MOTORING WORLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 248, 16 September 1933, Page 9

MOTORING WORLD

NOTES. The total production of private cars in Great Britain last year rose to j. 71,244, as compared with 158,997 in 1931. It is estimated that of the three and a-half million motor trucks in the United States, one million are farmowned. An anti-splash regulation is being enforced in Sydney. The maximum penalty is £2O, and the victim may sue for da-mages done to clothing. Twin-cylinder 'advantages with single-cylinder simplicity are claimed for a new British motor cycle, a vertical twin-cylinder. The 650 c.c. engine develops very high power at low speeds, while the even terque of the power unit reduces tyre wear and to a large extent prevents skids. SERIOUS SMASH PREVENTED. A commercial traveller saved a Birmingham woman motorist from almost certain death recently when the car in which she was a helpless passenger careered down a steep hill, with no one at the wheel. The car was within 6ft of a quarrv at the bottom of the bill, when the traveller, who was in a shop near by, rushed across the road, jumped on to the running board, applied the brakes and steered the car to safety. CLEVER WARNING DEVICE. Lorry-drivers will no longer he able to trundle their heavy vehicles along in the centre of the road at night, blissfully unconscious of the motorist behind who wants to pass them, if the apparatus designed by M. de Courdeval, joint director of the municipal police of Paris, is adopted. The vital part of the instrument consists of a photo-electric cell placed in a tube and fatted behind the vehicle. Directly the lights of a following car are picked up by the tube, an electric horn placed inside the cab is automatically sounded. SAFE DRIVING. Five senses for motorists were recently cited by the public safety department of the California State Automobile Association as a simple formula for keeping out of trouble oil the highway. They are as follows : A State' of Anticipation.—Those who think ahead when driving seldom have accident or other difficulty. As they travel along they try to figure out such things as what the other driver is going to do; what hazards may lie on the other side of a hill; whether the next turn is a dangerous one; whether the road ahead is in good condition, and so . on. A Sense of Self-Control. —Calmness in an emergency is an attribute of the safe driver. He must keep his head, think right, and think calmly. The hysterical driver is a menace. A Sense of Fair Play.—Selfishness is the indirect cause of many motor vehicle tragedies. The “road hog” is careless because he is selfish. Fair play demands that we respect the lights of all drivers and all pedestrians. A Sense of Perception. —Under this heading come good vision, good hearing, and an alert mentality. These qualities make it possible to size up a situation quickly. While speed plays a part in,causing accidents, speed at the proper time may also play a part in preventing accidents. A Sense ot Fear. —There is a feeling of satisfaction in driving along witn one who is just a little tearful. He is to be preferred to the cocksure driver. ADJUSTMENT OF BRAKES. The correct setting of brake shoes is "ail operation that m the ordinary way requires time, patience, auu a small amount ot skill —tuat is, provided that no laciiities are available tor measuring tlie actual braking iorce on a brake testing machine. Nevertlieless, very good results can be obtained by juciiing the wheels ot the car clear or the ground and pressing the toot pedal down sufficiently to engage tire brakes, and bolding the peual down with a stout piece 01 wood between the toe plate ana the driver’s seat. In this position of the pedal it should be possible to turn all four wheels one at a time by a strong pull on the tyres, and slacking screws until it requires approximately the same force to move each wheel through one revolution. The car can then be taken out on the road and run, preferably down hill, with the brakes hard on for about 100 yards. The power of the respective brakes can then be ascertained, by the temperature of the outside of the brake drums. If the brakes are all equally effective there should be no appreciable difference in temperature between any. of the drums, but if one feels hotter than the other, that particular pair of shoes can be slacked off slightly, or alternatively, the other three may be adjusted a little closer. Finally, the car may be jacked up again to make sure that all wheels are tree in the “off” position. Brake cables require only occasional lubrication to ensure that they slide easily over the pulleys where they are exposed, and easily in their casings. The exposed, portions of the cables should be cleaned every 8000-10,606 miles, and the casings disconnected at the same time and slid along the cables toward the cross-shaft; the portion of the operating cable thus left exposed should be greased thoroughly before finally ' replacing the casing in its correct position. ISLE OF MAN CAR RACES. An attempt to restore to public favour motor-car racing in the Isle of Man after a lapse of many years was made witli doubtful success recently, when the Maiinin Beg and the Manilla Moar, races for cars under 1100 c.c. and over that limit, respectively, were held. In spite of the fact that the Tourist Trophy races for motorcycles held annually on the island are perhaps the biggest events of the year for the residents, there was considerable public opposition to the car races. The first event, that for cars below 1100 c.c., resulted in a fine will for F. Dixon, formerly a well-known motor-cyclist, who drove his Riley with discretion and broke up a formidable team of opponents, chiefly on M.G. Midgets and Magnettes. Only two of the 14 starters finished, the winner averaging 54.41 miles an hour. There was also a series of mishaps in the second event, only three of the nine starters completing the course. The winner was Hon. Brian Lewis, who drove an Alfa-Romeo in fine stylo. T. Rose-ltichards (Bugatti); was second, and G. E. T. Eyston (Alfa-liomeo), third. The starters included five Bugattis, three AlfaRomeos and an Invicta, but crashes or mechanical trouble reduced the field quickly. Lewis maintained the excellent average of 64.23 miles an hour.