[TR] Free Wheel Def

[Jim Muller]

On 24 Oct 2009 at 17:30, William Brewer wrote:

> I am looking through a book on British cars of 1947 and it makes
> mention that some cars have a "free wheel".  I've seen this term
> before. What does it mean?

It allows the wheels to keep spinning forward when the engine slows 
down, much like the rear hub of a bicycle lets you keep rolling 
forward when you stop pedaling.  The premise was that it gave you 
better mileage.  But it provided no engine braking and would 
seemingly place higher demands on your brakes.

The last car I knew of which had one was the Saab 96, I think.  
Touble was, the V4 engine had so much torque it tended to break the 
freewheel, after which the car wouldn't go at all.

I believe freewheels were outlawed on new cars in the US by the feds 
in the late 60's or early 70's.

-- 
Jim Muller
jimmuller at rcn.com
'80 Spitfire, '70 GT6+