RECORD MOTOR SPEED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19625, 2 May 1927, Page 12

RECORD MOTOR SPEED.

OVER 200 MILES AN HOUR. TERRIFIC WIND VELOCITY. VISION NOTHING BUT A BLUR. ! [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] SAN FRANCISCO, April G. Major 11. 0. D. Segrave, who broke all existing world's records when he drove his "mystery" British Sunbeam car at 207 miles an hour on the sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, stated subsequently that his sight was seriously handicapped by the terrific wind velocity and speed of his motion. His vision, even with goggles, was nothing but a blur, he said, and he Was to all intents and purposes blind after reaching the high-speed ranges. "That was one of my major worries," Major Segrave said. " I could not tell where I wast. One time I came entirely off tho throttle and then realised I was still in the middle of the course. Scared? There wasn't any time. I had a job to do. I believe if the head-wind were less, I could havo got ten miles more. When the time comes that 200 miles an hour is tho normal speed, there will be need of a new sort of braking system, new steering rig, and a different distribution of weight. With existing equipment there is practically no control over a machine travelling at that rate of speed. " In my big skid, where they tell me I hit the flagposts,. I am sure I had the steering wheel locked right over for a long way before there was any answer at all. I saw the flag-staves only at the moment I struck them." Ihe highest speed by air is 278 miles an hour, attained by Florentin Bennett, of France, in December, 1924.

Major Segrave used up four miles in gathering his highest speed, then one mile of test, then four miles to slow down. He said his focal point at his highest speed was a quarter of a mile away, and six feet wide. His car does 75 miles an hour in low gear and 140 in second gear. It is an interesting study for motor drivers to what effect is caused by taking one hand from the driving wheel at 140 miles an hour, to change into the third gear, to attain 200 miles and over. How much unconscious swerve takes place in that time ? Major Segrave did not know.