NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20152, 12 January 1929, Page 10 (Supplement)

NOTES.

(On the gas): Fools press hard where angels lightly tread. The Melbourne Motor Show will be held from May 2 to May 11. British motor exports during 1928 did not maintain the level reached in 1927 and for the first ten months a decline of £1,363,532 was revealed. , I "Had a breakdown?" " No. Playing hide and seek.'' " What horse power ?"• " Forty." " What's wrong with it 1" " Oil, 39 have bolted and the other is too sick to answer questions." A British firm is offering a cellulose spraying device for £ls which utilises engine compression and dispenses with the usual compressed air outfit. Two sparking plugs are removed and the engine is allowed to idle on the remaining cylinders. A filter device removes all oil from the air. An Auckland motorist who has re-' turned from a trip to Great Britain has communicated with the Auckland Automobile Association expressing his appreciation of the high standard of the service maintained by comparison with the larger organisations abroad. He stated that in his travels he had not seen signposting more conspicuously carried out than was tho case in the Auckland province. Few points of the Australian continent now remain to be conquered by the automobile. Word is to hand that for the first time a motor-car has been driven into Cooktown, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Queensland. During the past 20 years the only vehicle to reach Cooktown by the overland route was a bullock waggon in 1924, and then only after months of hard travelling. The honour of being the first car to reach this northern town under its own power has been won by a British 7 h.p. model, the occupants of which were accorded a civic reception. One very important factor in connection with the wear on tyres—which many motorists probably do not realise—is tho quick acceleration of the modern car. Car manufacturers are equipping automobiles with engines of higher speed capacity, and some advertise as a . talking point, tho " quick get-away." It is becoming the tendency of motorists to " step on the gas" and to accelerate the speed of the car as quickly as possible, particularly after being held up at street intersections by the traffic. Quick acceleration of a car is one of the major factors in increased tread wear. Under the high speed of the motor- the tyre pulls on tho road before the car is in motion, and often spins. The effect is the same as if the tread [were to be sand-papered. DESTRUCTIVE SPEEDS. The last few years have seen marvellous developments in motor car construction. More good roads have created a demand for higher speed cars, and this demand has been foreseen by motor car manufacturers, with the result that faster and faster cars are being pro•duced. Tyre manufacturers have established, through a series of interesting tests,, that tyres wear out much faster at high speeds than at low speeds, not only- because more'heat- is developed in the tyre, but because the abrasion is much greater. Fop example, a grindstone operated at high speed will sharpen a knife quicker than when run slowly. Motorists who two or three years ago maintained an average speed on tho highways of 25 or 30 m.p.h., now are speeding up to 35, 40 and 45 m.p.h. But the motorist who drives his car at normal speeds is certain to get more mileage than tho individual who covers long distances at high speed. In U.S.A., recently, test cars were run at approximately 45 m.p.h., keeping up the speed as uniformly as possible, and taking curves with practically no slowing down. Later the speed was reduced to 35 m.p.h. maximum, and an immediate increase in tyro mileage was noted. In fact, tyres which ran about 6000 miles at high speed, gave nearly 12,000 -miles when driven at normal speed. When a car is driven at high speed, there is a great deal more tvre slippage due to swerving from one side of the road to tho other and to the continual, axle bounce resulting from inequalities in the road, which are magnified by the speed. LOCK WASHERS. There are probably a thousand or more bolts and nuts on the automobile. If these bolts or these nuts become loose they will not do. that for which they have been furnished. For this reason a nut or bolt must never be put in without some thought being given to prevent its becoming lose. It must be locked in some way. Each week, for the last thirty or forty years, many patents have been issued on nut locking devices, showing that this is one problem which has not yet been solved to entire satisfaction. Lock-washers are very successful .on the whole, but are not absolutely reliable. If the bolt is long and subjected to much vibration, or if the load on it is'intermittent, as a blow, tho bolt may stretch, and so tho pressure on the washer will be decreased and tho nut may turn. It is necessary, therefore, to periodically test the nuts. This type of washer should not be used in places where it cannot be got at and tested.