MOTORS and MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 256, 25 July 1930, Page 17

MOTORS and MOTORING

By ‘

"SPARE WHEEL”

The battery Is weak if headlights are very dim at low car speeds and very bright when going faster.

Corrosion of battery terminals can be prevented by covering them with petroleum jelly.

Ordinary mud, when allowed to dry, will dim the lustre of the best finish. Hinse it off gently before it becomes dry.

“Did your husband ask you what kind of a car you wanted?” “Yes, but he wouldn't take ‘new’ for an answer.”

Petrol consumption is greater at highest engine speeds. Not only does the price Of this action Involve gasoline, but tire waste and brake waste as well.

Never depress the clutch pedal except to change from one gear to another or to neutral. A depressed pedal with the engihe running and car in gear causes unnecessary wear on the clutch thrust bearing.

Warming up the engine before getting into traffic is a good safety precaution. A cold engine is likely to Stall, and certainly it will not accelerate rapidly. The car behind, on a slippery pavement, cannot always be stopped in time to avoid a mishap should the first machine falter in getting away at a traffic signal.

The smallest particles of metal getting in the bearings on the transmission shafts will cause the bails or rollers to crush and chip and also cause a tearing of the surface of the races. When the transmission cover is removed, it, and the housing above it, should first be carefully cleaned and should the smallest of cotterpins or other parts, fall into the transmission they must be fished out. If they ate not the combination of vibration and the movement of oil will eventually carry the part into the bearing or between the gear teeth.

FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE

ACTIVITY IN AMERICA Front-wheel drive is attracting great interest in America, according to a message from Detroit (U.S.A.). Most of the activity seems to be just short of the announcement stage. If persistent merger rumours concerning four or live of the smaller automobile companies finally prove to be correct, contains the message, there is some reason to believe that front-wheel drive constructions might be incorporated in some or all of the ears involved in the combination. At least one big company is known to have been experimenting seriously

with a front-wheel drive design for many months, and there are indications that’a French front-drive patent has recently been acquired by one of the oldest passenger car companies in America. Present indications are that any new front-drive cars likely to be announced during 1030 will be built to sell in America for somethng Ike £4OO or more, although it is possible that a lower-priced vehicle of this type might enter the market within the next twelve months.

Eventually, at any rate, it seems inevitable that the front drive will invade the American price field around or Under £2OO. There seems no likelyhood of a great number of makers changing. ' . So long as this construction is confined to relatively expensive jobs, of course, it will not constitute ary considerable proportion of total sales. In its price class, the biggest selling frontdrive car now on the American market, has fared well for its first year.

CONTROL LAYOUT

AN ENGLISHMAN’S VIEWS

What is the ideal control layout? This has been a moot question for years, and although controls have become standardised to a certain extent, finality has by no menus been reached. “In the meantime,” writes I!. IlDavies, an English motorist, “it is permissible for faddists to state their personal views on this extremely vexed question. Since the disposition of any single control does not really effect the design of any other, the various details are best discussed individually.

Steering Wheel. “In 1921) the hub of a typical wheel carried three controls —horn push button, ignition lever, and hand throttle. The last Olympia Show betrayed a tendency to transfer the entire electrical switchboard to the centre of the steering wheel, a tendency which will probably be followed by a reversion in 1031. " “No motorist wants to fumble amidst a mass of switches at the centre of the wheel. If it were possible, he would prefer an absolutely bald wheel, devoid of all switches and levers. But his horn button must be at the wheel centre, because if it is removed to the dash (as on my present car) or to the side of the body (as on my last car) time is wasted in sounding. So, in my opinion, we can definitely demand that the horn control be always placed on the steering wheel. “The other two levers— ignition and throttle —can, and should, be banished. Automatic advance should be applied to all non-sporting cars; failing this, an instrument board lever will serve for medium compression* engines. Hie hand throttle is, I think, almost a useless fitment, needed only when the slow running adjustment is amiss, or a sulky engine is being coaxed after a start from cold; so this lever also can be relegated to the facia board.

