THE MOTOR WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22327, 30 July 1934, Page 4

THE MOTOR WORLD.

By ACCELERATOR.

IN THE CAUSE OF SAFETY. To-day and the following day* will bring home to some motorists the folly of neglecting important parts of their outfit. It is notorious that a large proportion of cars are in urgent need of attention to their brakes. Badly adjusted headlights are annoying as well as being dangerous, and the glaring headlight has given offence during a long period. Starting from to-day cars will be inspected in order to have these evils removed. The hazard of accident on the roads is quite high enough without adding easily preventable causes, and though doubtless there will be some grumbling that in itself is preferable to an increase in the list of accidents. If an owner knows that his car has faulty brakes he is more than foolish to continue driving before having them attended to. The same applies to lights, except that the danger is not so great. In either case, however, he cannot complain if he receives some attention from the authorities who will be engaged in the commendable endeavour of making the roads safer for motorist*. CAR RADIO SETS. Car radio is reported to be experiencing the greatest boom in the history of the radio industry. Figures issued recently show that last year’s car radio sales in America exceeded 700,000. This year, it is anticipated, they will be well over a million. So great ha* the demand become that even the cheapest cars arc being wired at the factory for radio. Yet the first car radio set made its appearance only four years ago. It is now estimated that one in every 17 cars is equipped with radio. CUTTING-IN CONDEMNED. “ The risky, and selfish habit of cuttingin in front of other traffic approaching an intersection has been indulged in by several motorists recently, and the Practice cannot be too strongly deprecated, says the latest safety-first message of the Canterbury Automobile Association. “ The curious feature of the practice is that it is exploited by drivers who are not actually in a hurry, and even a hurry is not a sufficient excuse for carrying out what, after all, is a dangerous manoeuvre. Every driver who cuts-in in front of other motor traffic near a corner is breaking regulation 11 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, winch is very explicit on this particular aspect of motoring. Drivers should know what that regulation is in full. Here it is: ~ . , ~ “No driver of any motor vehicle shall overtake or attempt to pass any vehicle preceding in the same direction (a) at an intersection, or within a distance or 30 feet before an intersection, if the other vehicle is travelling at a speed greater than six miles an hour; (b) at or within 150 feet of any corner approached, unless the driver has a clear view of the road and the traffic thereon for a distance of at least 300 feet in the direction in which he is travelling; (c) at or within 150 feet of the crest of a rise approached, unless the driver has a clear view of the road and the traffic thereon for a distance of at least 300 feet in the direction in which he is travelling. “It is obvious that many drivers do not know of the provisions in the Ac*. They make the mistake of cramming on the speed to be first at the corner or intersection.” GLASS ROADS. We have heard that those who live in class houses must not throw stones, but, according to Mr George J. Ricketts', an English inventor, those who ride on glass roads of his design may throw all the stones they like without any damage to the rpad surfaces.- ~ . » The five-inch square moulded blocks ot rcmelted glass.which form the Ricketts pavement are so tough and strong as to defy blows of a 71b hammer, and are expected to stand up and serve under any traffic conditions. They are an inch and a-half thick, with upper surfaces serrated in a diamond pattern to prevent skidding and with lower portions hollowed halt an inch to permit firm and resilient seating in a bituminous-base course. The spaces between the blocks are also filled with bitumen, and this is expected to result in a cushioning effect, greatly decreasing the shocks and jars of tratne. The lines between the blocks are continuous across the roadway to facilitate washing away any accumulation of oil or dirt. Mr Ricketts claims that his glass roads have been developed through six years of experience, and that they will afford boiislipppery, impermeable, and indestructible surfaces which will be kept clean by natural rainfall or _by a minimum of maintenance. If he is correct in this, we may expect soon to see great mileages of the* new pavements in various parts of the world. From present indications, there, will be no lack of old bottles to serve as raw material. The inventor is negotiating with road authorities in Europe and America lor the construction of the pavement under licensing arrangements. It is rumoured that Italy will be the first country to build a glass road.

