DRIVING ECONOMIES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 520, 2 May 1933, Page 2

DRIVING ECONOMIES

MORE CAREFUL HANDLING SAYES WEAR AND EXPENSE. DO NOTHING SUDDENLY. If long tours are to be successful it is essential that they should provide owner-driverg with a means of travel comfortable, and, above all, economical. It is extremely doubtful whether 10 per cent. of motorists extract from their machines maximum efficiency, and, at the same time, the utmost economy! The old motorists' warning, "Never do anything suddenly," is still of the greatest value. Sudden starting, sudden stopping (except in an emergency), and abrupt and irregular acceleration, rapidly bring in their trdin increased petrol bills and heavy charges for replacement and repairs. Petrol consumption figures recorded by motor cars in authentic trials by their distributors are often puzzling to owners of ears of the same types, who find that their performances of their cars fall far sh'ort of the professional drivers' performance. A genuine comparison is impossible because motor cars tested for petrol consumption by their distributing agents are piaced in the hands of drivers slcilled in every .artifice to save petrol. Moreover, the cars are operated under conditions that would not satisfy private motorists. Nevertheless there is a satisfactory medium. More careful driving habits will make possible the saving of much petrol without affecting materially the pleasure to be derived from motor ing. How to Save Petrol. While perhaps spectacular, rapid acceleration is one of the readiest means of using petrol quickly, it also contributes to rapid tyre wear. Much lesg power is required to accelerate slowly and evenly. Few cars are yet equipped with free-wheeling devices, although their popularity is growing rapidly. Remarkably few motorists using cars not so fitted take the opportunity that hills offer of reducing their running costs. Many use almost as much fuel to descend a hill as when the car is operating normally on level running. To master the art of "coastin" should be the desire of every private motorist. Two courses are open. The first is to depress the clutch' fully while descending hills so that the car will run free of the engine. This procedure, however, is open to the objection that the clutch withdrawal meehanism is not designed to withstand prolonged use of the kind, and will rapidly become worn and noisy. The second course is to place the gears in neutral, and to leave the clutch normally engaged. This method deprivcs the driver of some of his control of the car, but it can usefully be employed on long, straight hills, where traffic is not heavy and particularly m country driving. The knack of re-en-gaging the gears when necessary can be mastered readily after a little practice. Use of an extra air valve to avoid the necessity for either of the methods mentioned is recommended by some experts, but selection of the type to be used should be made carefully.