MOTORING WORLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 82, 5 March 1938, Page 15

MOTORING WORLD

NOTES. It is now' suggested that traffic should be banned from the centre of Glasgow in the rush hours to reduce congestion. One day (adds the Motor) someone will suggest removing the streets to prevent obstruction. Nearly lour million motor-driving licenses were issued in England and Wales during the twelve months ended September 30. 1937. An official statement from the Minister of Transport makes the total 3,946,703. Head of the American Traffic Research Bureau, Professor Dosilva says it is practically impossible to teach a woman over 25 to drive properly. After a recent flood at Wellsboro’, United States of America, they discovered five strata of road surfacing. On top concrete, next came macadam, then a layer of brick, then a plank road, and lowest of all a corduroy road. > In Austria the authorities have been unable to decide whether traffic should keep to the left or the right of the road, and the rule varies in different parts of the country. In one instance a change-over sign advising mootrists of a change in the regulations is placed on a blind corner. Head-on collisions arc consequently not so easy to avoid. BRITISH DRIVER FOR GERMANY The all-conquering German motor-car racing teams have lately experienced considerable difficulty in securing efficient and skilful drivers from amongst their own nationals, the first sign of the dearth being given last year, when Richard Seaman, the leading British racing driver, was secured as a regular member of the Mercedes-Benz team. Recently, the other German team, Auto-Union, approached C. J. P. Dodson, another Englishman who has established a high reputation for himself in recent years, with a request that lie submit himself for trial on Auto-Union cars with tho object of driving one in the important Grand Prix races. ' There are more really skilled racing car drivers in England than in any other country in the world at the present time, it is reported. This is robably because of the opportunities for training provided by Brooklands and the Donington road circuit, on comparatively slow cars entered in handicap races, opportunities not provided by other countries. ATTENTION TO' CHASSIS.

When a car has been run for some thousands of miles over the varying roads of New Zealand, it is' certain that here and there in the undercarriage will be found parts where a small amount of wear has developed. Unless immediate attention is given to tiiese parts, wear, once started, is apt to proceed ut a fairly rapid rate. The unfortunate thing is that often the owner is unconscious of the dangerous condition which is arising. For this reason, it is a very good plan to arrange to have the car lifted on a hydraulic hoist every few thousand miles, so that a very thorough examination of the whole of the undercarriage can be made. Lending point to this is the experience of a motorist quite recently. For some time lie had been worried about a faint “click” in the steering connections, which became apparent when traversing rough roads slowly. Every examination made by crawling beneath the car failed to .disclose anything amiss and be finally decided that the trouble was due to a small amount of natural wear.

One day, the car was on a hoist while the engine oil was being drained, and the motorist, idly wandering about the car and looking at various parts, gripped one front wheel and moved it about to see if lie could detect any unusual wear in the steering. As lie did so lie was surprised to see the tie rod rise very slightly at one end. He made a closer examination and discovered that the steering arm at the end was loose in its tapered socket in tile steering knuckle, whereas it should be sueli a tight fit as to be virtually part of the knuckle. Tightening the nut holding tile arm in place drew the tapered arm into the knuckle and cured the noise which had been worrying him. Had he not discovered this, the arm would have become looser and looser and, under the high strain to which all steering parts are subjected, would probably eventually have dropped off. EFFECT OF HEAVY LOADS. Motorists setting out on tour in heavily-loaded cal’s should not forget that the luggage and other touring gear carried in addition to a full complement of passengers is likely to have a definite effect on the manner in which a car responds.-This applies particularly to the modern type of car with a built-in trunk at the back, which will accommodate most, if not all, of the luggage carried. The effect of loading this to capacity is to concentrate a very heavy load behind the hack wheels. Consequently, in cornering, it will be found that the tail of the car will tend to swing across on corners. Obviously, it will be neither wise nor safe to corner as fast in this fully-loaded condition as when the car is running light.

STREAMLINING. EXPERIMENTAL WORK. In Europe, the streamlining of passenger cars is coming into the limelight again as the result of experiments with a French ear of wellknoWn make. It would appear that these latest tests have not met with the contempt which was the portion of certain allegedly streamlined cars of a few years ago. These were bulbous monstrosities, which were not true streamline forms by any standards. While some justification for the description applied to them could be found in the exterior shapes, the professed objects of their designers were quite upset by the use of a normal radiator, through which the wind could rush to finish against a perfectly flat bulkhead, and by a complete disregard to the air eddies which could arise about the shapeless masses of the undercarriage. In these recent French tests, apparently the coachwork has been designed with some real regard to aerodynamics. Apparently, the ca.r has the original radiator and bonnet, which, it is understood, were already of a reasonable streamline .shape, while the doors, windows and seating arrangements are stated to be the same as they are in a standard production model. The real differences seem to lie in the exterior shape of the coachwork, and, most important, in the proper fairing of the undergear. The only clue available to the real design lies in the maker’s description, which states that it is “ellipsoid,” a word which might mean anything, but rather conveys the impression that the car is composed entirely of curves. The important tiling about these

tests, however, is the results which have been achieved. The complete vehicle is stated to have a drag which is 58 per cent, less than that •of the standard car, which, incidentally, already is a fairly well streamlined vehicle. The maximum road speed is said to he 30 per cent, better, and the fuel consumption in the normal touring range 30 per cent. less.