FRONT BRAKES ONLY

Horowhenua Chronicle, 26 September 1928, Page 2

FRONT BRAKES ONLY

Are we to have another change in brake fashions? At the moment the ~ four-wheel brake system holds the field ' h'rid there is nothing to bo said derogatory to it (writes u London correspondent). *dßut if a demonstration given the other day at the. National Physical Laboratory, Teddiugton, is to be accepted, two*; of those four brakes ' arc almost superfluous. The demonstration consisted in driving a chassis fitted with separately operated brakes on the roar and front wheels over a dry surface. . When the two roar wheel brakes were applied the car swung completely round developing a most comprehensive skid. When similarly driven and the front wheels only were braked, the car was pulled without any-apparent tendency to skid. That 'would seem to suggest that the /rear wheel brakes under our present system are 'not required from the point of view of effective car control, because unless under conditions conducive to skidding two rear wheels brakes, can be made sufficiently powerful to secure complete safety. Brakes cost money and so the ; tion arises: will two brakes on the front wheels supersede thfe four-wheel type? As the law:.requires two independent brakes, a . supplementary brake on the transmission, such as once was universal practice, would actually give a more comprehensive control. Front wheel brakes are* more powerful than the rear ones, simply because, when applied, the momentum of the car lifts the weight temporarily off the back axle and throws it ; on «the front one, thus giving the road, wheels increased, f