WONDER CAR.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19481, 30 November 1928, Page 4

WONDER CAR.

TEN YEARS BEFORE ITS TIME.

MANY NEW FEATURES.

The sensation of tho Motor Salon which opened in Grand palais < Paris, some weeks Ago was a cat said to be years ahead of its time (s&j s the motoring correspondent of the "Daily News")- This car is Cooled by steam, has rubber buffer suspension in place of the usual steel leaf springing, a fiecwlieel differential, chassis, and a gear system which is infinitely variable, giving speed ratios as low as 1000 to 1 and as high 39 2$ to 1. It will climb the worst alpine passes With a fall load at three miles an hour, and yet, on the straight level _ Soute Natiouale, give ft speed of SO miles an hour. Its engine is but 20 h.p, and its chassis just over a ton —about half thef weight of the) usual car of its size. The thermo-syphon system of steam cooling Is clever, much like that of any ordinary car externally. The bottom third of the radiator has a cold water tank. When the engine is started the water in the cylinder rises to just above boiling point, Steam passes from tho cylinder to the condonaer (occupying two'thirds of the radiator space), turns into water and drops back into the Water tank, which then feeds the cylinders with luke-warm water. A-dtuully", tho cylinder water jacket acts as a kettle.

By this system the engine is working at a uniform heat —the most efficient method for perfect carburation and lubrication. Less water is Used than by the average car. The car has front wheel drive, and the front suspension is Composed of two sets of rubber discs-—the bottom discs acting as compression and the upper discs as rebound dampers —all fitted in a neat cylinder. The rear suspension is similar,- but with two cylinders of robber discs for each wheel. With both front and rear brakes and clutch worked on tho hydraulic principle, a turn of one or more of three knobs carries out any adjustment necessary while the car is running. If your clutch 'slips y knob to the right and the dr' v.t. . If the clutch is harsh a :;e loft

bringn-SWect.ilelse o| op«iM<v..-. If your ffoiit brakes act luirsbly or otherwise inefficiently, a Bimplc turn and tho trouble vanishes. Another knob does the same for the rear brakes. Not only this, but you can alto? the brakes to suit the weather, road stirface, or your speed. If it is wet, with slimy roads, where harsh braking is dangerous, a knob does the safety trick. If you are travelling at high speed and want all the power of deceleration, again tho knob does it.

The chassis frame is also a surprise. It is cast in one piece of aluminium — an alloy that is also used in the engine to an extent hitherto unknown

USE OF HORNS: POLICE CHIEFS VIEW. The chief of the Paris police is of the opinidti that hooting and honking add to loss of life, and ho is Beriollsly considering the banning of all automobile horns within ths? city limits. That Is one of the measures proposed to make the streets safer for pedestrians. Under existing conditions "one person is killed dally, on an average, and twenty are seriously injured." And we are told Most of these accidents take plage at street corners where chauffeurs sOUttd horns, but do not slow up sufficiently to avoid collision with other automobiles whose drivers also sound horns Without diminishing the speed of their machines, The Prefect of Police and his committee of expert observers have about reached the decision to forbid honking altogether, With the object of Obliging chauffeurs to be more cautious. Pedestrians crossing the narrow streets in some parts of Paris often are suddenly frightened by the blast of an automobile horn. They become completely bewildered and do not know whether to run forward or jump backward. The question of speed in Paris streets 1b a most delicate one in its relation to automobile traffic. If the motor-cars do not move Bwiftly. there is continual danger of jams; consequently the effort of the police is to prevent dangerous speeds and yet keep traffic going faster and faster. SIX CYLINDERS. ABE THEY WASTEFUL? Some motorists cannot understand how & fast rate of travel causes increased fttel consumption. There is no doubt that complaints concerning excessive rates of fuel consumption have become more COtiimon since the general introduction Of medium-powered six-cylinder cars of good performance, and selling at a medium price. Motorists are apt to assume that the "sis" is therefore a wasteful kind of engine and voice the belief—amongst other things—that the j mixture must be set too rich in order to prevent missing, There is, of cource, a certain amount of truth in this assertion, but a much more vital factor is completely forgotten, namely, that the smoothness and quick get-away which characterises the six-Cylinder type of car encourages the owner-driver to indulge in much higher average speeds than he would have dreamed of attaining on, say, a four-cylinder car of three or four years ago. i Improvements in suspension systems, four-wheel braking, and the straighten- j ing and flattening of many roads, through improvement schemes, have all 1 tended to increnso the average rate of travel from point to point, and here j lies the chief rer.son for higher fuel bills. With a six-cylinder car of medium power, running on the level, approximately throttle opening is required to give a speed of 30 m.p.h., and the fuel consumption is then about 23 miles per gallon. The enthusiastic owner of a car of this kind is far more likely to want to travel at three-quarter throttle, say, 45 m.p.h. or so, which will immediately inereaso his consumption to 18 m.p.g. Again, if he Chooses to run at full throttle, say, 60 m.p.h., for some considerable time on one of the new arterial roads, he would find that his consumption of fuel had increased to tho remarkable figure of 18 m.p.g. It is, therefore, easy to see how a high speed will cause an inordinate amount of petrol to be consumed, no matter what precautions may be takes.