“The Great Automotive Game”

Southland Times, Issue 22999, 19 September 1936, Page 19

“The Great Automotive Game”

Handling The Steering Wheel

This is the third of a series of twelve articles from The Christian Science Monitor covering practically every phase of owning and operating a car with economy and safety.

The golfer spends hours learning how to hold his clubs. The tennis player’s score is written in the way he grips his racket. Similarly, the baseball bat, oars, reins and steering wheel are the connecting links between the sportsman and his game. Relaxation in handling these tools is the goal oj all sportsmen. Tenseness is the common enemy. What are the symptoms of tenseness on the highways? A common one is oversteering or taking twice the room needed to drive round a given object. Some motorists think this a mark of safety. Actually it labels the amateur taking more than his share of the road. Oversteering causes car sway, giving centrifugal force a free rein on the curves. It usually means an overtight grip or a wrong hold on the steering wheel. . That is why relaxed driving depends primarily upon knowing how to grip the steering These days, cars virtually have their own sense of direction. After turning a corner the wheels slide back into line of their own accoid if you let them. Engineers call this “caster effect.” The wheels swing into line like casters when the furniture is pushed. Hence, the secret of smooth, safe steering is for the driver to become part of the car just as the horseback rider synchronizes his movements with those of the horse. . The car wants to go in a straight line. The professional s course adheres as closely to a straight line as possible. He doesn’t struggle with the wheel any more than the horse-back rider jerks at the reins. The car, as well as the horse, responds quickly and much more safely to the caressing hand. normal driving, the hands placed clockwise on the wheel at 20 minutes past 8 invite relaxed driving. The hands are then conveniently close to the emergency brake and gear shift lever. _ They are in the most restful position on the wheel, only a slight grip being need to keep them from falling off. They are in the best position to obtain smooth split-second. tIUIS For ordinary turns, there is no need to lift the hands from the wheel. For fairly sharp turns (to the left, for instance) the left hand is lifted to 12 on the clock face, pulling down to 8 or 7. In the old days, the right hand went along with the steering wheel to the figure 12, V ull . the . whc^ s into line. J Caster effect makes that unnecessary. The wheel now slides through the fingers of the right hand, which stays at figure 4. Completing a full spin of the wheel requires the co-ordinationof both hands The left hand (on a left turn) pulls down from 12 to 7 or the right hand then following the same route. In this manoeuvre, some drivers grip the inside of the steering wheel with the right hand. Others find the and right hand is of small parking spaces where several wheel spins ar % nceded -.^ oie drivers can spin the wheel in this way almost like a top. Taking a right How far the wheels will turn, in other words, the cars turning raatus is included in the professional driver’s schooling. Get out somewhere in a wide open space and have someone mark your turning radius with coMake the shortest complete turn possible. Then study the’ c «’« e - £ probably find it much wider than you expected. You will learn the wet of tailoring the car to his particular build. The professional goes a step farther to Carn that shifting the seat forward and backward at various, intervals on the long trip proves as refreshing as a seventh-inning If the steering gear needs greasing or adjusting, if the foot pedals work hard or the brakes are worn, relaxation at the wheel is retarded Another point to keep in mind is that steady speeds help to keep a driver in that mental attitude of patience and , orde^li^ l th^S^ l [ S s hard'to and safety on long trips. Driving at a speed that feels good is hard to describe but the average driver knows what it means. Any speed the “feeling good" stage results in tighter grips on the steering wheels and firpatpr tenseness in the general makeup oj the driver. 9 Storing energy can be conserved by keeping the tyres properly in■flnted It takes twice the energy to turn wheels inflated with 25 pounds of air than with 32 to 35 pounds. On that long trip, you will encounter corduroy mads so called because of ridges forged by weather and traffic. The tendency [s t?sloTdown wS makes steering more difficult. By speeding up, say to 35 miles per hour, the car touches only the “high spots” m the ndges. 3 And don’t forget-too much play in the steering wheel is to relaxed driving what faulty spark plugs are to smooth engine action.