MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2341, 24 December 1914, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

[By Clutch.]

Off for the Holidays. Given good ; weather, the holiday season should be a most enjoyable one from a motoring point of view, for reports from the different districts indicate that the main roads generally are in excellent condition. One does not look, of course, to find the billiard-table surfaces of Eltham County or the delightful- stretches of Lower Wairarapa throughout New Zealand, but taken by and large the roads are rather bettor than one would expect to find them. The Wellington to Napier stretch, via tho Wairarapa, is reported to_ provide the best going at the present time, and holiday-makers who choose tho Hawkes' Bay side should also stand to escape the full force of the westerly weather which has prevailed for so long. On the West Coast conditions are also good, and the reasonable motorist will find little to grumble at between here and New Plymouth.

Those who are thinking of venturing further afield will be pleased to hear that good accounts have been coming to hand of the through road to Auckland (via Napier, Taupo, Rotorua, and Hamilton). One party : the other day. did the trip very comfortably in the"'following stages:—First day, Auckland to Rotorua; second day, Rotorua to Taupo; third day, Taupo to Napier; fourth day, Napier to Wellington. The actual running time was given as 233 hours from Auckland to Wellington. The .final day's run from Napier to Wellington was covered in 10J hours. The two hurdles on the trip through are, of course, the stretch between Pohui and Runanga (about 35 miles) on the Napier-Taupe road, and that from Rotorua to Tirau, through the. Mamaku Bush, with, of course,' the final clamber of Razor Back, thirty miles out from Auckland. Since last summer the deviation at Titiokura Saddle, on the Napier-Taupo road, has greatly eased that somewhat formidable climb.'

Some Te Kuiti residents motored through to Wellington a, day or two ago via Mokau and Waitara ,and had no great complaints to make as to the condition of that highway, and the venturesome who believe in a short life and a merry one so far as their cars are concerned might do worse than try'a tour to the north by this route through the beautiful scenery of Mount Messenger and the Mokau. The trip, though enjoyable in itself, is distinctly not one to be recommended to those who have new cars which they desire to keep in the pink of condition. • An interesting objective for a tour is Mount Egmont, especially as several of the mountain hostels can now be reached direct by motor. The run may be continued on to New Plymouth, via Eltham. and Stratford, and the return made round the mountain via Opunake. Ohakune, at the base of Ruapehu, may also be reached by motor, but tho writer has no personal knowledge of this road of recent years,. ' There are no difficulties, up to Taihape, and information as to what lies beyond could be obtained there, or\possibly at Mar-

A district favoured by many who like a holiday in a placid country-side is that between Eeilding and Apiti.- Tho road is good though hilly, and detailed information can bo obtained in Feilding., One-day Runs. Wellington does not offer a very wide choice of routes for a one-day run. Apart from the main East'' Coast and West Coast routes the choice lies between Makara Beach and the Ohariu Valley, Wainui-o-mata (where many pleasant spots for' picnicking can be' tound down tho valley), and the Akatarawa. The run up the Akatarawa needs careful driving, but the magnificent bush at the top of the valley well repays one. The Akatarawa Road leaves the main road a few miles past the Upper Hutt, forking to the left at the foot of the first steep bill. A stretch of eight miles or so through valley and gorge brings one to an abandoned sawmill at the end of the road, and from there is a walk of about an hour and a half by bridle track through virgin bush, to the saddle overlooking Reikorangi and the Valley of tho Waikanae River, with the blue' of the Straits visible in the distance.

For those prepared to go ._ further afield, Waikanae and the various resorts beyond up the Manawatu all have their attractions, and on the Wairarapa side a popular run is that • from Featherston down the western shore of. Lake Wairarapa. The writer has not been down this road, but good picnicking spots with grateful' shade from tho fierce heat of the sun—if wo get it this Christmas—are said to be-plenti-ful, and at the end of the road is the wide Bweep of Palliser Bay. A Handy Touring Guide, Motorists on tour in the southern portion of the North Island would do well to clip out The. Dominion's handy little directory and road guide appearing on this page. It is always exceedingly useful to know just how far off is the next place where one can look to find petrol or have a repair effected. By mentioning The Dominion motorists will find the proprietors of almost all the garages in the list only too willing to furnish them with information as to alternative routes and tho interesting side-trips which may .be made from almost every centre and of which the stranger for the most part remains blissfully unaware.

Reports on the state of the roads, places of interest which may be visited, etc., will be welcomed and should be addressed to " 'Clutch,' Motor Column, Dominion Office,' Wellington." Economical Driving. For a man.who really wishes to' run his machine economically it is absolutely necessary, says a writer in tho ''Autocar," that he learn to drive it properly, and the first thing that must be learned is how to manipulate the clutch and accelerator. The following seems to me a good way of loaming this lesson:.

