Motoring Notes
THE BRIGHTON RACE TRACK.
The construction of the new motor race track, high up on the Downs five miles from Brighton, is making rapid progress and should be completed within a few months. The new track is not, as many imagine, a second Brooklands. It is a road track, purely and simply, and as far as possible ordinary road conditions will be preserved. Except the natural banking at the fast turn there will be no banking at the corners, while the road itself will be ordinary macadam bound with Colas, with a flint and chalk foundation. This is the same material as that used at the famous race track at Montlhery. There is a test hill with a gradient of 1 in 3.
NUMBER PLATE REGULATION'S.
New regulations are likely to be issued soon with regard to the illumination of number plates. The number plate will probably have to be mounted in the centre of the car at its extreme rear, quite clear of the spare wheel or the luggage grid. The lamp which illuminates it will have to be mounted above the centre of the plate, and not at the side, which is the general position to-day. This rules out a number plate fixed to the wing. In most cases this will mean that the motorist will have to invest in a new combined number plate and rear lamp, while probably rewiring will be necessary, as the present cable will be too short. The Government has lately been
carrying out some experiments in this connexion, and I understand that the above regulations are likely to come into force within the next few months.
WHY CARS BREAK DOWN.
The Boyd Automobile Club has issued its annual analysis of the causes of breakdowns, compiled from its "Get You Home " service. They are classified under eight main heads-- power unit ; engine ; transmission and brakes ; back axle ; front axle and steering ; road wheels and suspension ; lighting failures ; and accidents. Some thousands of cases are dealt with every year, and the information therefore gives one a good general average. The following are a few of the figures for 1924, 1925 and 1926 :— Breakdowns through Ignition .. . Axle shafts Cylinders and pistons .. :Road wheels and suspension Front axles and steering Gearbox ..
• • • • • • • •
1924.
0/43 ' 20-7 12-8 5-8 6-4 6-3 4-1
1925.
/ct 22-7 12-4 6-9 6-1 4-1 4-0 1926.
22-5 12-6 8-0 5-9 4-3 4-4 ROADS AND TYRE LIFE.
We all know that English roads are among the best in the . world. Certainly no European roads equal them. I doubt whether we appreciate the great saving good roads effect in tyres, to say nothing of petrol and maintenance. We can only guess at these last two items, but here are some interesting figures regarding tyres compiled by a well-known American firm. If we take 100 as the tyre life in Great Britain, thi figure has to be reduced to SO for the same car running in Germany ; for Belgium, Holland and Switzerland it is 75; for France it drops to 60 ; on Spanish roads the mileage is cut in half ; in Italy it diminishes to 45 ; while in the Balkans 30 is the average figure. Comparisons with the States are diffi- . cult, but in the Eastern States, where good roads exist, the mileage is estimated to be the same as Great Britain.
E. T. BROWN.
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