3 ms·

Any idea what major improvements there were between 1910 and 1920? I had no idea there were any improvements made before seatbelts in the 1950s.

WalterBright 7y ago
The switch to hydraulic brakes was a huge improvement, but I'm not sure when that happened.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- Jamwinner 7y ago
  Between 1918 and 1946 mechanical brakes were phased out. By ww2, they were nearly extinct except on the cheapest or older styled cars. I would argue the bigger advance was tires. Even mechanical brakes are plenty to lock your wheels, but tires are the actual road interface, and old ones are amazingly fragile. Vulcanization was not even known at the start of the auto age, and the rubber would tear off in chunks.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    Vulcanisation was patented in 1844. If the technique wasn't known until the 1920s, the issue of the patent exhibits extreme prescience on the part of both Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) and the US Patent and Trademark Office. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear Synthetic rubber wasn't invented until WWII, when natural latex supplies were rendered unavailable due to WWII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_rubber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_rubber
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    > mechanical brakes are plenty to lock your wheels It's not that. It's pretty tricky to get 4 wheel mechanical brakes to put even pressure on the wheels, rather than most of the force going on just one wheel. Mechanical brake linkages are fragile, susceptible to rust, dirt and jamming, and likely need constant tuning. With hydraulic brakes, it's easy to get even pressure on all the wheels. You can even put a "bias" in that puts more pressure on the front wheels, which makes for more even and controlled braking. Maintenance is minimal, and there are a small number of (protected) moving parts.
dredmorbius 7y ago
There was a tremendous amount of general standardisation, things we take almost entirely for granted now: - Electric / automatic starters. - Arrangement of controls (accelerator, brake, clutch) - Windshields. - Brakes. - Brake lights. - Turn indicators. Various improvements to roads, signage, and lighting as well, I suspect. As well as people simply knowing what cars were and what to expect from their behaviour.
catalogia 7y ago
Among the other things mentioned: When cars were new, every driver was a novice.
de_watcher 7y ago
People were busy with the war between 1910 and 1920.

WalterBright 7y ago

The switch to hydraulic brakes was a huge improvement, but I'm not sure when that happened.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Jamwinner 7y ago
Between 1918 and 1946 mechanical brakes were phased out. By ww2, they were nearly extinct except on the cheapest or older styled cars. I would argue the bigger advance was tires. Even mechanical brakes are plenty to lock your wheels, but tires are the actual road interface, and old ones are amazingly fragile. Vulcanization was not even known at the start of the auto age, and the rubber would tear off in chunks.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Vulcanisation was patented in 1844. If the technique wasn't known until the 1920s, the issue of the patent exhibits extreme prescience on the part of both Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) and the US Patent and Trademark Office. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear Synthetic rubber wasn't invented until WWII, when natural latex supplies were rendered unavailable due to WWII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_rubber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_rubber
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > mechanical brakes are plenty to lock your wheels It's not that. It's pretty tricky to get 4 wheel mechanical brakes to put even pressure on the wheels, rather than most of the force going on just one wheel. Mechanical brake linkages are fragile, susceptible to rust, dirt and jamming, and likely need constant tuning. With hydraulic brakes, it's easy to get even pressure on all the wheels. You can even put a "bias" in that puts more pressure on the front wheels, which makes for more even and controlled braking. Maintenance is minimal, and there are a small number of (protected) moving parts.

dredmorbius 7y ago

There was a tremendous amount of general standardisation, things we take almost entirely for granted now: - Electric / automatic starters. - Arrangement of controls (accelerator, brake, clutch) - Windshields. - Brakes. - Brake lights. - Turn indicators. Various improvements to roads, signage, and lighting as well, I suspect. As well as people simply knowing what cars were and what to expect from their behaviour.

catalogia 7y ago

Among the other things mentioned: When cars were new, every driver was a novice.

de_watcher 7y ago

People were busy with the war between 1910 and 1920.