CONCERNING SPEEDS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 64, 2 March 1929, Page 13

CONCERNING SPEEDS

THINGS TO BE REMEMBERED. COMFORT AT AVERAGE 25-30 M.P.H. • With the speed possibilities of the modern car motorists are often given to exaggerating the averages they maintain, and if they notice the speedometer touches 50-55 miles an hour for short intervals it is imagined that the average speed will be about 40 miles per hour. As a matter of fact, such an average can only be maintained by a sports car of high performance, driven by a person of more than average skill. When using a small touring car of the 12 h.p. class regularly, the greatest Tomfort will be secured if an average speed of 20-25 m.p.h. is maintained, which means that the driver will be able to indulge in speeds up to 35-40 m.p.h. for fairly long stretches on the open road. FATIGUE. It must be remembered, however, that even with cars capable of much higher speeds than those mentioned, a considerable amount ot physical fatigue will probably be experienced if fast travelling is indulged in for long distances. Even in cases where physical fatigue may not be very great when driving an easily handled car at relatively high speeds, there is the mental and nervous strain occasioned by the continual necessity for keeping on the alert, which is tar more tiring than mere muscular exertion. Therefore the person who is driving for pleasure will be wise to refrain from travelling “all out” except, perhaps, now and then by way of a little variation from ordinary touring speeds. SPEED AND WEAR AND TEAR. Another thing to be remembered in connection with travelling fast is that speed has to bo paid for in some form or another. By keeping on for mile after mile with the accelerator pedal pressed hard down, there will lie a marked increase in petrol consumption, and also a marked increase in tyro wear; and in connection with the hitter, it is worth noting that tho Dunlop Co. states that an increase of 10 m.p.h. in speed doubles the rate of tyre wear between 30 and 50 miles per hour. Below ,30 miles per hour the increase is lower, but above 50 m.p.h. the rate of wear increases very rapidly, and that there is probably no one factor that causes such a wide range in tyre wear as speed. While there will also he a probability of things working loose or wearing more rapidly on the car generally, as a result of high speed, the latter items are most important for drivers not very well versed in mechanical matters as Warnings ->i impending troubles n y not be readily reco -nisbd u til v 1 damage has taken pi c t-.