MOTORDOM

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 May 1928, Page 4

MOTORDOM

NEWS OF THE ROAD

(By

“Gearbox”)

front wheel brake. ! INTERESTING TYPE. A verv interesting type of frontwheel brake ic manufactured m France, known as the Eclair. It acts on the electro-magnetic principle. As •>, result there are no brake rods or cables, braking is absolutely progressive, and adjustment automatic until the lining is worn out. The electro magnets consist of a number of coils disposed in a brakcwlrum carried on the stub axles. lii v the place of the ordinary drums on the hubs are carried cast-iron annual discs, which are normally held away from the magnets by light springs. The brake pedal works a rheostat in such a way that th-, amount of current reaching the electro magnetic coils varies with the extent to which the pedal is depressed by the driver. Braking is naturally absolutely efforless, for there is no reason why the brake pedal should be any harder to depress than the acelerator. Simplicity also is a great feature of this brake, as the parts merely consist of a steel drum equipped with the magnets, a cast, iron Ting, and rheostat." Needless to say the efficiency of the brakes is just as high when the car is stationary as when it is running, while it is claimed that the current consumption is actually less than the average pair of headlamps or similar electrical device. It should be pointed out, of course, that should there be any failure in the supply of current to the brakes these will be non-operative, but it is claimed that this type of front-wheel brake can easily be adapted to cars having rear brakes only.

MORE SIXES. TREND IN ENGLAND. The cars announced in England for 11)28 disclosed a definite acceleration in the past two years in favour of sixcylinder engines. It is notable that these engines are not all of the costly type, the majority being around the 1501) c.c. class and even under, the complete car being marketed from about £295 to £350. No fewer than 312 different types of British cars were announced for 1928, and of them the high percentage of 44 will be fitted with six-cylinder engines. For 1927 the percentage of sixes was only 36.6, so that the increase is very considerable. The three-speed gear-box with central change also shows an increase, but the four-speed box still holds sway and it is to be hoped that English manufacturers will continue to favour the four-speed car. Anyone having driven a four-speed car, especially with a moderately powerful engine, would be unwilling to change over to a three.

DRIVING WISDOM. POINTS THAT MAKE IT. Be good to your car and indirectly you will be good to yourself. This means three things—law observance, courtesy, and consideration for your car. Everybody swears that they give hand signals with religious scrupulousness, but there are many times when these are entirely forgotten in the stress of other things at the corner. And such signals most of them are, too! If the engine ran as raggedly as the signals are given we should all be pedestrians by preference. Cars are occasionally overtaken and passed on the left-hand side, and this performance, which sometimes causes considerable inconvenience, is often fraught with danger: further, it is illegal, and discourteous. When you come to a busy intersection, give the other fellow a chance; perhaps he was there first. When you overtake and pass a car, don’t suddenly slow down and force the driver behind you to ride his brakes to prevent him mixing bis radiator with your spare tyre. If you have to slow up after passing a car .you shouldn’t have passed it. The useful work your engine does when driving on a level road is to overcome mechanical friction and wind resistance. Both these factors increase very rapidly as you increase your speed, .which indicates that the slower you go the less petrol will be used per mile travelled. However, at . slow speeds the efficiency of the engine is not so great as at high speeds. There is, therefore, a best speed of about twenty-five miles per hour, at which ■the best mileage will be obtainable. Driving- with the hand throttle on long, open stretches, is also conductive to good mileage, as it allows the engine to operate more uniformly than when your foot, responding to every slight jar, moves the throttle, ly you do thirty-five miles an hour or more, whenever you can, you will enjoy an increase in petrol mileage of several miles per gallon. By consistently driving between twenty-five and thirty miles you will reach your destination in almost the same driving time.

TOWED CARS. .NEED FOR CAREFUL STEERING Few drivers practise nowadays practise the gentle art of steering a- towed car. in the old days, when breakdowns were of common occura,nce on the road, most people had more than enough practice, but modern cars run for thousads of miles without actually failing. It is safe to say that the majority of present-day diivers are not aware, that it requires some little skill to control a car at the end of a tow-rope. The main point to watch is to keep the tow-rope always taut, and this is by no means so easy as it sounds. The penalty for letting it sag is either a nasty jerk that causes a. serious strain on the frame and chassis of the car, or a broken rope. To a small extent the matter lies in. the hands of the driver of the towing car, but after the initial start, which must be done very gently until lie feels the rope picking up its load, it is necessary only for him to drive as steadily as possible, with no acceleration or decelerations. But the person at the wheel of tho towed car has to be on the watch every instant to prevent bis vehicle over-running, and. a.; the gear will normally be in neutral, this involves the use of the brake pedal. As a means of signalling a code of “toots” on the horn should bo arranged before starting out. In case of emergency, where only a. small amount of ropo is available, an inner tube will prove quite strong enough to tow a mod crate-sized car. A tube, in fact, makes an ideal towing “ropo” owing to its elasticity.

IGNITION. MAY CAUSE SEIZURE. Pre-ignition is, of cohrse, due to some part of the combustion chamber having been so hot that it is actually incandescent. A small part of, metal heats much more quickly than a. large one, and consequently it is usally a plug point or some particle of carbon deposit which is causing the trouble. The remedy is simple. In the first case a new plug of the correct type should be fitted, and in the second the engine should be decarbonised. The use of aluminium pistons has done much to remove pre-ignition, for aluminium conducts the heat away very quickly. Nevertheless, there are many engines, which largely owing to inattention. pre-ignite after a burst of full throttle, and the pre-ignition is not always recognised. It may be very slight: if so, practically the only symptoms is loss of power. On. the other hand, it may be severe, when the engine will feel as if there were actually a brake upon it. An engine should never be driven against preignition, for this is what happens. On a certain throttle opening pre-ignition is causing the loss of say, 25 per cent, power. To continue at the same speed therefore, the throttle must be opened farther, which will make the engine hotter and the pre-ignition worse, until eventually a seizure may take place.

