FREE-WHEELING.

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 14, 18 January 1937, Page 5

FREE-WHEELING.

ITS UPS AND DOWNS, Tho timidity of motor-dealers in educating their buyers to a successful in- j novation has never been more evident ( than in the history of free-wheeling. 1 Yet it as inevitable eventually as it 1 was in the push bike. ( Undoubtedly there is a strangeness ] about free-wheeling for the first time, but an intelligent driver would pick it ; up in a few hours, and thereafter would ; never go back to the old style; and it 1 only required a little courage to educate ; the public to its advantages a few : years ago, and we could all be enjoying , its advantages to-day. The principle ap- ; pealed to all manufacturers from its inherent soundness, and many makers 1 have toyed with it, but only a few ; have really given it a chance. Its advantage is three-iold. Firstly it avoids constant reverse stress throughout the whole ...emission every time the accelerator is lifted. Anyone who has broken a piece of wire and twisted it to and fro can appreciate what these stresses amount to. Secondly, it saves petrol in town running, and thirdly it gives the simplest easy gear-change of any. Strangely enough also, it gives quicker braking when the car is actually free-wheeling. Few people realise that for rapid (emergency) braking the engine is a hindrance, and its momentum puts an extra strain on the brakes. To realise this, one can race an engine and see how long it takes to die down to idling speed. Tests in England have shown that a car stopped two feet sooner at 30 m.p.h. with the clutch thrown out than with the clutch engaged.