STABILITY TRIAL

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21423, 15 March 1935, Page 18

STABILITY TRIAL

EVENT NEXT WEEK MANY ENTRANTS EXPECTED The reliability trial to be held by the Automobile Association (Canterbury) Inc., to Hanmer on Saturday, March 23, promises to be even more successful than the one held last year. It is expected that the number of entries will be higher; they were more than 50 last year. The course will be kept secret until the day of the event. The classes will be as follows: Open Class —(a) Cars irrespective of horse-power. Trade entries £1 Is, others ss. (b) Cars manufactured during or prior to 1914. Entry fee 2s 6d. For Private Owners Only—-(a) Cars up to 12 horse-power or decimal point thereof. Winner to be awarded the A.A.C.'s light-car cup. (b) Cars over 12 horse-power. Entry fee ss. Ladies' Class —Cars irrespective of horse-power. Entry fee ss. Entries close with the secretary, 151 Worcester street, on Thursday, March 21. All , entrants must be financial members of the Automobile Association (Canterbury), Inc. Late entries will be accepted at double fees. Competitors wishing further details of the event are asked to get in touch with the secretary (Mr J. S. Hawkes) or the sports secretary (Mr G. A. Hayman). The following are some of the conditions:— All competitors must be at the yard at the rear of the Automobile Association's club rooms, Worcester street, at 11 o'clock. Cars must be in readiness for examination, and fuel tanks must be filled with petrol and no extra petrol must be carried. All passengers and equipment must be on the car before being dispatched to the Christchurch Gas Company's weigh-bridge on Moorhouse avenue. Upon arrival at Hanmer competitors will be checked in at Mockett's garage, opposite the Lodge. The car must be left in charge of the observer with engine switched off until the petrol test officials have filled the car. Competitors will be issued with a note showing the quantity of petrol used and will be required to pay for same before receiving the car. A petrol test will be conducted on a formula taking into account the total weight of the car with passengers and equipment, the horse-power and the amount of petrol consumed. All cars must start in touring condition and cars in the private owners' classes must be standard as sold by the manufacturers. The trial will be adjudged on reliability and petrol consumption and any special tests arranged. The highest aggregate of marks will be the winner. It is not permissible for competitors to carry extra petrol, nor must the tank be replenished from the time the car leaves control at the assembling depot until it arrives at Hanmer and has been passed by the officials there. Petrol at Hanmer will be charged for at the rate of 2s Id a gallon, and competitors are asked to bring small change as split gallons will be required. Petrol must be paid for on the spot. AIR AND THE CAR FRIEND AND ENEMY OF MODERN MOTOR MANY IMPORTANT USES Modern motorists take many things for granted, among them being *he | very important part played in the present-day car by air. The "breath of fresh air" that means so much to the jaded worker eager to jump into the driving seat and seek the open country, means—metaphorically speaking—just as much to the vehicle in which he rides. Without air a pneunirlic lyre is a sorry spectacle, althou';!) to appreciate the advantages of low-pressure tyres is difficult in these days of good roads, and only the dimmest—if any—recollections of "solids." Pneumatic upholstery works on mii'ii f ? same principle as a tyre, but i"i n's; difference that it can Le run lir.y soft. Air and petrol form, as we know, the combustible mixture that enters the cylinders and does all the hard work when ignited by the spark across the plug points. The temperature of the air, which has a distinct bearing on the maintenance of tyre pressures, has also a marked effect on the performance of {he car in general. Wnen the temperature is very low, the petrol drawn from the jet is not fully vaporised, the cylinders are fed with an incorrect mixture and the running of the car as a whole is unsatisfactory until things have warmed up sufficiently under the bonnet to effect a partial cure. Nowadays problems of this kind have been very carefully tackled, however, with the advent of radiator thermostats and other devices controlling temperatures.

Engrine Breathers Most engines are fitted with what, appropriately enough, is called a breather, but novices particularly often are puzzled to know why a vent of this kind is necessary, arguing that the air displaced by the pistons coming down is surely accommodated in the space provided as the remaining pistons travel upwards. Actually, however, the pistons do not maintain equilibrium of air pressure within the crankcase, a bellows effect resulting, which, although small, would be sufficient to cause fluctuations of pressure in the crankcase and exudence of oil from bearings, etc., if a vent were not provided. There are on the modern car a number of interesting gadgets relying upon air or its exhaustion for their operation, notable amongst them being the vacuum fuel supply tank and the suction-operated windscreen wiper. By means of valve mechanism connected to the induction pipe the air is exhausted from an auxiliary fuel tank, the vacuum created being sufficient to draw petrol from the rear main tank. A float then closes the induction valve and opens an air valve, which by destroying the vacuum, releases 'the petrol on its way to the carburettor, when the process of replenishment and discharge is repeated. The suction-operated windscreen wiper consists in the main of a piston working backwards and forwards in a cylinder. Via the familiar rubber tubing, first one side of the piston and then the other comes under the influence of induction, so that an alternating movement is obtained, which is transmitted to the wiper arm. Automatic Clutches Similar principles govern induction devices for automatic clutch operation and for engine-operated servo brake mechanisms. In the supercharger employed on Graham cars vanes revolving at high speed feed a constant supply of gas under pressure to the cylinders. There is only one part of a motorcar depending for its functioning entirely on the total exclusion of air, this being, of course, the electric bulb of the vacuum type for lighting purposes, although nowadays gas-filled bulbs are more common. Finally, we come to one of the most important considerations of the subject under discussion, as evidenced by the attention which at the moment body designers are giving to stream-lining for the reduction of air resistance to the car in motion. Even when there is no wind, a large proportion of the engine's power is absorbed in overcoming resistance of

the air. Against a head-on wind, blowing at, say, 30 miles an hour, the extra work which the engine is called upon to do is enormous, air resistance increasing as 'the square of the car's speed. IDENTITY OF DRIVERS FINGER-PRINTING ADVOCATED Finger-printing of motor-car operators in California to ensure positive identification is not far distant. A bill is to be introduced in the Legislature to amend Ihe Motor Vehicle Act so as to require applicants for drivers' licenses to be finger-printed before the desired permits are issued. By this means it is pointed out that crimin-ally-inclined car operators and reckless drivers will be quickly picked out and the roads and highways of the State made less hazardous for the safe and sane element of motorists. The plan has the endorsement of a number of bodies, including the American Legion, which supports a plan for universal registration, by finger-printing of all classes of citizenship. The peace officers in the San Francisco area of the State are very active in pi-omoting the finger-printing of car drivers, a fact, the "San Francisco Chronicle" says, that brings to light the fact that Mr E. P. Brinegar, one of the pioneers in the Pacific Coast motor industry and now retired, over a year ago urged finger-printing as a natural part of automobile driving registration. In long letters to President Roosevelt and United States Senator Royal S. Copeland, of New York, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigation of the socalled crime racket, Mr Brinegar called attention to the fact that a good start for national finger-printing could be made by having the states make registration and identification mandatory. He explained that an easy and inexpensive way to do the job would be through the motor vehicle departments of the different states, thereby automatically identifying fully 75 per cent, of the populace required to register. Mr Brinegar further pointed- out that the present form of driving licenses issued would require little changing. The addition of photographs and finger-prints of the holders could be added without difficulty, and thus a perfect registration and positive identification would be established. It now looks as though the newtype registration for motor vehicle drivers is well on its way in Cali-1 fornia.