SPARE THE CLUTCH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 110, 31 December 1931, Page 2

SPARE THE CLUTCH

HINTS IN OPERATION ! A bad driver who persistently stalls his engine in traffic or cause the car ' to bound forward after each gear change has a way common to buman nature of laying the blame on the sadly-abused clutch. Althougb one must admit that elntehes do "play up" from time to time, their misconduct is, nevertheless, mostly traeeable to constant negleet rather than inherent defeets in design. ' The first thing thaf a driver must realise is that there is no uniform method for .operating the clutch.Some clutches begin to "take on" the moment the pedal ia allowed to eome baek; others do not grip appreciably until the last halfrineh of the pedal movement is begun; while others still — and these are a delight to the novice — only begin their smooth. engagement after the clutch pedal has, been allowed to come right back. Each car should be driven in accordance with its clutch, and the safe rule is always let in the clutch steadily, but, of course, do not pause and dally after making a gear change. ' Driving in traffic is the undoing of many a clutch, for owners who are too lazy or unskilled to change gear frequently, and whose cars are not in good trim for idling, will persist in . slipping the clutch. This practice is very harmful to the surfaee of the plates or cone. Another habit which must be condemned unresdrvedly is that of coasting down hill with the clutch held out. This causes frictioii between the plates and heavy wear on the withdrawal mechanism. Moreover, the sudden releasing of the clutch brings into oposition the slowly-revolving engine and the swift-ly-moving transmission, thereby jarring and straining the entire mechanism from front to rear.