MOTOR & CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1930, Page 5 (Supplement)

MOTOR & CYCLING

WITH TENT AND MOTOR AT THE HOLIDAY RESORTS. NEW CAMPING EROEXWS. KOAiiS NOW BETTER MAHKEI). (By "Trip." —Special io News). The Christmas and New Year holidays have coma and gone, the camps in favourite resorts have been filled to overflowing, but are now more or less empty, ami there will be no undue rush till Eiuster culls, forth motors aijd tents once again. But then, Easter comes late this year, and the success of motor camping then will depend largely on the vagaries of the weather. From the cxja-rienve.s of motor campers during this Christmas, useful pointers can he gained- by those who intend venturing afield during the next few mouths, and especially at Easter time, when camps will once again be well filled. Despite the unsettled weather there, were more people in the most popular ! tourist resorts this Christmas than last/ and the Rotorua camping ground had; a record crowd here during the New Year. The Rotorua-Taupo area proved, easily the most popular, as in previous' years, although a great many motor ! •campers called in at Tougariro, now reached over much better roads than in the past. ; MORJs CONS PIC COES MARKINGS. ”1 iij> ’ was afield in the Taupo district, and several of his friends who went north, and one who went to the South island, kept sonic notes for him. One thing that is all to the good is the way the roads are marked now. especially in the district over which the Auckland Automobile Association holds sway. Without any exaggeration, there is really no need for the novice to carry a guide book over those roads, unless it

be for picking out some of the interesting places through -which one passes. Much the same is true now of the South Island, except in places. Otago and Southland are well marked, and of course all main roads in Canterbury, but in parts of the West Coast little sign-posting has been done. Camping places are steadily becoming more clearly marked, but there is still room for a great deal of improvement in places. On reaching new places, ‘'Trip” has often found the greatest difficulty in locating the camping ground. Often when it is located it turns out to be very well equipped, and providing good revenue for tlie borough, dust why its light should be hidden under a bushel so often seems difficult to understand. Many towns now set themselves out to attract motor campers, and some in the tourist areas (Rotorua, for instance! must make quite a few pounds during the holiday period from the mode-1 charges made for using the camp. Surely it is reasonable to have the site of the camping ground plainly marked, and tv have notice boards of decent size erected at entrances to the town, stating clearly the way to get to the camping ground. ATTRACTING VISITORS. Handle<i the right way. motor campers leave money in every town they visit, and local bodies are beginning to realise the fact and cater decently for them. Personally 1 like the idea of one town in the Wairarapa which displays a big board prominently at cadi end of the town, welcomes you and invites you to good fishing, shooting, tennis, bowls, cte. Why should we not state clearly the amenities offered by our respective towns, just as Waimate, in the south, seeks to lure the tourist from the main road, and deviate—a worth wlyle deviation too—through the town of-Waimate. There are plenty of motor campers who are moving about on a round trip, and who do not greatly care where they stop. Tiro towns that get them are those which cater most for them. Rotorua excelled itself this Christmas and everyone 1 have seen, who camped there came away loudly acclaiming the Rotorua camping ground as the bestequipped in New Zealand. Wairakei came in for its fair share too, but once there campers scatter out towards Taupo and round the hike, and although there must have been hundreds in this area, they were not very apparent owing to the wide spaces. 'The state of the northern roads was such as to deter all but the stout-hearted making north of Auckland, but even then hundreds did go there, and some who struck the bad patches wished they hadn't. North Auckland’s time is coming, ami it is my belief that once the roads between Auckland and Maungaturoto arc metalled this district will become the most popular in the island, and will rival Rotorua and Taupo.

IN THE SOUTH ISLAND. As wa> to be expected, the Wed ( oast proved wonderfully popular during the Christmas holidays, and motor campers were to be found scattered about everywhere between Ncl-ott ami Franz Josef Glm.’.’.-r, Thi- is au area (south of Nelson > were little has yi-t been done to make camping reasonably comfortable, and there is certainly room for a few decent camping grounds in places there. Lake Tekupo is proving increasingly popular, and of course Mount Cook and the lakes always hire their full quota of campers. According to my inform-, ant, howe'er, more campers than usual were making on down to Southland, which is not to be wondered at when you. remember that some of the best scenery in New Zealand is to be found there. MURE AMENITIES NEEDED. Motor camping is growinn in pcqmlarity each year, and well it may in a country ideally situated ■ lor the openair life. Whether decent conditions prevail in the motor camp- or not, it will ecmtitim' o> grow, but it would cm’taiiiIv seem Hint local bodies can make revenue from the tourists who wi-li to use camping facilities for a day or two. No motorist objects tg. paying a fair thing for good facilities, and it gas or elect!ical apparatus can be hired for cooking, there will be a keen demand. To each camper the charges for those

things represent only a fw shillings, but to I lie local body the hire can be a profitable business. A notice somewhere in the camp grounds, advising campers how to get in touch with milkmen, bakers, etc., is invaluable. For myself .1 believe that we are only at the threshold of motor camping in New Zealand, and that in the future we will have well-equipped ca'mps all over the country, suitable for use in either summer or winter, and providing lint accommodation where required. j SERVICE TO READERS. From letters received recently it is clear that misapprehension exists regard-: ing the road through the Urewera country to Lake Waikaremoaua, which is 'now completed as far as lloporuahine, on the shores of the lake. This road is but recently formed and is not yet. properly metalled. In fine weather it can be used all right, but it is not yet possible to go right through to Lake House and then on down through Ylawke’s Ray. It is probable that this last section will be ready for Easter traffic, but. the whole of Hie metalling may not have been completed by then. Meantime the road as far as Hoporuahino is available provided the weather is good. In wot weather, avoid it. TERRIFIC POWER HIDDEN. MIGHTY FORCES AT WORK. How clear a conception has the average -driver of a high powered car of the mighty forces at work in the mechanism of his car? Not one driver in 10,000, says Mr. W. McHardy Forman, managing director of General Motors New Zealand Limited, realises the tremendous power under hits control, the many actions which occur >-hen he presses the accelerator, or the energy expended in driving his car up hill or along level roads. ....

