The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-06-08


In between there is, as there should
be, a type of driver who plays both
roles ereditably. He does not shine
as a star in each capacity, but he
manages to contribute a lot to mo-
tordom by keeping both feet on the
ground.
Where he enjoys a distinct advan.
tage, and puts himself in a position
to aid motoring in general, is in
knowing both parts well enough to
switch from one to the other in an
emergency. If motorist confines
himself to just one role he runs the
risk Of being at loss If anything
happens that calls for the other
talent.
Wisdom Of No Avail
For instance, if the clutch starts
to fail, and the driver does not un.
derstand this particular unit of the
car, all the wisdom he has stored up
regarding his proper conduct when
at the wheel win not help him out
OF his predicament.
If he is engineer as well as driver,
however, the situation is quite diff.
ferent. He knows how to nurse
the clutch along. In the final analy.
sis he gets along better than the
person who is a past master at the
single art of driving, but who con-
fines himself to that one part in the
automotive drama.
Because the rule works both ways,
II also Is true that the all-around
individual at the wheel must know
as much about plotting the car as
he does about its mechanical units.
1t is a well-known fact that many
skilled mechanics who can tell just
which piston is doing the shaping
are notoriously bad drivers.
The most important feature from
the owner.epgineer standpoint is to
know how to use the engine, the
gears, the clutch and control the
speed Of the car itself. A point
which many drivers fail to con.
slider is that. given a balky piece
Of mechanism and a road so wide
and so smooth that it wouldn't make
any differenct whether they paid
any attention to where they were
going, they still would be unable to
make much Roadway.
In other words, all the skill in
driving at a motorists command
the total absence of mechanical
knowledge Of the car. But skill in
driving can be made to compensate
! for many of the drivers short
comings as an engineer, provided
there is sufficient basic knowledge
OF the car to work on. This rule,
also, works both ways.
One Role Aids the Other
An interesting angle to this is
that one role helps the other. The
: driver who is clever at getting
ahead of his competitors in traffic
. Is in a better position to become
more familiar with the behavior of
|. the engine under the strain OF ac-
celeration.
If he knows just little about
the busic functions Of the engine,
he soon will know a large portion
. Of its story. He will note that
acceleration tends to become less
: effective after driving ten thousand
/. miles or so, and this leads him to
! a better understanding Of the inn
. portance of timing in engine func-
: tioning.
He soon visualizes the front-end
: timing chain stretching or perhaps
jumping sprocket, a condition
that results in retarding the timing
: and that calls for a re-adjustment.
Frequently a driver will attempt
to pass another car on hill. only
. to discover that he cannot make it.
2 Usually he endangers himself and
others in discovering his failure,
and yet he may be very good
driver under circumstances.
He may have a clean record, and
] In this particular act of apparent
/ recklessness, there was no drought