FLUID FLYWHEEL IN AMERICA.. Reports of the use on En- 'ish automobiles of what is called the “fluid fly-, wheel ” have aroused . interest in this, country in past months, but the average non-technical motorist probably has only the vaguest, if any, knowledge of just what the device is and does (states the New York Times). It is now reported that a manufacturing company in Cleve-. land is developing a “ fluid flywheel ” for America, and with the announcement comes an explanation of the mechanism The company explains that it is not really a flywheel at all but a coupling substituted for the conventional clutch of an automobile., Describing its construction and operation, the company's statement continues:—

“The fluid coupling consists of two unconnected discs shaped somewhat like the old-fashioned soup plate. These are fitted cosely together, hollow side to hollow side, within a fluid tight housing which resembles a flywheel. “ One of the discs is attached to the rear end of the crankshaft of the motor and is called the driving member. The other is attached to the end of the transmission shaft that leads into the gearbox and on to the rear axle. This is called the driven member.

"Inside the two halves of the coupling are radial partitions which might be likened to flat spokes in a wheel. The oil passes back and forth from driver to driven -member between these partitions in a channel which enables the circulation' to proceed continuously inone direction. "This channel might be considered as being somewhat in the shape of a large coiled spring made of large wire, the ends of which have been fastened together after the spring has been bent in the form of a circle, the space between the wire being the retaining and directing walls of the channel. This channel is filled with oil or some other appropriate liquid: in an emergency plain water may be used.

“When the motor is started, causing the driving or engine half to turn, the oil begins to circulate under centrifugal force, passing from the driving half through the coiled spring-like passage across to the driven half.

“As the motor is speeded up, which is done after the required gear has been selected and put into mesh, the fluid is thrown with increasing force against the partitions of the driven half, and that half starts to turn more and more rapidly until it attains approximately the speed of the driving disc, the car thus picking up gradually and smoothly. "As long as the motor remains at idling speed the two halves of the coupling merely slip past each other because the force applied to the co’umn of oil is not great enough to turn the driven disc.” WORLD SPEED COURSES. ' Impressions of Daytona and Dried Sail Lake, Salt Lake City, as compared with Muriwai and Ninety Mile Beach are contained in a letter received from Mr H. J. Butcher, a member of the council or the Automobile Association, Auckland, who is now in England endeavouring to persuade Sir Malcolm Campbell to make

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his next attempt on the world land speed record at Ninety Mile Beach. The letter has been summarised by Speedwell, of the Auckland Star. _ Sait Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., writes Mr Butcher, is about 800 miles from San Francisco and is little more from Los Angeles. The entrance to the salt beds is 127 miles from the city itself. and is reached by an excellent road which follows along the salt beds for some miles before the built-up and only entrance is reached. The main road is six or eight feet above the lake bed, but people cannot walk down to the salt because the whole lake is surrounded hy mud several icet wide. The salt is very thin in placesi and rests on mud which is reported to be 800tt dried lake ia about 30 miles by eight miles, but a railway has been built right across, reducing the size by about half. The salt is about 4ft thick in the centre and gradually tapers away to nothing towards the edges. An estimated safe course of about 13J miles has been marked out, where it is proposed that Sir Malcolm Campbell should make his attempt on 300 miles an hour next month. When driving on the salt bed. one has the impression of a huge frozen lake. Thousands of years ago the dried salt bed was part of the present Salt Lake but the level of the water fell, and. left what is now the dried bed, with no inlet of water. The surface is covered witu loose salt, which.the wind drives up into ridges about 2in high, giving the appearance of These arc not felt very much when driving in a car, nut they would have to be cleared away before an attempt could be made on the world land speed record. . , Mr Butcher says that the engineers of the State of Utah will use graders to scrape the loose salt from the track and, if necessary, sweep the whole course with mechanical brooms. He points out that the salt, no ‘matter what the weather, never bocemes properly dry, and that it is dangerous to drive near the edges because of the thinness of the salt. A lorry loaded to eight tons had been driven over the proposed course for testing purposes, and everything proved to be satisfactory. ... So hard is the salt that to place in position the hundreds of flags that would be necessary for an attempt on the world land speed record, every hole for every flag would have to, be punched with a hammer and iron chisel. Last year an American driver named Abe Jenkins set up a world's 24-hour record at an average speed of 117 miles an hour on a 10-mile circular’ track laid out on the salt bed, and a further attempt on the world's 48-nour record is likely to be made this month, writes Mr Butcher. At present there are no garages or accommodation of any kind at the salt bed for housing a record-breaking machine and its equipment, nor is there accommodation for some miles.

