AS THE WHEELS TURN

good picnic good food good I should give it right like that not a chance on you Chevrolet ride smoother and gives more all-around comfort than any car we ever owned that's right that's why we bought it but you know I can't imagine what they've done to make it that way lots of things things you can't see hidden values now you take that easy stereo oh ho boy remember me I'm your wife now one of your engineering friends Oh even you can understand this years ago front wheels had a solid front axle when one wheel went over a bump the other wheel bump to the steering wheel jerk and passengers rocked and Jordan then they figured out how does suspend a wheel separately something like this with the wheels on separate axles they can't pass bumps to each other so bumps have less effect on steering our Chevrolet's have had that kind of front wheel suspension for a long time but the engine is still weren't satisfied with the steering you see front wheels are connected to the steering by what they call tie rods and because the steering wheel is over on the left side one tie rod was longer than the other it was like well imagine trying to steer a rowboat with one or longer than the other with oars of unequal length you'd have to pull hard on the short order get the same steering effect as an easier pull on the long haul here's what happens in the automobile to steer the wheels you have to push the tie rods and remembering the rowboat you can see that you'll have to move the tie rods different distances to get the same steering results also as the front wheels bump up and down the tie rods turn them slight both wheels turn inward but because of the unequal tie rod one wheel often turns more than the other so and straight-ahead driving on rough roads unequal tie rods can make a car pull slightly to one side no good huh no and a difficult engineering problem to boot but if the tie rods were practically equal length each would move the same distance to get the same steering result and bumps would have an equal effect on the wheels yes there were a lot of problems involved in designing such a system but we have it on our new Chevrolet the tie rods are now practically equal in length and they're connected to the steering wheel through a third arm called an idler arm this even balancing of the steering system makes it less work to steer and we get practically no road shock through the steering wheel no we'll fight that Center Point steering what makes our new Chevy seem to sense where you want it to go a car with road things that's a good name for it say we're the kids over there on a teeter-totter do you think Cathy's alright she's in the best spot hey boughs huh Cathy gets a smooth ride and that very same idea is one reason for the smooth ride we get in the new Chevrolet good idea well a car act so dove like a teeter totter when you drive over bumps it rocks up and down in some cars the backseat is over the rear wheels where passengers bump up and down like the kids on the end of the teeter-totter in our new car the seats are between the wheels where you get the smoothest ride like Kathy at the center point of the teeter-totter with Centrepointe seating all passengers get a front seat ride but Centrepointe seating is just one of the reasons why our new car rides so comfortably another reason is what they did with the rear Springs well this'll take some pretending but well just imagine this chain is a rear spring and the flashlight is a gadget called a shackle a shackle yeah a kind of pivot the spring is fastened to the frame at the front shackle at the rear when a bump pushes the wheel up shackle and spring act to cushion the shock now with ordinary Springs and shackles one passenger in the car gets quite a jolt from each bump these Springs are too stiff however three passengers get a pretty good ride five passengers can hit bottom the spring is too stiff for light loads too soft for heavy loads finding a spring system that will give the same smooth ride regardless of the number of passengers but they finally found a solution part of it was timing the shackle so the angle between the shackle in the spring was much wider then they put in a softer spring to give the single passenger a comfortable ride with heavier loads the shackle moves back stretching the spring to stiffen it the more passengers the farther the spring is stressed and the stiffer it gets to cushion the heavier load and that's our new Chevy softer rear springs with a shackle design to give just the right spring tension for a comfortable ride whether it's carrying one passenger or five so that's why the car seems to ride the same whether I'm driving alone or with the whole family that's right but there's even more to our new Chevy's riding is next time we go to the airport watch the landing gear while an airplane lands and notice how the shock absorbers cushion the tremendous weight of the plane as it hits the ground the action of the shock absorber piston sliding into an oil filled cylinder of saw much of the shark let's make a model we'll use this for the pistol and this for the cylinder with water instead of the oil now when a pump pushes the piston oh I forgot something these holes represent the valves in a real shock absorber which control the fluid flow when the piston is pushed down they permit the piston to slide down the cylinder but slowly on the rebound a spring pushes the piston up and again the fluid controls the action our Chevrolet shock absorbers are now this same type when we hit a bump they smother the shot by slowing down its effect one of these direct double-acting shock absorbers is mounted in each front suspension unit teamed up with the strong coil springs in the rear the same kind of shock absorbers are placed diagonally instead of straight up and down this is so they'll act like the braces on the swing the kids are using they steady the body of the car on curves and in crosswind driving so you see there are three big reasons why our new Chevy writes so much easier the center point CD the new spring and shackle arrangement and the new airplane-type shock absorbers you'd never think simple things like that could make so much difference simple she says they seem simple after they're perfected but what it takes to develop one of those simple things and make sure that it works why do you know don't you think Tommy swinging Gale too hard oh she knows how to hang on you know a better way to stir up a breeze breezing along in our new car oh you got something there you know they call it the car that breathes up front under the hood are two air intake scoops leading to the passenger compartment when the car is in motion outside air is forced inside the amount of air admitted can be controlled by vests which open or close so you can have air from both scoops from one or from leave it another thing the air tunnels are slanted upward to help keep out dirt and water and screens and baffles make doubly sure only air can get through outside air also passes right through the heater core so when the heater is on the air is warmed as it's forced into the car and over the front seats into the rear compartment also the tunnels beneath the front seats off the air circulation to ensure uniform temperature front and rear the blower builds up enough pressure to force stale air out as well as keep cold air from leaking in the heater controls regulate the temperature of the air and the speed of the blower for instance in warm rainy weather you can turn the heat off entirely turn the blower on and fill the car with cool outside air our defroster is controlled just as easily with the wide to forrester slots beneath the windshield i steam and fog are melted away more rapidly than I ever thought possible yes from the standpoint of passenger comfort and a smooth riding and driving ease I think we've got a pretty good buy well I'm satisfied and I'm not too easily pleased as you may have noticed yeah don't I know of course we've just talked about a few of the many things that they Chevy my number one choice what's it that your dad's conception of I knew Chevrolet oh you're kiddin ya son it's the only way I could think of to show your mom the hidden values in our car so when we get going she'll know some of the reasons why we get all that big car performance from our new Chevrolet