MOBILE UNIT TESTS CONDITION OF CARS

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 14

MOBILE UNIT TESTS CONDITION OF CARS

A mobile test bench which will completely test the condition of a car in about half an hour was demonstrated to representatives of the Transport Department and organisations concerned with motoring at a Christchurch garage yesterday. The £6OOO mobile unit, the B.P. auto test bench, will be in Christchurch for four weeks. By making an appointment motorists may have their cars tested free. The unit will be in New Zealand for about two years. It has already toured the North Island and the northern part of the South Island carrying out tests. It has

proved very popular in all

centres, and in most of them I some motorists have had to be turned away. When it leaves Christchurch the unit, which after leaving Britain toured the Continent, will visit Timaru, Damaru, Dunedin, and Inver-

cargill before returning to the North Island. The unit is one of six built by the British Petroleum Company, and comprises a chassis dynamometer and a full set of associated electronic engine test gear, including an oscilloscope. The dynamometer comprises rotating drums, driven by the powered wheels of the car. The drums record miles an hour and horsepower developed at the wheels, and can be “loaded” to simulate hills and the normal load imposed on the car by wind resistance and other forces.

Thus the car can be given a test superior to a road test without moving from the unit Yesterday a car was tested at simulated speeds of up to 90 miles an hour. The dynamometer and instruments are mounted on the tray of the trailer, and the car moves up a ramp to reach the trailer tray. The unit is about as big as a large truck.