ACCELERATION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 269, 1 November 1930, Page 13

ACCELERATION

HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE. It is not realised by the vast majority of the motoring public what a difference to the general running—and more particularly to the mileage per gallon obtained—is made by a sympathetic use of the throttle or accelerator control. When u*ing the accelerator it is better to avoid jerks and sudden depression, as, unless the car has particularly good carburation and the carburetter is specially tuned for snap acceleration, no better acceleration. but only an increase of petrol consumption results, than when it is depressed slowly. There are, however, exceptions to this, and one is in the case of cars fitted with “pump” type carburetters, when a sudden depression of the accelerator causes petrol to be sprayed through a jet, normally closed, to give increased get-away. After depressing and holding down for a. second or so it is better to ease the accelerator a little and let the car’s speed, as it were, catch up with the normal opening of the throttle for that speed, when, if another bout of acceleration is desired, you are still able to depress the accelerator. Incidentally, tho best petrol consumption is obtained by keeping a constant throttle opening. Regarding the mixture control, this does not require much altering when once tho best position for normal running has been found, with, of course, the exception of putting it to “rich” for starting and moving it back to “weak” as soon as you can. It is as well to make sure that it is at its weakest when the lever is in its (apparent) weakest position, as in one case excessive petrol consumption was traced to the fact that when the lever was at “weak” the carburetter end of the control rod was only half way between “rich” and “weak.” Braking presents no difficulty to the average driver. It is, however, surprising how many drivers who have been driving for years overlook the following small points:— It is a good plan momentarily to release the brakes just before the car comes to rest. This avoids a nasty jar to the passengers and, incidentally, saves tho car. Use the hand brake when it is of the type intended for use. It will save wear on the linings of the foot brakes, which are usually the first to wear out. In the event of the hand brake working on the transmission its use is not to be encouraged, except, of course, to hold tho car on a hill, as if used violently it may strain the transmission and back axle. These are just a few of the niceties of control, which are at once apparent. Practise them, and you will find that, sub-consciously, you will always execute them.