AUSTINS ADOPT HE HAYES SELF-SELECTOR TRANSMISSION.

AUSTINS ADOPT THE HAYES SELF-SELECTOR TRANSMISSION.

Sir Herbert Austin is to be congratulated upon his courage and enterprise in offering to the public the Austin Sixteen fitted with the Hayes Self-selector gear, at an extra charge of £40. That the infinitely variable gear will one day become universal goes without saying, and the Hayes transmission is certainly a step in the right direction. Briefly, the Hayes transmission dispenses with all gears (except to provide reverse) and is consequently almost silent. The most important feature, however, is

the fact that it gives infinite variability between high and low speeds, and its automatic functioning ensures constant engine speeds whatever may be the tractive resistance met with on the road. The actual transmission is through steel rollers which transfer the drive between curved steel races, the ratio being altered by rocking the rollers to different contact positions. Hand-controls enable the driver to vary the running of the car in several ways, to give either exceptional

performance or extreme economy, and these controls undoubtedly provide a new interest in driving.

The makers claim that this transmission provides a delightful mastery over all road conditions, and state that as it has been subjected to intensive research and experiment covering several years, as well as being based on recognized and successful mechanical principles, they are confident that it is fully as dependable as the car to which it has been applied. And that is saying a good deal.