MOTORDOM

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 June 1936, Page 9

MOTORDOM

NEWS OF THE ROAD

(By

“Gearbox”)

COLD WEATHER STARTING.

SOME USEFUL HINTS

Recent experiences have shown that New Zealand drivers are subject to the same starting troubles in cold weather as afflict motorists oversea, not in quite the same degree,' perhaps, but bad enough to result in rundown batteries and barked knuckles from the starting handle —bad enough, in fact, to reduce drivers sometimes to despair before the engine fires. If motorists whose cars have been standing all night in a cold garage would only try to turn the engine with the starting handle before they attempt anything else, they would be surprised at the effort required—effort caused by the void congealing fhe engine oil and thoroughly sticking all the moving parts together. This is the engine the starter is supposed to turn, and it is little wonder, therefore, that it gives up the effort very soon, and the motorist is left with a dead engine on his hands and no starter with which to set it moving.

This is a situation which should be avoided at all costs, and if the engine does not lire on the first few attempts other measures should be taken. However, before describing what should be done when the engine shows some reluctance Io fire, a few remarks should be made about starting an engine when the owner has been so foolish as to run the battery (town in the manner described. The driver’s first thought, of course, is the starting handle, which should be inserted, and this is not the easiest matter on a modern car, for all sorts of bits and pieces sometimes have to be removed, and in at least one wellknown car, a plate has to be taken from the front of the bumper bar. The danger of swinging a modern car lies in its propensity to backfire. This might easily break the operator’s arm. It is almost certain to backfire because few modern vehicles possess a manual spark control, an automatic device controlling the advance and retard mechanism. It will be necessary then to enlist the aid of a second' party to hold the distributor head in the retarded positiop while the engine is swung. With careful adjustment of the choke and hearty effort at the handle, it should be possible to start a car with an engine of quite modern size quite easily by this method; and, furthermore, unless the battery has been grossly maltreated, it should very quickly pick up to its former strength. It must be admitted, however, that many engines are so big that it is an extremely difficult matter: for a per-1 son of average strength to swing them even when hot. When well . gummed up with cold, congealed oil, j the task becomes impossible. Many! manufacturers have realised this, and | have omitted entirely a starting! handle from the car’s tool kit, and have made no provision for the inser-1 lion of one. . i

Should it, therefore, be impossible to start an engine by hand, the only thing to do is to enlist the services of a towing vehicle, and start the engine by towing the baulky car with the gears engaged, although if one is so fortunate as io find the garage where the car has been freezing all night on top of u hill, a start can be obtained by letting the vehicle run down with the top gear engaged, but the clutch out until the car has gathered some momentum. Then the engagement of the clutch should start the engine bring.

The remarks regarding starting an engine by hand must be qualified by the statement that it may be impossible to get it firing even though the driver can swing it quite briskly, because, while he has been trying to start with the self-starter and the choke well out, the cylinders and induction manifold have become tilled with raw" spirit. Towing is about the only satisfactory method of starting with an engine in this state, although a start may be had’ by running downhill if the hill is long enough. Actually the danger of choking an engine in this manner is one of the reasons why attempts to start with the starter should be stopped after a reasonable trial. When driving in cold weather, always remember that the engine should be kept as warm as possible all the time. CHASSIS ON BELLOWS.

A rear-engined car, which rides en-

..icly on air, has been attracting great attention in America. In place of steel springs the chassis is separated from the axles by four bellows, made of rubberised fabric, into which air is compressed. It is claimed that these air springs automatically provide a stiffening effect against excessive movements in a way which is extremely difficult of achievement with conventional springs.

As fitted to a car, the suspension unit for each wheel comprises a bellows and a small reservoir which arc inter-connected by piping and a special valve. Air is pumped into the system until the pressure suffices to carry the load. Inflation would presumably be required at intervals, just as in the case of a tyre. The valve is arranged to permit a relatively free flow of air from the bellows to the reservoir when a wheel is lifted by an obstruction. The reversal of this motion, which follows, is damped because the valve restricts the return of air from the reservoir to the bellows.

Each valve also embodies a heavy pendulum which comes into action on corners. When a car is driven round a curve centrifugal force causes the pendulums to swing outward, as a result of which the passages to the reservoirs are closed. Consequently, the load is taken solely by the air in the bellows, and this provides an aug mented resistance against swaying and rolling.

In advocating this system the engineers point out that with ordinary steel springs the limit to soft riding has now been approached, if a reasonable degree of stability is to be retained. The “rating” of such springs is always much the same, no matter how great their deflection, whereas with the air springs the rating varies not only with the load but also in accordance with the suddenness with which the load changes. Shock absorbers are not required when air springs are employed, owing to the “dead beat” action of the pneumatic system which in itself prevents prolonged bouncing or pitching. The bellows principle is used in conjunction with independent wheel mountings in this car; it can equally well be applied to rigid axles.

ROAD SAFETY. OBLIGATION ON ALL. Sir Stenson Cooke, Secretary of the British Automobile Association, in a recent article says thcie is no swift or sensational remedy for road accidents. Like all major social problems the cure must inevitably take some time to achieve.

There is. however, a straight-for-ward policy which, if pursued with consistency and energy, may be reasonably regarded as a solution for the present grave state of affairs. It is a two-fold policy. On the one hand, a. generous and well-planned programme of road building and improvement; on the other, the education of road users in safety-first principles by every means of publicity and propaganda. It is an obvious corollary to this latter proposals, he continues, that all road users should make a genuine effort to educate themselves. 1 am confident that the large majority of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians are willing and anxious to make that effort—but, in the first instance, it is necessary to arouse their interest. Only in this way will it be possible to secure the widespread and enthusiastic support which is so vital to the success of any movement of this kind.

