THE MOTOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1407, 6 April 1912, Page 14

THE MOTOR.

(Bγ Aiirnres.) Mr. J. E. Yoe, tho well-known Ncwcasl'Je motoi'-cychst, and holder of the Melbourne to Sydnoy record, iutende to make an attempt shortly to lower tho 24 hours' Australasian motor-cycle record, which was annexed last week by C. Patterson, tho English motor-cyclist on Victorian roads. Cost of Cars. The cost of motoring has becomo so standardised that it can to-day be calculated with precision. Motoring has been cheapened by provision of suitable stel at commercial prices, and by great improvements modo in the pneumatic lyre. In 1902 tho average life of a tyre of a small-engined little cm , of slow speed was under 2000 miles. To-day I'ha averago life of a tyro on some of the best managed taxi-cab companions vehicles is as much as 9000 miles, and 6omo have dono 14,00(1 miles in spite of the. severo conditions of use aud acute wheel locks that result in front wheel tyro wear being as heavy as that of rear. Hand-in-hand with longer wearing lite, tho cost to the private motorist has been 'reduced to quite one half in the last ten years. 'Nine miles' motoring eau now be obtained for the former tyre bill of on mile's driving. I'rogress at this rate during the next ten years will lead to motoring for everybody. By spending ATJO to-day one can get a faster, more flexible, infinitely more refined, and more reliable car than any sum from .£ISOO to U.'2000 would procure in 1902. The running costs liuvo been brought down during that period to a sixth, ami .sometimes to a ninth, of what they were formerly. This is duo in a largo measure to standardisation, otherwise to producing not a score of ono typo before changing it, but 200; so that special machine process could be used.

The Cold Morning Start. The Rose Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, havo introduced a unique device intended to prevent tho cooling water of a car from freezing when (he car is stored ill an unhealed garage during Hie winter. This device consists of a small gas burner connected with the city main, a heater, and an inlet and outlet water-pipe connected, respectively, with the dram cock and filling cup of the radiator on tho car. Tho heat generated by the burner eets up an automatic circulation of tho water through tho radiator and cooling system uf the motor, thus keeping it above freezing point, with an attendant consumption of gas that is less than that of tho ordinary lighting burner. This invention should be a great boon to city men living in the suburbs who drive their own car into the oflice. On cold wintry mornings practically all cars that havo stood overnight in an unhealed garage are hard to start, and, consequently tho owner starts tho day with loss' of temper and time. The "Slipping" Clutch. To make a littlo excursion into the elementary matters of clutch design will be to bring out the points chiefly required in a motor car clutch, and also the. main advantages of each of the types. To begin at the beginning, a motor car clutch provides a flexible driving relationship between a driving and u driven shaft. Tho "flexibility" refers to tho range of relative speeds of Hid tw , shafts, and the necessity tfor it resides in tho fact that a considerable speed must be attained by the driving shaft, the engine craak, before it is capable of taking up the load on the driven shaft. This is due to an inherent characteristic of the internal combustion engine. Thus, at the time of starting tho load, the shaft to be driven is at rest, and (lie driver shaft must necessarily bo in motion. The clutch,-through its quality of flexibility, serves to connect the two so that motion is imparted to the driven shaft and iis speed progressively increased until it equals that of the dniver. Thus tho most obvious ivid important requirement of tho clutch in a motor car is that it be capable of "slipping" while assuming the lonjl. This quality ds most easily and simply obtained in a friction device in which the driving and driven parts depend upon frictional resistance (o their relative motion for transmission from one to the other. Abbott's Creek Bridged. Wellington and Wairarapa -motor-car and motor-cycle owners will be pleased to hear that a bridge across Abbott's Creek on tho other side of tho Riiinutakus has been built by motorists, anul principally through tho efforts of Mr. John Barton. Tho total cost of the bridge was JiMO Cs. 3d., and some motorists who have driven across it speak well of the suitable and substantial structure. In addition to the convenience, motorists are now relieved of tho anxiety which existed in the past, especially when the creek was high. The. cost of the work is more than originally estimated in consequents of another site having been selected; and as only about dCBO lias been subscribed «ESO more is wanted, a/id it is hoped that all owners of curs and cycles who havo not yet contributed to tile cost will do sd at an early date. The subscription for car owners is Ml, and for motor cyclists os.. and may bo paid to the honorary secretary and treasurer, 'Mr. C. M. Banks, U Grey Street, or to Mr. C. Izard, Fcalherston Street.