BRITAIN WINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 239, 9 October 1928, Page 18

BRITAIN WINS.

24-HOUR INTERNATIONAL. FOUR-CYLINDER BEATS STRAIGHT EIGHT. By the victory of the Ai-litre Bentley, driven hy Barnato and Rubin, for the time a British car triumphed in the , Twenty-four Hours' International Graaid Prix d'Endurance, the classic annual road race run over the lie Mans circuit in France, on June 10 and 17. The race was run at an average speed of 60.11 • in.p.h., a record for the, course, the winning fear accomplishing a mileage of 1058.6 miles. .4jv. ( The real interest of the race, says "The Autocar" (London), centred in the duel fought from the outset between Bentley No. 4 and the Stutz. Here were two of the very latest British and American designs differing essentially in almost every detail. The Bentley is unusual for a modern production, in that it has a four-cylinder engine of 100 x 140 mm. (4398 c.c.), while the Stutz has a straight eight-cylinder engine of 82.5 x 114.3 mm. (4888 c.c.). Very few expected a veritable battle of the cylinders—for such it proved—to develop from the race. The British effort, on the whole, was not unworthy of the teams. Both Alvis front-drive cars succeeded in qualifying, both beat the 1500 c.c. record for the 24 hours handsomely, and neither car had so much as a second of mechanical trouble.

THE MYSTERIOUS RATTLE.

Of course, my wife said it was my fault, and I must confess that I had some misgivings myself. The little fabric saloon had been running silently and well before I decided to investigate a rutted and unfrequented lane. Contrary to the maker's instructions, I had exceeded a speed of 20 m.p.h., in spite of the fact that the car had not completed its initial 500 miles. The lane, too, was in a poor state of repair. We had just hit one bump more severe than its fellows, when I became aware of an irritating mechanical jangling. A steepisli hill compelled a change down to second, and as the engine revolutions piled up, that curious mechanical rattle became worse. "Don't you think you'd better stop and investigate?" queried my careful passenger. I leant forward to the cubby hole to reach my cigarette case, for by then my nerves were beginning to get , frayed, and „I| needed a smoke. As I did so my eyes lighted upon the cause of the trouble. The bump that the car lial struck had jerked a pair of keys, which also occupy the cubby hole, on to the top of the cigarette catfe, where theyweri beating a tattoo in sympathy with the engine's movements. .. >• ■■ \ Z Even to this day the sharer of my joys and sorrows does not know how I cured the imagined trouble by means of a few mystic passes over the instrument board, for one has to keep one's end up somehow.- • • -

SPEED AND BRAKES.

When driving at forty miles an hour it is well to be not unmindful of the fact that the- car is progressing at the rate of. 58ft Bin a second. The realisation of this may serve to remind you •that * you are making toe : hasty progress. Regarding speed in feet per second cannot fail to imnress upon the driver the need for keying bis brakes in first-class order. At ten miles an hour a distance of 14ft Bin is covered every second. The corresponding distance at 20, 30, and 50 miles per; hour are 29ft 4in, 44ft, and 75ft 4in respectively. At 00 miles per hour the car travels 88ft every second. Many drivers use the brakes unnecessarily in descending grades. It is under such conditions" tbat the linings will receive severe "punishment if they are used for any length of time, because, they become very hot, and then wear is accelerated. In descending a steep grade it Is a commendable practice to shift'• "into second or even first speed, and then it may be unnecessary to retard the motion of the car by means of the brakes. Brakes are' Safety devices, and their use should be reserved as far as possible for real emergencies.