With regard to roads, though 1 emphasise that road deficiencies are in no circumstances an excuse for an accident —the good driver recognises the limitations of the road and drives accordingly—l realise, nevertheless, that the basic cause of many accidents is to be found in dangerous surfaces. blind corners, inadequate footpaths, and many similar road anachronisms.

No legislation, however wise, no highway code however excellent and carefully observed, can eliminate the dangerous potentialities of a bad road. The only remedy hero is a national policy of planned road improvement over a term of years. A great main road, particularly in its approaches to large centres, needs to be designed down to the last detail by experts in the light of modern experience of traffic requirements. This can only be the Government’s work—we have been promised the the necessary finance —and I feel justified in saying that the motoring community has every right to expect the Government to embark on their new road programme vigorously and without delay. Another work which the Govern;ment alone can undertake and which |is the second essential of an effective drive against the menace of road accidents, is the education of road users. I say “road users” advisedly, for, though the motoring community has never attempted to evade its particular responsibility, road sense should be part of the social equipment of every good citizen. I have never recognised the classification of' users of the public highway into cut and dried categories as pedestrians, cyclists, or motorists. Every motorist is also a pedestrian. Most pedestrians are at some time motorists. The number of people who have never used a motor vehicle at all must be an infinitesimal fraction of the total population.

Thus to divide road users up into classes as if their interests in road safety were conflicting, instead of mutual, is to my mind fallacious. Carried to extremes it can be positively dangerous. Equally false and dangerous is it to talk about the “rights” of this road user against that road user. Every right in itself constitutes an obligation; the individual pedestrian’s aro the obligations of motorists, cyclists and other pedestrians. No one is excused from the obligation to behave. circumspectly, and with every care of other people’s safety. I would like to see the obligation recognised and the right forgotten, for if all fulfil their obligations their rights are automatically maintained. I repeat, courtesy and consideration on the road aro as much part of good citizenship as the observation of law and order.

GREAT WOLSELEY SUCCESS. Seldom, if ever, can a car have achieved such all-round success in iho Monte Carlo Rally, so soon, after its first introduction to the public, as the Wolseley 25 h.p. Super Six driven by Mr H. E. Symons in this year’s event. It is well worth while setting down in full the story of the Wolseley’s remarkable performance.’ Leaving Athens on January 25, Mr Symons and his fellow driver set out to cover 2,500 miles in four days, without any time allowance for food or sleep, and over some of the worst road surfaces to be found anywhere. The route led through Salonika, Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Strasbourg, and down France io the finishing point. The Wolseley ran to schedule throughout, reaching Monte Carlo on January 29th. without losing a single mark. Incidentally, this was the best performance of any British saloon car starting from Athens.

i ho Wolseley “25“ also did well in the subsequent eliminating tests, consisting of a complicated series of manoeuvres, and in fact put up the best show of anj’ British saloon, irrespective of starting point. It thus achieved the same distinction in the final placings, based on the rally itself and the elimination tests.

■ it was on the final day, however, when the cars were judged for their general appearance, equipment, and comfort, that the Wolseley obtained its greatest success, winning the Grand Prix d’Honneur, the coachwork award for the best large closed car, the special prize for the best finished engine, and the gold medal awarded by the French paper “L’Auto.”

This was the first time that the Comfort Competition had been won by a competitor starting from Athens, and a further point which should be stressed is that, except for special fittings necessitated by the conditions of the route, the Wolseley was in every way a standard model. The greatest tribute to the Wolseley was that it gained the Grand Prix d’l-lon-ncur, which is awarded at the discretion of the judges from time to limo only, and not each year, for a car of exceptional merit —and this in competition with many far more costly models.

Features taken into consideration in making this award indlude, first, tho comfort and utility of the car for

ordinary motoring, and secondly (to quote t'ho rules) “all points which tend to improve the comfort of the driver and passengers in a car competing in a long distance trial offering many difficulties and much hardship.” • It is of particular interest that the Wolseley Twenty-five, in winning the Grand Prix d’Honneur, in the recent Monte Carlo Rally, made an appeal to experts from all countries, as the award was made by a jury consisting of representatives of twelve different nations.

South Island Motors, Ltd., are the direct factory representatives for ‘•Wolseley” Motors in the South Island. and Mr I. 11. Balkind is West Coast Representative. Phone 75, Greymouth.—<l. “YELLOW LIGHT.” ’[’he French claim’ that "yellow light” is superior to white light for the use of motor headlamps is not supported by a committee appointed by the British Medical Association, in a report submitted to the Minister oi Transport.

This report, which is attached to tho annual report of the Council of the Association, states that, among other matters, there would be great difficulty in recognising the colour of the globe of a Belisha beacon under the yellow illumination of a sodium discharge tube. The committee state: ’“With the possible exception of an improvement in visual acuity for very small objects previous research work shows that yellow illumination is not superior to white illumination of equal candle power. “Under the conditions of illumination on roads at night the acuteness of vision for small objects probably plays a relatively small part in the whole visual picture. “Yellow illumination must be definitely inferior to white in the recognition of objects by their colour. “'there are no grounds for taking legislative action.” With regard to the advantages claimed for yellow light in fog and rain, the committee state that in theory a very slight 'improvement might be expected with light of long wavelength; in practice, however, that dinerence did not exist.