CHECKING RECORDS. METICULOUS EXACTNESS. How elabourate are the precautions taken by tho American Automobile Association in the checking of attempts on records is proved by the organisation during the recent recordbreaking run by three Studebaker “Commanders” at Atlantic city. The heart of the recording machinery was a Waltham chronometer, the property of the American Power Boat Association. This time-recorder was certified by the United States Bureau of Standards to be accurate withing l-10th of a second in 24 hours . At the finish line, in front of the judge’s stand, a wire was stretched across the tract about half an inch above the boards. Depression of this wire on the boards caused it to trip an electric stamping machine in the judge’s stand. Every time one of the cars passed over this wire the exact time was recorded. Each car made 16,667 laps during the 25,000 mile test, and every single lap was recorded with hundredth of a second accuracy. As the cars passed the finish line and the time was recorded on the long roll of tape, the car’s number was set beside the time stamp. Each car carried a. coloured light so thatit could be distinguished as it flashed across the line during the night. In addition to tho electric recording of each 'lap, the scorers entered each lap in a. horizontal column numbered successively from 1 to 16,667. This latter system graphically showed the exact position of the cars at all times. All stops for fuel, oil, or relief drivers were also recorded on these sheets. Pit stops were accurately timed, but were not deducted from the elapsed time. The tape upon which the lap times were recorded had reached the tremendous length of 400 feet when the trials had come to an end. WRONG USE OF BRAKES. A brake is one part of a motor-car that is much abused. In driving along a road, and coming td a place at which you wat to stop, ease the car up and get to your destination with such an amount of way on that the car is easily pulled up. Many drivers come along at a fast rate, jam on the brakes, and pull as if they were preventing an accident. Such a metod shows bad driving, as it is a sure way to do damage to the brakes, and will not improve the tyres. If you were driving a pair of horses, and pulled tho up in the “quick stop’” fashion, you would have the back on their haunches. A good horsemen would gradually case his horses up, and often stop without a brake being used at all. A car wants to be treated in the same way. Use common sense with the brakes and they will last much longer than if used sarelessly. Another thing, do not get into the habit of letting the foot-brake do all the work; make the hand brake do its share as well. You will get better service, and when they do wear out they will do so together, and can be repaired at the same time.

NIGHT DRIVING. DAZZLING LIGHTS PROBLEM. The construction of new main roads has served to demonstrate in a. striking manner that the art of night driving is a thing unknown to a. large number of motorists. So much so that some of them are a distinct menace to all other users of the road —motorists, cyclists, horse vehicles and pedestrians alike. The danger is all the greater owing to the narrowness of the roads, and if night accidents are not to increase greatly with the constant growth of traffic, drivers will have to look to themselves very seriously. Speeding on a narrow road in daylight is not safe. At night it is a, sin. Perhaps the first of tho many deadly sins of motoring. Speed maniacs arc their own antidote —they always land in the ditch at the finish, but before the crash comes there is the danger that, they might force some other non-offending driver into trouble. In driving at night it is always well to play for safety. On every road drivers are met. who will not dim their lights, and if they are so dazzling as to prevent clear vision on the part, of another driver, the latter should slow down to a, moderate speed, otherwise he‘might, with a. suddenness that seems miraculous, find himself crashing into tho back of another vehicle or running down an unfortunate pedestrian. When faced witii dazzling headlights care should be taken to glance ahead as far as possible to ascertain, how far the road is clear, and drive so as not. to be beyond that point, until yards past the oncoming car. By this means absolute safety, so far as can be ensuied by any man, is attained. A spotlight can be of immense value in night, driving if correctly used. The light from it should be directed to the left side of the road not more than 10 v;,.rds aliwJ of the front wheels. No matter how dazzling the headlights of an oncoming car may he. the driver

can then always be certain of position and as pedestrians nival labl. walk on the tar left side they also are protected, Another point about driving at night is that the to from an approaching cai u>' with the windscreen open than with 1 closed The dust particles on the screen become almost under the influence of a poweriul light and make the dazzle effect muchi moic apparent than really fore, keep the screen open 1 P OoSible If it must be closed keep U periectl) free from dust and grease mai ks. CROSSING DEEP WAERS.v A hint in regard to the best way to cross deep water will not be amiss The main thing to remember is to keep the engine running and the c<. moving, so that low geai inns. used. ' When water gets above the level of the exhaust pipe a big back pressure is induced, and unless t c revs are kept up the engine is liable to fizzle out, with It tie hope or restarting except by taking oil the exhaust pipe. Secondly, the car should bo kept, at a very moderate pace, otherwise the water is liable to splash over the carburettor and the ignition wires. In very deep water the lan belt. must, bo removed, and 1 I’<’^' ! lf ' a bag tied over the trout oi the i ablator. THE FLIVVER SPEAKS. I’ve carried you many a league. I’ve stood all night in the ram. I’ve gone till I’ve groaned with fatigue Yet. rattled right on in my pain L fairly would come at, your call, I galloped with joy to my duty, Yet now you say. “Use is not all, „ No, no, there must also be beauty I’ve gone without cup grease and oil, I’ve run when for gas 1 was taint. So busy just, doing your toil, I’ve had little time for to paint, I’m an angular thing, yes, I know, 1 know what my running-boards are, Go on. then, don’t look at me so; Go get you a prettier car. When with her you ramble and romp, I hope will you quickly forget That, trip that we took in the swamp— Some caTs would have left you there yet; 1 hope you won’t have to remember How one poor, sick flivver once rose And served yPu a whole wild December With all her water pipes froze!