W.D. Trials a Unique Event
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PARTICULAR interest, this year, attaches to the War Office Trials now being held among the North Wales mountains, because they are virtually a part of the country's extensive rearmament scheme.
To be adequately prepared for war, it is necessary to have not only more, but also better equipment than have other nations, and to this end it is essential to subject transport machines to the most gruelling tests that they can reasonably be expected to endure. Manufacturers naturally are prone to regard these trials, to some extent, as competitive, and this is a desirable state of affairs in that it breeds enthusiasm. By this, however, we do not suggest that they are not inspired to their efforts in this direction by a sense of public duty. Actually the tests are primarily experimental, and constitute a good example of collaboration between the army and the commercial-vehicle maker. One of their main objects is to ascertain what modifications to chassis are required to enable them to operate satisfactorily under abnormal conditions, and what are the most suitable types for such purposes.
Matters of gearing, cooling, etc., are relatively simple ; others are not so straightforward. For example, there have been cases where the fourwheeler, with suitable tyres, has contended with cross-country conditions—wet and soft surfaces— more successfully than the six-wheeled type. Engine characteristics, too, afford wide scope for experimentation. Flexibility and sustained torque may make all the difference in sin-mounting an obstacle or in extricating the vehicle from an awkward hole.
These trials are unlike any other event in the commercial-vehicle calendar, and their results will. be watched by the industry with the keenest interest.