HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19893, 23 May 1936, Page 32 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

1% A COLUMN FOR MOTOHISTS. ‘ uzvmmr r. m: mwnmmmr-mmmmmmm‘mmwm

I im’rmemweomw i i “SMART” DRIVING. i I __— ! Tiii'lt’t\\'l4Nl} MONEY .\\\'AY. i i "“‘m- throw" away half the petrol .that you put Into your tank?" asks . an American writer. “A careful ‘ am“ "'1” ”Mn not more than 30 miles to the gallon from a car which. it driven in an extravagant. way, \\ill 81% only i 5 miles to the gallon." [ Nearly every driver (lashes away from a. standin: start, pressing- the ac—i eeleraior pedal down to the floor 1 boards in an effort to outstrip the ear beside him. I This is extravagant motoring. . rt 1 costs money to make a quick get— RWHY. no matter how efficient your ‘ engine may be. Pressing the throttle down to the . tioor gives the engine more petrol. than it. needs for maximum accelera—tion. The average engine develops nearly as much power. but uses about hair the quantity of petrol. at, half throttle. . Driving faster than the regular flow of traffic necessitates excessive use of the brakes, and one throws-away most of the advantage that was gain—ed in the flashing start. Petrol is wasted and brake linings are worn. Driving the car as fast as it can be driven in the lower gears is an—other extravagance. Although it may give only a veertain amount of satisfaction to roar through the. gears, ("lliSil‘irlpiilf.’ the other fellow, one must pay for the experience. The driver who wants economy should shift; into second Hear at .10 miles an hour. and into top at, ‘25 miles an hour. Actual tests have shown a saving of up to one-third of ;- cup of petrol on the single start. i llow often does one, head the driver: .making his engine roar in a series} I of quick bursts. in the way that dirti ‘ track riders test the engines of their motor—cycles for pick-up. This practice floods the. combustion chamher with petrol. It is not only wastet’ui. but it; is harmful to the engine. i It dilutes the lubricating oil and may cause scored cylinder walls and a host of other serious complaints. The car of to—day will so almost anywhere on top gear. yet the gear lever is handled a surprisingly larze number of times. because of traffic checks, business calls. and so on. Every start means setting in motion a ion or more. of dead weight. Ry driving tearetuily one may save one—third of a cup of petrol each time one moves from a standing start. At the end of a day one may have saved even half a gallon, which is worth nearly a shilling. The effect of sudden acceleration on petrol eonsumption was revealed in a series of tests recently carried out, overseas. To accelerate quickly with a full throttle from a standstill to 30 miles an hour in second gear calls for a considerable "outlay“ in newer, and during such time the average full—slzed car will deliver only from about four to live miles a gallon. During sudden acceleration from 30 to 60 miles an hour. with full throttle. and in top gear. the average is from seven to nine, miles a. gallon. Driving a car with wide-open throttle uses much more petrol than travelling at. a moderate speed with the throttle only partially opened. __.—__. JUDGING SPEED. i FEET A SECOND. NOT MILES AN HOUR. “The importance or" having motor—ists think in terms of feet a second instead of in terms of miles an hour was mentioned the. other day." says the latest safety first message of the Automobile Association (Canterburyt. Ine. “Exhaustive tests carried out overseas by experts prove how neces—sary it is for motorists in these days to give the closest attention to feet a second in their driving in traffic. “Speaking generally , a motor—car Tan he stopped on a good dry road in 40 feet from 30 miles an hour. without any appreciable skidding. and t that. performance. corresponds with 73‘] per cent brakinr: emriency and a loss 1 or speed of Ilf‘tll'lv ltié miles an hour] I a second. the distance of 3:0 feet being] covered in l i-fiset-ond, or in the timc‘ [required to count one. two, three.’ livery driver should know that at in I miles an hour a motor-ear rovers 2'2 I feet. in a second: at. ‘2O miles an hour. i ‘l9 feet; at. ‘l3 miles an hour, 36 feet: t at :10 miles an hour. it feet; at, 3:; ‘miles an hour. 51 feet: at 110 miles . an hour. 66 feet a second. i "All motorists should know the t meaning of speed and they should talk in dangerous feet and precious life-saving seconds instead of in so many miles an hour. Motor vehicles haw altered materially in the last, few years. They are faster. quicker in acceleration. and more silent. and motorists must adjust their driving hat-its to the changes which have taken place in motor behieles. l‘tislts ! must not lie taken in any elreum-i .t lures." __.—— t

