Motoring Luxury Gear-Changing
Kirin his UMW-in:411e effOrt
..
cannot' alwaYs say that this t oneimi,-.Toil a swifter change than its rivals, and undoubtedly more delayed than the best of the old straight ones, it is per featly true that gear-teeth liye now in an unchipped security undreamt of ten years ago. To head these notes on the qualities.-of lwo -cars of the luxury tyne..ni4 I have done is therefcire perhapS redundant. You doltdreliPect to buy a new car with any but what we wertoifif lately tailing a -luxury gear. Yetthese two new cars, the'2P-h.p. Straight:Eight Lraimler and the 28-h.p. 6-cylinder Hilmar-Snipe, ha'vegears so near my own private ideal that the title inaybe'exctiaed. There is nothing new, nor has there been these 10 or more, about the -Daimler gear, a Wilson box with a fluid flywheel ; and the de -Normanville gear has been a standard fitting to the two bigger Humbers for more than a year but during my triaLi of these two cars, which followed each other very closely, I was So struck by the excellence of both that I could not help regarding them as something out' of the' ordinary. There is nothing new to 'say about the 25-h.p. Daimler transmission except this—that it was the best example I have ever driven. No other Daimler of all those I have tried since the system was first adopted has had so efficient a set. Perhaps efficient is the wrong word, but it is the one I chose as soon as 1,4poic,oyer control, The pressure required on the shifting pedal fire-Tilly light 'afieflietravel is noticeably shorter, but the most important improvement of all was the new silence. I could not hear any of ...he familiar hum when the car was Oithqa sivOsttlutleLifld.k•,1 inakeiwqma Opeat. volpg:49m. t should not hesOinething 4W different'. It is noti • audible on thiicl'Or second- thelear- Wag going so fast that the several yeeirs—nt legit-fief a doien-:L'aineethienioststubbion, rd.sh of the..*ind7cliciivincla-nll _ longest-livedbogy, diffiMtgear-changing; was finally scotched. The Humber gear. is gthaost--as quiet: at sloW . speeds. and r suffere4.1rhatever'ilatIpepS bOgies in the end:- .I don't- qUite, unobtru4iVe.- at hip. • The inanoem.-ies needed.'lfor suppuse the*As Mie gear box, built within; the last three yea)rsr changing speed are the same as fora -change in anorthodox tfiaf clOeii"'notgive the driver :a serape-ea change, or makes ibok exceptfor the important- differences -that- the lever is ' under Your thumb on the Steering-wheel,•‘Where you want it ; tincl'Where it is--iiiiiirsiii"roffeh; dna:that you' eaiiPot make caw. for As. a -mess ...of ehanga. -You" ;in exactly 'the same way customer. Same haire,..tffir Pie:f3e1 ty4n,.."46MO -the qiegnary:ckange, -shifting the lever. to-the required one or niore earn laynehrOpinictiiid some the-freewheel: ; noteir..as,zoil release the autep,-MitTtfie 'Pfihie. advantage is sistem- his its; sOuttliiii!itiea -and Alittwhieig.", hiit while you that. 4,; "ak..priftly ..thbiight; at leagt as • swiftly as your thumb and left foot permit. After a little practice the various motious of hand and foot seem to merge into 'a single movement. You need not time it to change, but if -you_clumge _too late, you are. penalised- in the normal manner by loss of way. The Humber is now h 28 hp, the :engine measurements having been increased from 80 by 116 to 85 by 120,'a change which brings the cubic content to rather more than 4 litres, the tax being £20 5s. In addition to this the compression ratio has been raised to 6 to 1 and the claimed maximum speed isnow 80 miles an hour as against about 75 in the previous model. In most directions the car is mush improved. The acceleration is certainly better, and on all gears and in all eircumstancesthere is greaterhveliness: Theonly criticisms I found to make were in the steering lock, which might, with advantage, be little wider (I admit I 'cannot get Out of the habit ofludging' cars -from a Continental touring standard, with a Special' eyelto Alpine corners)- and inutile slight lack of directness in the steering itself at: ow speeds: The brakes, which have the help of vatuurn-servo,, areorery .good. In general,. the 'More quietly than its predecessor: The car I drove was fitted with the new " sPoiti" saloon, a complete misnomer; 'I am glad to report. It is a thoroughly comfortable and sensibly designed travelling carriage, with plenty of room in all directions for four large people and their luggage. The headroom is ample, and I cannot see why it is branded with this unpleasant but fashionable name. Its lines are excellent, and at £550 I consider it a specially attractive car, likely to prove as interesting on its way to Hungary as pottering about such English lanes as are left. The new Daimler is a very interesting car in many ways, but more especially in respect of its performance. They call the body of the car I tried a " sports" saloon .bpt, as in the ease of the Humber-Snipe, the name means absolutely nothing beyond a certain lightness and grace of outline. So far as I -know Daimlers have _never made sports_" _car; their nearest approach to anything not absolutely " family " being a series rather more lightly built than_ the regular range, but even these have never been offered to the public as anything " special." (I apologise for this array of,quptation-marks, inevitable if one-Uses the destitute motor-language of today.) They would have every right to add this model to the swiftly growing list of "silent ' sports' cars," and it says much for their good sense that they have not. It is a plain car, large and commodious, designed for comfort. It happens to go very fast and to Make remarkably little noise while doing so. The great majority of manufacturers have had this aim for 'years: 'Only a very few, very foolish people want noise with or without speed.. • • -
.,
The 'outgo capacity of the 8-cylinder engine is 8} litres (tax £19 10s.), the eurrent popular size in " sports " machines, but after half fin-,hour's driving in town and country you would COlgtinly.* believe it to be more. This engine is remarkably efficient, the bulk and weight of body seeming to have no appreciable effect on its general livelinegs. It will do about 85 miles an hour as a maximum—a notable figure with a car ot this-type—with 65 on third, but so suave is the pull and so unobtrusive the performance that you must be constantly looking at the. dial to realise your speed. You can control the action of the shock-absorbers as you drive. This means not only that you can, by touching a knob, giye yourself the most comfortable riding available over any surface, but, far more important, that you can cut out all tendency to sway at high speeds—an essential on present-day roads. The bodywork is very well. made and comfortable, as it should be. The [Note.—Readers' requests for advice -from- our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should beaccompanitd by a stamped and addreeleds envelope. -The -highest price p4able must be given, as well as the type of -body' required. ftadvice can be gkett on the purchase, sale or 4ittangefikuss444.3.
Previous page
