FRONT BRAKES ONLY

Shannon News, 12 October 1928, Page 4

FRONT BRAKES ONLY

Are we to have another change in brake fashions? At the moment the four-wheel brake system holds the field pnd there is nothing to be said derogatory to it (writes a London correspondent). But if a demonstration given the other day at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, is to be accepted, two of those four brakes are almost superfluous. The demonstration consisted in driving a. chassis fitted with separately operated brakes on the rear and front wheels over a dry surface. When the two rear wheel brakes were applied the car swung completely round ' developing a most comprehensive skid. When .similarly driven and the front wheels only were braked, the car was pulled without any apparent tendency to skid. That would seem to suggest that the rear wheel brakes under our present system are not required from the point of view of effective car control, because unless under conditions conducive to skidding two rear wheels brakes can be made sufficiently powerful to secure complete safety. Brakes cost money and so the suggestion arises: will two brakes on the front wheels supersede the four-wheel type? As the law requires two independent brakes, a supplementary brake •n the transmission, such as once was universal practice, would actually give a more comprehensive control. Front wheel brakes are more powerful than the rear ones, simply because, when applied, the momentum of the car lifts the weight temporarily off the back axle and throws it on the front one, thus giving the road wheels increased adhesion