Take your car on a level piece of road, and fix your throttle so that by no means can you open it more than half-way, and then practice starting your car on top gear. A little practice like this and gentle foot work will become a habit. At first it may seem almost impossible to start, without stopping tho engine; perhaps, through the fault of the clutch this may really be the case. If this be so, attend to it immediately: a harsh clutch is one of the most expensive things you can possibly have in the car, and will wear out' tiros and destroy engine bearings quicker than anything.

When you find that you_ can start your car on top easily, without any tendency to jerking, practice, still with a restrained throttle opening, starting iii the normal manner through tho lower gears. Do so' until you can make tho changes without the engino showing any signs of faltering as you engage each successive gear. That is to say, you must always accelerate on the lower gear until the car has attained sufficient speed for tho higher gear to pick up without any sensation of shock or unwillingness. Do not attempt to rhako a dashing start, but let there boa smooth, progressive acceleration, such as seems to suit the car. If you havo practised these things properly yoti will find that your foot action has become much more delicate and sensitive, and oven in ordinary running you will experience tho benefit. Always try to feci in sympathy with your engine, and make yourself familiar with every sound that it mokes. As much as possible you and your car must bo obq, Aa lon,* as yru feol yourself:.

mcroly a man, sitting over a piece of machinery, you 'will never make a driver Correct Use of the Brakes. Next in importance is to learn how to use the brakes. Try to disabuse your mind of the idea that they are the only means you have of checking the speed of the car or of bringing it to a standstill. If you wish to stop, make up your mind beforehand, and try to drift up to your stopping place with only just so much momentum that the merest touch of the brake will serve to stop you. It is a good plan, always for ordinary running, to use whichever brake acts directly on the back wheel, and to reserve the propeller-shaft brake for emergency use. The brake in ordinary uso should be so adjusted that, under no circumstances, can it ever lock the wheels. This, in itself, will tend to make you rely more upon your judgment for stopping, and will also obviate any tendency to skid the back wheels unconsciously. At first you may feel slightly unsafe, but this feeling soon wears off, and your pocket will certainly reap the benefit. Rlmutaka Telephone Project. At the meeting of the Executive of the Wairarapa Automobile Association, Mr. Elgar introduced the subject of a telephone on tho Rimutaka Road hill. Ho said it would bo of great use to motorists who travel over the hill in case of accident or running short of petrol. As far as ho could find out the cost would be at tho rate of £25 a mile, a probable total cost of £160 to the top of.the hill. During discussion it was suggested that perhaps steps might bo taken to get a telephone extended to Mr. W. Davidson's house,, and a motion to that effect, proposed by Mr. Elgar and seconded by Mr. H. Stewart, was carried. . Hints and Tips. "A good cleaning and a new coat of varnish is the best protection be given the paint of a motor-car body," says an experienced garage man. "Many bodies and require repainting because the vehicle is used throughout the winter without any attention having been paid to the paint. Whenever the varnish, which is the protecting coat for the paint, is worn off, the body loses its lustre, the paint becomes flat, and if not given a fresh coat of varnish will be so discoloured as to require repainting. Two applications of varnish will make a thicker coat and hence withstand the action of the elements to a greater extent than one coat."

Few small motor repairers seem capable of diagnosing the why and wherefore of springing troubles. Their panacea for everything is usually retempering, a remedy which rarely ogives complete satisfaction. A coachsmith is a far more experienced mentor to whom to apply for advice Presuming thit the car was originally well sprung, it may happen in time that the springs will weaken, and then the body may begin to bump upon the axle. If it were possible to malie a comparison of the distance of the body from the ground (or tho axle) with what it, was when ths car was new, it would be found that the body is considerably lower, particularly when loaded. The explanation of this will be found in the flattening of the springs, which have lost their curve to. a great extent. It is obvious that tempering them again, thus confirming them in their incorrect shape, will not result in_ a cure. The treatment they require is resetting, which consists in forcibly bending them back into their original shape either by means of a press or by hand by a skilled coachsmith. Hero and There. Legal lighting up time for motor-care and motor-cycles: To-day, 7.40 p.m. Next- Thursday, 7.42 p.m. On New Year's Day the evenings will begin to draw in again, and lighting up time will come one minute earlier than on New Year's Evo. Daylight is already coming some four minutes later in the morning than in the early, part of the month. , In response to*an appeal issued by the English War Office on Ootober 22 for 1000 motor drivers, it is reported over 3000 applied the next morning, and the number required were ready for eervice in the evening.

No fewer than 500 motor ambulance vehicles have been donated in England for service at the front. This patriotic movement has also met with considerable success in Australia, and fully thirty' donated motor ambulances will' follow the movement of the Australian Expeditionary Force. Brick roads are being used with success in some parts of the United States, and although exceedingly expensive in the first place, have proved most economical on account of their extraordinarily long life. It is said that such roads will last for upwards of twenty yoars, and cost very little to maintain.