MOTORING

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 13092, 13 February 1937, Page 11

MOTORING

LESSENING THE STRAIN

WHEN CHANGING GEAR Many people consider that- too advent of synchro-mesh gear changing mechanisms in modern gearboxes 1 has done aivay with the l necessity for using .any finesse and skill m selecting a. lower ratio, hut this js true only up to a. point. Very few cars have synch'O-rnesli on all gears, only top and second being so equipped on a threes peed box, and only third, and top on a four-speed box, as a general rule.

Although it is possible within iim>ts to change, down from top to the next lower ratio, second or third, as the eas'd may be, simply by pushing the lever in the required position with the clutch out, when syncho-mcsh is fitted, droppmg from third to second in a four-speed box, or second to first in the more common three-speed type, is a vastly different matter.

DOUBLE CLUTCHING

It is admitted that when the very low (gears have to he used, in the majority of cases the car is barely moving when the change is made, and in these circumstances a straightforward movement of the lever will effect a. reasonably silent change, hut there are occasions iu the country where one of the lower gears must he used, and in order to prevent the car stopping ccmplctey and start mg to roll back, it is necessary to know how to change down with certainty when thc\ car is. travelling at a fair pace. This brings one hack inexorably to that'method of: gear chang/ng which lots of people regard as obsolete, double clutching. It is nothing of the sort, if a. motorist wants to be regarded as a really good driver.

To grup.s the idea underlying double clutching, it is necessary to appreciate the fact that engine speed in relation to road speed varies according to- the gear engaged, the higher the gear, top, being the lvghest, the slower doc-s the engine run. Double Fetching is simply a. method of bringing about some agreement between engino speed and road speed for the lower gear being selected, and when this is done the gear wheels in the gear box will also. be running at eqiial spends. If the double clutch method is not used, these gears will not run at equal speeds, and clashing is- the inevitable result. Synchromesh achieves the same thing automatically without reference to the driver.

HOW TO DO IT As- to the mechanical movements of tho double clutch method, let us imagine that, we are changing from second} to. first on a thmi-speed gearbox. First of all, the clutch is depressed and the gear moved into, neutral position. The clutrli is now released! and tho engino -speeded up slightly. Then the- clutch is- depressed, the gear lever moved to. the first gear position, the clutch re-engaged and the engine accelerated.

11l will be gathered from the foregoing that tho tricky part is in .accelerating the cngiiiia to exactly tho right degree, no mono and no- less. This naturally will vary with the is peed of the ear, and it is a thing that, only comes, with.; constant practice.

•Finally, just. a. tip about Synchromesh, although this device eliminates the need. of the double clutch, changewhen dropping fnom top to second, some attempt should bo made to make the engine speed agree with the road speed by speeding it up a little before tin? clutch is re-fen gaged, and

if this ,'s done a great deal of strain on various parts of the transmission will he avoided.

LONG SUMMER RUNS

With the touring months again close at hand, motorists contemplating taking th.br cars to unknown fields should consider the matter of spares.

First and foremost, provide spare bulbs for the lamps. It is as easy for a bulb to. fail miles from a garag.i as anywhere else. It is possible, too, that the garage, when found, may not have the bulbs you require.

Spare fuses of fuse wire for the electrical system generally are included in the equipment of a new car. hut make sure it is there. Spares in readiness should he in the- place provided for them.

A set of spare gaskets for the exhaust branch and pipe un‘oll. and one for the cylinder-head joint, are items worthy of a place. Many arc the owner drivers who have had to wait- anything from a few hours to several days with the t cars “in dock” whilethey or the country garage hare obtained these necessary parts. A cylin-der-head gasket may serve again and again after removal of the head fer decarbonising or valve grind ng, but. on the other hand, may fail unexpectedly at any moment by reason of carders-ness of handling or in replacing the head, although careless replacement may not reveal it«clf until the car has he.n runn’ng for seme time. On ferae cars exhaust joints last “for ever” ; on others they do not. Owing to. the extensive expansion and contraction wlr'eli occurs on account q: the variations of exhaust manifold temperature, the joints areprone to loosen and allow tb :- gaskets to- be blown.

A valve spring is. a spare that may figuratively be with, its weight in gold in an emergency. The same applies to a spare valve spring anchorage of whatever type may be required, for these items are mislaid c.r lest when removed for valve attentions, and it, is very aggravating to have the car out of use while a new one or set is being obtained. Two or three spare nuts of all sizes used on the car, except tho very large and specially shaped ones, a- variety of holts and screws, split pins, a net,l of copper wire, a few links or a length of fan bc-lt are all worth while but -in expan si vi? spa res.

NIGHT DRIVING Night driving, both in the city and on country roads has many problems for the novice driver, and even many experienced motorists dislike it intensely licoauso of their inability to adjust rlieir eyes to the conflicting shadows thrown by street lamps and the dazzle from the headlamps of other cars. On the ohter hand, motor car engines seem to run very much hotter at night, and because of this sweet running there is a- grat deal oT pleasure to be derived from travelling after dark which makes a very strong appeal.

So long as tho motorist is careful to have his headlamps focussed and adjusted and to school himself to the extra, concentration neded and to certain rules of behaviour, there will he little need to worry about travelling at night, and the summer evenings will no much more enjoyable out on the road than in the oppressive atmosphere of the house. Tho dazzle problem is one which worries most motorists more than any i other. It is a great problem, too,

especially when some young enthusiast in a sports car with those special high-powerd headlights comes bursting over the crest of a hill at once. Lome of these lamps omit isueh a bunding glare that it is quite impossible to see ahead, and the safest thing to do is to pull well in to the left, try not to look at the approaching car and stop if absolutely necessary. A few years ago most heated discussions were carried on in the correspondence columns of various papers by protagonists of two opposing schools—thoso who believed in dimming the headlights when meeting other cars, and those who emphatically did not. Until the headlamp dimmers became obsolete the honours rested with the non-dimmers, because with the type cf light th.cn in use dimming gave about as much light as a pair of headlamps completely switch' l oif. The position to-day is rather different. Most cars are fitted with a dipping device that merely lowers the 1.-rain without affecting the power of the light, and all that happens is that the length of illuminated road is reduced: there is no difference in the intensity of the illumination. But when the headlamps are dipped the beam is 'owerocl below the level of the approaching driver’s eyes, and although the use of the dippers must often be accomplished by a temporary reduction in speed, it is commended that the- dippers be used when other tir.ffic is met. and for city driving it will generally be found that sufficient illumination is provided when the lamps are left in the dipped position. Most motoirsts to-day use the dippers and if, when motoring at night, a driver docs likewise when meeting another car and studiously avoids looking at the othr car’s headlamps, rather judging his position cn the road by looking cn the left-hand kerb, he will find that he will be little affected, if at all. by dazzle.

The greatest danger of night driving it: populous areas comes from pedestrians in dark clothing crossing the road. This is because the street lighting effectual lv “kills” the humiliation from the ear headlamps and throws conflicting shadows across the road-way, so that far too frequently the motorist is unaware of the presence of foot tiavcillc-rs until he is dangerously close to them. It. is because of this danger that very great concentration is needed. The motorist cannot afford to let his attention wander for one minute from the roadway, and unless he is quite sure that lie cee tne roadway verv clearly, lid should slow right down. Lately there have been one or two unfortunate accidents in which motorists knocked down pedestrians in badly lighted streets, the unhappy consequences of driving just a little too fast when the illumination of the roadway was insufficient to delineate with perfect clearness everything in front of the car.