Hand Erake. “I believe that the Americans are

right in regarding the hand brake as a parking control. Until four wheel brakes came in we had to use it in grave emergencies to supplement the foot brake, though not one driver in a hundred was quick enough to obtain much advantage from diving for it, and even fewer drivers used it daintily enough to avoid skidding in moments of fright. , . . . “To-day, pedal-controlled four wheel brakes give us all the brake power which it is safe to use, and the hand brake may therefore be relegated to (a) parking, and (b) the very rare occasions on which the main brake tails through mechanical derangement. A sprag should figure on every car de luxe, because without a sprag only a driving genius can behave prettily on a 1 in 3 slope fringed by a precipice; and cars de luxe visit such places sooner or later. A sprag should also figure on less expensive cars, because they are largely bought by duffers who appreciate a sprag whenever they restart on any steepish gradient. “The use of the hand brake in restarting up steep slopes can, therefore, be ignored. As the hand brake should be forgotten in ordinary driving, it must not be allowed to create permanent discomfort by cluttering up either the cockpit or the off-side door. It may therefore be removed to the dash and take some such form as a horizontal pump handle, connected to a cable and fitted with a spring return, and with a bayonet joint lock for the “on” position.

Three Main Pedals. “Every year .1 drive .a. great many ears over all sorts of roads. I do not mind in the very least whether the throttle is placed in the centre or on the right. But an appreciable number of accidents would be prevented if all manufacturers could be persuaded to adopt the same position for the throttle pedal. Whether It be right or central, I do not care two hoots. Gear Lever.

“Condemned by inexorable fate to handling many makes of cars, I never find that right or left-hand gear charge makes the faintest difference to me, though I have a physical preference for steering left-handed whenever the car is so good or the situation so easy that one-handed steering will suffice. So the choice between central and right-hand gear lever cun be settled by other considerations. “There are two valid objections to right-hand change. It must always be still’ unless; a substantial control, supported by a substantial “horn” projecting outwards from the gear-box is employed, and unless this heavy and expensive mechanism is kept properly lubricated. Incidentally, it almost always obstructs the off-doorway, more or less; a driver should be able to enter the car on cither side —from the near side, when he Is alone; from the off side, when a stout lady is already installed in the near-front seat. So the gear lover should be central. But adjustable front seats are really essential in bodies designed to accommodate drivers ranging from sft. to Gft. Sin. in height. Therefore the central gear lever must be located to suit the average driver, since it cannot be ideal for everybody; and the average driver stands sft. Sin. or thereabouts. With such a driver properly seated, the gear lever in neutral position should form a dropped perpendicular from his hand to the floor, with his elbow dropped naturally to his side, and his forearm at its natural reach. “Incidentally, the pleasure of handling a well designed gear lever is vastly affected by the strength of the centring springs, if any. A gear-box must have good selector locks. In some cases these locks are not easily overcome when the driver, after having taken the load off his gears by declutching, attempts to free the lever. At least one such gear-box further possesses very strong centring springs. As a result, drivers of this car must pull the lever out of a gear, and instantly check it lest the centring device causes it to foul the teeth of the opposite gear. Such clumsy detail work naturally makes

users dislike an otherwise well-planned job. “But there is no possible objection to short lever travel between gears, provided that the lever frees from a given gear without undue effort, and centres itself without a rush. There should, of course, be a reverse stop. With the present crowding of garages, parking places and the like, it is probably desirable that the reverse notch should be as close to first gear notch as possible, i.e., opposite it on a three-speed gate, and beyond it on a four-speed gate. _ . .

Starter Switch. . “The position of the starter switch is immaterial within reason, provided that it cannot be accidentally pressed by either passenger or driver. “Strictly speaking, dials are not controls at all; but certain dials affect the problems of control, because all wise drivers keep an eye upon them. For example, the oil gauge must be watched. The speedometer must receive attention not only when a car is travelling at really high speed, but because the driver must peer downwards and sidewards to read it. The instruments should be placed as near eye level as is practicable, and clear of the rim and spokes of the steering wheel.” Neither dial should be so placed that deceleration is extremely deceptive.