OIL KEPT UNDERGROUND. 3 Building of a number or underground‘ oil depots in Britain in open country‘ and far from air landmarks was urged as the best, method of protecting Eng—land‘s oil resources in time of war he" Colonel \\‘histon A. Bristow, military expert, when addressing the Royal United Service Institution in London, writes a correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor. Accepting the axiom that ” it is impossible to provide com—plete protection from air attacks," Col—onel Bristow proposed that these underground storage depots should be built so that grass and trees grow over them, and so that the closest inspec—tion from the air woul reveal nothing. “These underground depots," he add—ed, “would be connected with the coast by pipe—line, and it might be de—sirable to connect the whole system by pipe-line. The scheme might cost as much as $220,000,000." Colonel Bristow declared that the capacity of the storage depots should be large, not less than 5,000,000 tons—about tive Innnths‘ supply, l ' some USEFUL HINTS. I A most important instruction in car owners‘ instructions hooks is that concerning care of the oil filter. The oil filter removes abrasives and for—eign matter from the oil before they can damage cylinders, pistons and other internal parts of the engine. 1 The instruction books recommend that .ythe filtering unit of the oil filter be vrenewed at 8000 to 10,000 miles of operation, as after this mileage it becomes filled with foreign matter and eases to function at. highest efficiency. Renewing the filter safeguards the engine againsct wear from dirty oil. The condition of front. wheel bear—ings will affect considerably the ef—ficiency of the front. brakes where these are of the modern internal ex—tanding type. “[llßl] the races are worn, particularly the outer race. re—mote from the brake side of the hut). the hub. with the brake drum ai—iached, is canted over relative to the} brake shoe. The result is that only half of the lining will come into eon-l tact. with the drum when the brake. is applied. and much power will be lost. Added to this. wheel bearings make steering both heavy and uncertain. and are apt to cause “shimmy" and heel—and—toe wear on non—skid treads, while a final reason for replacement is that a loose ball bearing is liable to collapse completely at, any time. \\'ht‘n driving: in mountainous coun—try at high altitudes always remem~ her that. the water in the radiator will belt at; a much lower temperature than in the districts not much above sea level. The danger point, on the radiator thermometer is really much lower than the dial indicates. In other words, if the. thermometer registers much above. normal on a stiff gradient, set out. and investigate. Sudden irregularity of the engine and misfit-int; or popping suggests water or dirt in the petrol, which has partially obstructed the jet. Try sudden spurts of acceleration by pressing on the pedal or drain off the contents by undoing the lower plug or jet. This. trouble seldom occurs where the owner hasvt-he t’uci filters cleaned at regular intervals. SPARKS. . Receipt of a copy of the Austin Magazine for April, 1936. It is a special spring number, and contains a number of topical articles as well as much information of interest to motorists generally. A Hastings child, seeing in Here—taunga Street One of the surviving hitching-posts for horses, asked her father what the post and the ring on it. were for. “Alas, my child," he said, or words to that effect, “to think that I spent half my life among horses, and that I have lived to be the rather of a child who has never seen a horse hitched to a. post. in Hastings, and does not. even know what the post; is 1‘0“" It, is, perhaps, not so anomalous us it may sound to suggest that the preservation or those five or more rrlirs ot‘ the past, all of which are it] llcretanna Street. (Emil 111979 “I’9 a few others elsewhere). might be a Last; for the Progress League.