How To Drive A Motorcar
A Key To The Subtleties Of Motoring

HOW TO DRIVE A MOTORCAR A Little Secret Some little time ago the writer, in studying the vari- ous phases of gear-changing, hit upon an idea which lie had never heard of before, and put it, not without a certain amount of misgiving, to the test of practical experience. With very little practice it really works admirably. Nevertheless, it may be as well, perhaps, not specifically to advocate it as a general rule, but it may be tried by those who care to make the experi- ment, and if they find they can do it successfully it is certainly easier than the method of engaging the top gear from neutral previously described. It is termed a little secret, as, having once proved it satisfactory in practice, the writer questioned a number of well-known drivers to find out if any of them had ever made use of the idea, and none of them had. However, whether the idea is or is not original does not affect its utility. Briefly, then, it is the bold step when wanting to engage the top gear again after coasting, of doing so without any consideration whatsoever for the clutch. The operation, of course, is precisely the same. That is to say, the engine must be accelerated up to what one considers will be the speed of the primary shaft and then at the precise moment, when the revolutions of the engine are considered to be sub- stantially equal to the speed of the primary shaft, the gear lever is gently moved into the top speed notch without using the clutch in any shape or form. Obviously tha movement must be carried out in an accurate manner, but when the manœuvre is executed successfully the top gear can be engaged without troubling in any way about the clutch, and this with- out the slightest noise and without thé slightest jar. Having done so, of course, the accelerator is brought into use again and the car'driven on as usual. Gear-changing for Braking Purposes There is one other aspect of gear-changing Which may be alluded to, namely, when it is desired to use the engine as a brake in descending a very steep hill. If one is on an unknown road and travelling at a fairly 102 Ji