MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2527, 30 July 1915, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

e i [BY Clutoh.] City Motor By-Laws. It is desirable that sonic form of j registration likely to be more effective than the one in practice at prosent should be adopted by the Oity Council respecting.motor-cars and vehicles. One lias only to compare the motor regulations! in Wellington with what oxist elsewhere to see how far behind wo are in this regard. In Wellington it is only necessary to register the car once —when it is landed by its (private) owner, or when bought from a dealer. Thereafter it may change hands a dozen times, but in the council's books it still stands against the name of the original owner, so it is conceivable that if an accident did occur and the number of the car to blame was secured before its flight, thero would be considerable 1 difficulty in locating the owner. This is got over in England by each car-owner being required to register every year. There are still no speed signs about Wellington streets, though the council's motor expert has advocated their adoption frequently, and the taxi-drivers aro still allowed to leave their petrol tins about the' stands and besmudge the wood blocks with oil. The inspector has suggested a by-law dealing with such street, nuisances—nuisances that are not tolerated in any other well-conducted city.

Enemy's Faith in Broken Class. From the German point of view everything leads to tho necessity of her endeavouring to cripple the motor transport services of her enemies. This is not as easy as dropping bombs on airr ship sheds, railway stations, and the like, because 'the motor, vehicles are dispersed all over tho theatres of yar and are to bo counted by tens of thousands. Therefore Germany is seeking the means of crippling our use of 1 such machines when the time comes for us to make our advance. As usual, her methods, according to Mi'. H. Massac Brust, in the ''Morning Post,." are characterised by that most uncommon qualitj', common sense. Large quantities of empty bottles have been sent into Belgium, there to bo brokeu up and in duo course strewn on any roads along which it might be necessary for the Germans to make a rotroat. Inasmuch as the bulk of the motor transport service of a modern army necessarily consists of vehicles equipped with solid tyres, it might be assumed that the proposed tactics would prove more or less a waste of enterprise,en the part of tho enemy. His calculations, however, is based on the fact that the faster classes of motor vehicles used by the nations now at war, including varieties of armoured cars which could 1 le used effectively for tollowmg up and harassing a retreating enemy, are equipped with pneumatio tjies. Of course, various preparations exist for filling these tyres so that tbev become immune from puncture, nor would there be any difficulty in equipping a few armour-plated cars with apparatus for sweeping the road surfaces m rront\of a train of vehicles pursuing a retreating foo. Undoubtedly, tho armoured motor-car as an instrument of oiienco is destined to play larger part in tlie war than, it lias so far assumed.

The Electric Vehicle. _ Electric motor-cars are showing an incrcaso m popularity in America. Tho Motor Age" states that five now makes have appeared this season, and for the lirst timo an electric car is being marketed at the low price'of £150 The makers in the field during 1914 turned out approximately 5000 cars, and it is expected that the present year will see an increase of 1000 over this figure. lha average per company will be about ™ x 0 1?-' Most of the cars do from j0 to To miles at 20 m.p.h. on each charging of the batteries. American Motor Export Trade. The figures relating to the exports of motor vehicles from tho United States ycal V which' aro now .Mailable, afford sonic interesting infornmtion. lhey show, in the first place, that so xar as the private car branch is concerned, thero was a decliuo in tho 25,880 cars, valued at U1 1913, to 22,335 and id,y04,3'1l respectively last year. Eortimately for American manufacturers, the slackness in private cars has been more than counter-balanced by the ''URe orders they have received from the Allies for vehicles suitable for military purposes, the result being that, .taking the private and industrial vehicles together, the returns show that in 1 1914 a total of 25,764 macliines, valued at £5,/01,492, wero exported, as against 26,889 and £5,406,090 in 1913. Great Britain was by far the largest customer being responsible for 6799 cars (£1,378,302), Canada being second in the list with £1,069,569, and France third with £1,019,009. It may bo noted that no American cars have been exported to Germany .(direct) since July of last year.'

Petrol Consumption. There are many factors which affect petrol consumption, the size of tiros, gear, ratio, weight, road conditions, and pace. Messrs. White and .Poppe, the well-known carburettor manufacturers, gave the following instance of how these factors govern consumption. A car, they state, with a four-cylinder online 80 x 130 m.m.,' with 810 x 90 tires, a top gear of 3.5't0 1 direct, and weighing 29 cwts. loaded, should do 25 miles to tho Kalloiij on good, macadam roads, driven at 20 miles an hour. Rough roads would reduce tho miles to 22, whilst if the roads were soft, the consumption would bo 19.7 miles per gallon. Wet roads would increase the consumption. Bigger and wider tires, within reason, will lessen' tho road resistance, and improve the petrol consumption. If the car 'were geared 4.2 to 1, instoad of 3.5 to 1, the petrol consumption would be reduced to 22£ miles p.g., driven at 20 miles per hour* As regards the load, this is not so important factor as ono would imagine. For instance, if in the car under discussion four passengers were carried, instead of one, and tho weight increased to 4.V cwt., tho petrol consumed would bp 23.8 m.p.g. These particulars indicate how hard it would" ho to make any settled statement regarding tho potrol consumption of any particular car. The simplest way to ascertain whether tho consumptio nis good, i.e., economical, is to keep a record of rnileago for a settled period, say, six months, and a careful, account of the petrol consumed. In this way the averago wnsumption may be ascertained, and, if it conies within reasonable distance of the m.p.g. promised by the maker, it may bo taken that things aro all right. ' On the other hand, if it is suspected that -the consumption is at any time more than it should be, a special tost may be made, taking care that the conditions are normal, and ascertaining first that there is no wastago through leakage. Much petrol wastage may occur through carelessness in filling, and also habitual ovorflooding of the carburetter. These aro all points which tho economical motorist will observe.

Here and Thero. Legal lighting-tip time for motor-cars and motor-cycles: To-day, 4.54 p.m. Next Friday, 5.3 p.m. It is reported from France that Francois Fabor. one of tlie most successful and most popular'road riders in Enropo, has been killed in action in France. -Amongst Faber's many successes was his victory in the great Tour de Franco in 1909, in which event ho also ran second in 1.908 and 1910. The French crack also w'on tho classic Bonleauxl'arifl race in 1911.