MOTORING

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 228, 27 September 1938, Page 18

MOTORING

COMFORT AND SAFETY.

HIGHLY EFFICIENT POWER.

LATEST BRITISH MODELS

RESULTS OF TEST RUNS,

In their ceaseless search for power, comfort and safety, motor engineers have always l>eeu fared with the pronto tn of keeping performance within the hounds of economy. In America, with the price of first grade petrol as low as 8d per gallon, llii* problem is by no means as acute as it is in Kngland or in New Zealand, where heavy duties make every motorist fully mindful of petrol costs. In Kngland, al.-o, the horsepower tax has atrecti'd engine design considerably. The limitations originally imposed by this tax have caused" KliglWh engineers to concentrate on the efficiency of the small engine, and the result today is that the Knglisli light car possesses one of the most highly efficient power plants in the automotive field. Thus it is found that the majority of British ears have developed with economy noticeably in the foreground- and to-day, research laboratories are carrying out exhaustive l>ench tests to ensure this fuel economy. Short Test Runs. This is convincingly shown in a road test made in England by a standard model Vauxhall Ten. At* 20 miles per hour on a flat run, this car averaged

NEW PACKARD RIDE.

MANY NEW FEATURES. AUTOMOBILE COMFORT. MOST MODKRX OF CARS, The "new Packard ride" about which much has been said since the introduction of 1»38 Packard*, results, according to Packard engineers, from a whole series of new developments. Each is said to offer an important contribution to automobile comfort, stability and ease of handling. All of the new features combine to give the final result and all are co-ordinated with the Packard Safe-T----flex front wheel suspension. Major elements in the new Packard •;de system, beside* the exclusive SafeT Ilex suspension, are: Xew type of rear springs, rubber spring shackles, trans- I verse stabilisers, roll control bar. and j the new Packard opposed method of j mounting tlte powerful two-way' hydraulic shock nlisorhcrs. ' j

The rear springs have a combination of discs .some of which are rubber ami the others n special metal alloy. These discs are placed between the spring leaves, in cups at their ends, as to automatically relieve friction when it is not wanted and apply it when it. is wanted. The shackles are so made that they eliminate metal to metal contact, completely insulating the frame from the spring* witli rubber.

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68J miles per gallon; at 30 m.p.h. this decreased to 49.4 m.p.g., and at 40 m.p.h., to 44.5 m.p.g. On August 3 Mr. Tom Davidson, of Oormack. Wilkes, Davidson Ltd., the driver, and Mr. J. R. Johnson, the A.A. observer, set out from Christchureh in • standard model Vauxhall Ten. En route they encountered trying weather conditions with rain, hail and enow, making, new road formation heavy over the latter part of tne journey. The distance of 383 miles was covered at an STerage speed of 34.50 milee per hour, and the observer reported that petrol consumption was 45.06 mile* per gallon. and that oil consumption on the whole jpurney was nil. The entire journey was completed in top gear, and at no time was the car allowed to coast. These figures are doubly interesting if they are compared with those given earlier in this article, for. according to the English test, the Vauxhall Ten averages approximately 47.5' miles per gallon on a fiat run, at a speed of 34.50 miles per hour. This shows a loo* of only 2} miles per gallon when operating nnder much more gruelling conditions and at the same average speed. Auckland te Wellington.

The Auckland-Wellington test produced even'better figures—with an average of 45.78 miles per gallon. With the exception of heavy rains encountered between Mbkau and Stratford, the weather was fine with head wind* in places, especially on the Levin-Wellington run. Road works which were being carried out en route necessitated frequent loss of time., and the car was often forced to stop to allow one-way traffic to pass and to allow trucks to move off the road. Nevertheless, the Vauxhall Ten completed the journey in 14h sflm —averaging 31.1 miles per hour. Second gear was engaged on two hills only, the first 26 miles south of Te Kuiti. and the second. Paekakariki. On the former hill, road conditions were such as to make top gear performance unsafe for a car of any size.