"The average owner is content to know that his car is capa-ble of sustained satisfactory performance.” says Mr. Forman, “but in enjoying this satisfactory performance, it is interesting to learn what happens when one of the new La Salles is driven for one minute at GO miles per hour. - During that time the car will cover a distance of one mile ftud. while it is doing this, there will be 12,080 sparks. The eight pistons will travel a total of 19.550 feet, each piston being reciprocated GO4O times—started from Test, accelerated to 45 miles an hour and stopped—loo times a second.

“Each inlet valve rises from its seat, and admits a charge of gas and returns to its seat in I-75th of a second. The gas passing into the cylinder through this valve has an average speed of 2.25 miles a minute, while the gas passing through the exhaust valve has an even greater S|>eed. The water pump forces 80 gallons of water (equal to one and a half barrels) through the cooling system. while the tip of the fan blade will move a distance equal to about three

miles. - "To move the various units at. such terrine speed, and in eo doing to force the car along the road, require,? an expediture of energy sufficient to raise .3,800.000 pounds, or the weight of 20 large locomotives, to a height of one foot.” - THE RIGHT-HAND DRIVE. A petition was recently filed with tire Swedish Government requesting the enactment of a law which will make general right-hand traffic compulsory. , PRICE OF CARS. (HEARER THAN EVER. in comparing the price of everything before the war and now, how many of us realise or appreciate the remarkable • fact that motor cars are far cheaper today than ever they were before?- To quote the age of 11)14, when living was half the price it is now, wo are perhaps apt to forget that, when it comes to cars, we are- infinitely better off to-day. Cars of between 12 and 1(5 house power, the car which has for many years rer, presented the needs of the average motorist in this country, and which cost between £350 and £550 in 1014, were good, solid, reliable machines, generally good for 25.000 miles’ steady work without the need for overhaul; they had excellent coachwork; they could do about 45 miles an hour on the level, climb any gradient', at- their own pace, and put up a steady average speed of twenty to twenty-five miles an hour. Motorists were very proud of these old cars, and with justice. They were a great advance on anything which had preceded them, and they seemed to us then to be almost incapable of improvement except in detail. What should we have thought-'of (heir descendants, fifteen years later, as we can buy them to-day? The same sort of car. of about the .same size amt about the same rated horse-power i.s now immeasurably more efficient. Its average speed can be quite half as high again; its maximum it? seldom less than sixty miles an hour; and its acceleration and its braking powers make it a car which would have held its own on almost any road with machines of twice the power and three times the price in those days. The car of to-day, in fact, is in every respect superior. It is more economical, not only in fuel consumption, but in tyres which is a very' important factor. The old 15 h.p. car used to need a gallon of petrol for every twenty-two or twenty-four miles, and was considered * to do pretty well if u set of four tyres lasted 3000 miles.-. We complain today if the new cars, with their sixty miles an hour and their violent acceleration ami braking, want new tyres ofteuer than once in every SOijli to 10,000 miles. and many do as much as 15.000 miles or even more without causing special remark, can be bought to-day at prices considerably less than those op- | erating in 1914. For inr-danec. the most popular tyre at that period cost for cover ami tube £(j 3s. while the same size cover ami tube to-day can be purchased for £3 15s. Again, a 32 x 4in cover and tube, in pre-war days cost £S 3s, and is now available at £5 12s. and this despite higher wages. If the old car ami the new each cost £550. and one remembers the comparative value of £350 hi 191.4 and 1929. and bear in

mind Hie life and price of tyres and the service rendered, it U n» exaggeration, to say that'oar-owning costs half or what it did. A RECORD YEAR. BRITISH. MOTOR INDUSTRY. The British motor industry has every reason to be satisfied with Hie successes it has attained during 1929 for its achievements and progress have been most marked. In the realm of sport and in the struggle for its legitimate position in the motor markets of the world the efforts of British manufacturers have been rewarded with a large measure of success. . . , Sir Henry Segrave and Captain Malcolm Campbell, by their performances placed the predominance of British craftsmanship, design and construction beyond question, .achievements which were followed by the sweeping successes of four British cars in the 24-honr road race at Le Mans. When matched against all-comers ami drivers of international reputation in thti six-hours’ endurance race at Brooklauds in July, the indomitable little Austin seven secured seventh place in the race, against all competitors, irrespective of size or power, while it was the winner of 750 c.c. class gaining the coveted B.A.R.C. trophy. Later, in the R.A.C. Tourist Trophy rac. near Belfast in August, British ears came third and fourth. Only within the last month a Bentley car won the fastest long-distance race that has ever been run at Brookland#, averaging for the 500 miles 107.32 m.p.h. British ears—a Bentley and a Sunbeam—also gained second and third places. Indeed, from all quarters have come reports of the achievements of British cars, justifying their makers’ claims of their reliability, speed and general performance. In the hands of a lady driver, a light car has been driven round the world in seven months, while a British made motor bus has been used for an exploration trip into an unknown African desert.

These are but a few of the instances, which British vehicles have been giving of their ability to function satisfactorily under every sort of condition, and it is therefore hardly a matter of wonder that at the recent Motor Exhibition at Olvmpia the British manufacturers’ stands were the centre of universal interest. A’ictoris from all quarters of the globe inspected with the keenest appreciation the models which are the answer of British manufaciujcrs to Hie challenge of their competitors, ami possibly on no previous occasion lias such interest been shown in the products of the British motor industry.