" I discussed -the dried lake with leading motoring people while at a race meeting at Brooklands,” says Mr Butcher, "and several of them considered that 13J miles was not long enough for 300 miles an hour. I raised the question as to whether a car travelling at exceptionally high speed on a soft salt surface, but on a hard base, would get wheel spin, hut I was told that could be found out only by experience.” On the day .Mr Butcher arrived at Salt Lake City a public subscription list was opened in an endeavour to raise about £3OOO to pay Sir Malcolm Campbell and his staff’s expenses from England and back, and to pay the general expenses o£ the timing officials who would have to bo transported from Washington. While he was there, Mr Butcher said that Sir Malcolm Campbell’s name was on everyone’s lips, but whether they would open their pockets to swell the fund he did not know. “ Summing up the whole position,” says Mr Butcher, “ if the track is long enough and the car does not get wheel spin, it certainly is a great track, and has the advantage over any beach by being available any hour of the day for about nine months of the year —the -rainy season of about three months accounts for the.remainder of the year. Beaches are available for only about two or three hours a day, and then only when the tide is suitable.” Mr Butcher described Daytona Beach, where Sir Malcolm Campbell established the present record of 245 miles an hour, as about the same as the best parts of Muriwai, and certainly not nearly as good as Ninety Mile Beach. He was still of the opinion that Ninety Mile Beach had the advantage over - all other tracks in the world because of its great width and tremendous length. Such facilities, he believed. would make it possible not only to establish a mile record of 300 miles an hour, but also a 10-mile record at the same speed. The people of Salt Lake City were very keen to make a name for their salt track, and to beat Daytona and Ninety Mile Beach for the honour of having the fastest motor racing track in the world. THE MOTOR CYCLE FIXTURES. OTAGO MOTOR CLUB CYCLE SECTION. August 12.—Social run. August 21. —Monthly meeting. August 25. —Paperchase. September 9. —Social run. September 18.—Monthlv meeting. September 22.—-Mystery run. October 6.—Social run. October 16. —Monthly meeting. October 20, 21, and 22.—Labour Daytrial. November 4. —Whole day run to Waipori. ' November 17.—Treasure hunL November 20, —Monthly meeting. December I.—Sports nt Brighton. December 9. —Run to Buckland’s ford. CLUB NOTES. The next monthly meeting will be held in the clubrooms on August 21. Following the general business, the billiard competition for the Marychurch Trophy will be commenced, and it is hoped that there will be a large < number of entries. Entries, accompanied by a fee of 6d, close with the secretary of the Social Committee at 7.30 on the evening of the meeting. On Saturday week, August 12, the cycle section will hold a social run to Lee Stream ford, leaving the club rooms at 2 p.m. All motor cyclists are invited to attend this outing, and they can be assured of an enjoyable afternoon. Ariel Cup points will he allotted as follows: — Attendance 5, clean machine 3. All riders living within a three-mile radius of the club rooms must report there, while anyone living outside this limit must report immediately to the secretary on joining the run. SPARKS “Don’t go out without your license” is good advice. s|« »;« % " X call my boy friend ‘ Hesperus says Elizabeth, “ because we go driving in that wreck of his.” * * Don’t worry about the oar following, except to give him the signal of your own actions—i.e., turning to the right, stopping, etc. ¥ ¥ ¥ “ What gear was the accused in when he knocked you down?” the judge asked dad, who was suing a motorist for damages. “ A grey tweed suit and a bowler hat,” dad replied. * ¥ » In the event of one of the small nuts that secure the high-tension cables to the sparking plugs becoming lost, motorists should remember that an ordinarywire paper-fastener will make an excellent substitute. * * * Who says safety is a new-fangled idea? The eighth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Deuteronomy reads: “When thou buildest a new house then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou luring not-blood upon thine house if any man fall from thence.”