HERE AND THERE, March 1930
HERE AND THERE
By ” CAMSHAFT .”
How Is Your Steering ?
MUCH has been written and many heated arguments have arisen about the causes of wheel wobble and the various steps that can be taken in the design to prevent it. However, the fact remains that wheel wobble does occasionally occur and is liable to be extremely ‘unpleasant; therefore anything which can be done to eliminate it fairly simply is always welcomed. A sports car which we have been driving recently and which had seen the best of its days was liable to this trouble and being too lazy to go into theoretical causes we fitted one of the well known F.E.W. steering dampers. The results were certainly very good as we found that any tendency to wobble was eliminated without having to screw the damper up so tight that the steering became heavy. Of course, steering dampers have been used on motot cycles now for a considerable time and although many idealists seem to consider such a fitting shows that the steering is at fault, we cannot entirely agree with them. After all if the fitting cures certain trouble and the said fitting is simple there seems to be no reason why advantage should not be taken of it, and we would certainly advise any whose cars suffer from this extremely annoying trouble to try the F.E.W. steering damper, as it is very simple and certainly appears to do the trick.
A Maude Trophy Echo.
There is no doubt that the Dunelt performance in winning the Maude Trophy with that remarkable 25,000 mile run at Montlhery last year, was not only a great triumph for the successful firm, but was a good illustration of the way Britain keeps her lead in the motorcycle trade. The lunch recently given by the Dunelt Company to celebrate the winning of the Trophy, was a fine example of the thoroughly sporting spirit that prevails in this industry. Ariels, who have held this trophy now for a couple of years were present to applaud the latest winners and Mr. Jack Sangster expressed his admiration for the feat which had wrested the Trophy from them, at the same time in a very amusing speech suggesting that should the Trophy show any signs of returning to its old home nothing would be done to obstruct it ! Mr. Pehrson for the Dunelt company inferred in the same spirit that it would be enticed to stay as long as possible in its new home.
Another Traffic Problem.
An example of the troubles that may be caused by amateur traffic controllers was provided the other day when I was driving up to town in a thick fog, and came to one of the numerous places where our new arterial roads are being uprooted and smoothed out again after their first settling down process. Only one way traffic being possible and visibility being nil, the controller (?)
explained that they were using a system of flags, handed me a flag with injunctions to hand it to his” mate” at the other end and despatched me into the mist. I was therefore distinctly annoyed a hundred yards •or so further on to meet a lorry looming up out of the mist and expressed my feelings in the usual manner. The fire was returned with interest, and what is more the lorry driver with an air of righteous indignation brandished a.flag at me ! His expression changed to complete surprise when I in turn waved my flag, and our comments were then turned to the optimists who caused the trouble but who were unfortunately out of earshot ! It is events such as this that lead us, sometimes at any rate, to thank our lucky stars for a well trained police force ! Imagine London traffic controlled by amateurs—ye gods !
A New Map.
The face of the country round London has changed so rapidly in the past few years, that even those who live near it find considerable difficulty in finding the best routes out of town to various parts of the country. In spite of the great improvements lately in the entrances to London, there are many experienced motorists who still use the old roads, being in many cases too long to find the best way out, while the comparative novice is always in a quandary when suddenly asked to decide the best route to follow to start a journey to say, Stratford on Avon. The Ubique people have recently brought out a very ingenious map showing the main routes out of London and this includes a very useful index. By looking up the town which is the object of the journey one finds a route number corresponding with a number on the edge of the map, giving immediately the correct road out of London. Certainly a useful addition to one’s possessions, and at 5/6 in a really good case it is not expensive.
M.S. Road Tests.
Several readers have recently asked for lists of cars recently tested by MOT OR SPORT, so here you are, with the numbers in which they appeared.
November, 1929 38/250 h.p. Mercedes.
December, 1929 41 litre Invieta.
IP Supercharged Triumph Seven.
January, 1930 Black Hawk Stutz.
)7 Aston Martin.
2-litre Schneider.
February, Hurlingham Vauxhall.
16/60 h.p. H.E.
This month Speed Six Bentley.
1500 c.c. Tracta. Next month (Wait till it arrives.—rip.)