always endeavour to have the engine pulling, the brakes right off, and the car directed along the straigbtest possible path. This method should be used for every car, but it is appreciated particularly by the car with independent front wheel springing. Provided some judgment is , exercised, and a useful margin of speed kept in hand, it is a method which always will prevent that contretemps known as', “running out of the road.” BRITISH MARKET WOftRIES DECLINING SALES AND IMPORTATIONS Two things are causing great concern to the British motor industry in the home markets at present, the rapidly declining sales of motor vehicles of all kinds in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the importation in considerable numbers of cars from Germany. Authoritative journals have compared the prices charged for German cars on the British market with their prices on the home market, showing that the most popular types are actually cheaper in Great Britain than they are in their country, of origin. This has naturally caused widespread charges of dumping, and the whole industry is up in arms on the subject. During 1937, the importation of German cars into Great Britain amounted to 5,181 units. During the first four months of 1938, 3,181 were imported. It is stated, however, that this rate of importation is not being maintained. On the other hand, the decline in total sales seems to be dropping at an even greater rate. In the seven months from October to April this year inclusive, sales dropped by 24,699 units compared with the same period during the previous financial year. Obviously, the importation of a few thousand .German cars has little to do with the restriction being felt by the trade generally. Wars, and rumours of war, seem to be accepted as the main causes of the slump. Increased taxation, niggardly expenditure on road improvements, and generally repressive legislation are also blamed, and the influential motoring journals are advocating an intensive lobbying among members of Parliament, and an emulation of the aggressive tactics of the railways in an effort to induce the Government to encourage instead of hamper the British motor industry. It is pointed out that a greatly augmented home demand is necessary and this, it is claimed, would be stimulated by a .form and scale of taxation which would enable cars to be built of a design acceptable to overseas users. The greater production thus possible would enable the home prices to be so reduced as to make available to people hitherto unable to afford them, cars with large engines and greater pawnger capacity than the tyjpes they are forced to use at present.