MARKET DEMANDS SUBSTITUTE FOR PETROL IMPORTED USED CARS FILTERING OIL ACCIDENT RISK

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 152, 29 June 1935, Page 32

MARKET DEMANDS

SUBSTITUTE FOR PETROL

IMPORTED USED CARS

FILTERING OIL

ACCIDENT RISK

LIGHTING-UP TIMES Sunday 5.1 p.m. Monday 5.2 p.m. Tuesday 5.2 p.m. Wednesday .... 5.3 p.m. Thursday 5.3 p.m. , Friday 5.4 p.m. I Saturday 5.1 p.m.

NEW ZEALAND CONDITIONS A LECTURE IN ENGLAND In a paper delivered before the Birmingham Graduates Branch of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, Mr. T. T. N. Coleridge deals exhaustively with; motoring conditions in New Zealand, making comparison with Britain in the • matter of roads, taxation, licensing, etc., picturing to his hearers similarities and differences and generally endeavouring to give an idea of just what New Zealand's requirements are and the influences that affect the market here. . . With regard to town and suburban use of cars he says:—"Practically any car is suitable except perhaps supersports cars. Light cars are doing very well on account of their low petrol consumption and running costs. Requirements are not much different from those in the corresponding class in Britain except that the horse-power does not matter unless it increases the petrol consumption. Ease of driving and s good ■ top-gear performance are also popular." Going on to cars for country use he says:—"These are really the class that are the cause of the periodic com-

(men, giving requirements much the j same as those set out as for farmers' use. "Small cars are not popular for this class," he concludes, "as they are uncomfortable for long journeys at good speeds over. indifferent roads." Of luxury cars he remarks that they belong' to a very small class of user. Sports cars come under the same category- "The number of luxury cars is kept down by the import duties accentuating any price difference already there. Spares and service are extreme ly difficult to obtain owing to such cars being in such small numbers. There are very few roads which are sufficiently good for a super-sports car to have a better performance than a normal car with good acceleration and i good cruising speed." • He finds ' less difference between Britain and New Zealand in regard to the operation of heavy vehicles Except for weight limitations they operate under conditions more like English con- . ditions than in the "case of cars. "They are affected by road conditions as much through the regulations as they are directly." He mentions that very light vans are little used. In the country the motor-car takes its place and in towns the half-ton van would be preferred as the tax "would be the same.

[ AUSTRIAN INVENTOR'S CLAIM 7 _ 1 "Synthetic petrol" by distillation " from raw products and waste materials i existent in any country in 'the world - is' the ' claim of an Austrian inventor 5 Baron, Alfred Coreth. The estimated 1 cost of production is from 20 to 25 per 3 cent, lower than that of petrol and it 3 is further asserted that the fuel can be made up from any one of twelve difi> 3 erent /formulae, with no special ret finery or distillation plant required. - The secret of its composition lies not

plaints from overseas owners. They are used on farms or homesteads for general purposes such as, (a) frequent journeys to nearest town, often up to 30 or-40 miles away; (b) carrying people, goods, and often animals about the farm, and hence traversing fields, and tracks; (c) fairly long trips'to large neighbouring towns. What an owner requires for a car is: (a) Ease of driving, as neither he' nor'his family will have the time or inclination tp learn to drive well, (b) Good cruising speed, (c) Good suspension, for driving fast over moderate secondary roads,.rough fields and tracks, or for accommodating extremes of loads, (d) Standard track of 4ft 6in to 4ft Bin. (c) Good ground clearance.- An excessive ground clearance is not so essential as that the lowest parts of the car should be strong enough to stand scraping, or, digging into the ground. (f) Good engine cooling, as long hills are frequently encountered, aiid, of course, long distances ,of even level thick mud is very hot work, (g) An engine, with plenty of power at low speed., This.;is.partly.for ease of driving, -but is absolutely necessary because many steep hills haye surfaces so rough and ' such ; sharp corners that engine revs, cannot be kept up. (h) Good topgear acceleration between about 15-40 m.p.h. This is usually concurrent with the previous requirements but is necessary, as on 50 per cent, of all roads the great frequence of corners makes such changes of speed a big factor for a good, average. Very few drivers these days, and especially of this class, want to have to keep changing gear every half-mile or so. (i) A good ground clearance between tire and mudguard, as: room must be allowed for heavy loads, excessive axle movements, and tire-chains as well, (j) Reliability and care of maintenance, as the car seldom has skilled or feven regular attention, while it is depended on and used, for so many purposes that delays must be reduced to a minimum, (k). For the same reasons as above a good spares service is absolutely essential so that repairs can be completed With the least possible delay." Similarly, he says of service cars:— "This is a type of motor-coach unique to partially-developed countries like New Zealand. They are really midway between cars and buses, accommodate--8-12 person Sy and have high scheduled speeds—i a view Of the difficult roads traversed. They are usually Jarge high-powered cars with special bodies and often have the 'chassis' extended and a slightly lower gea£ ratio fitted. The normal type of bus made cannot be used, as no bus produced has a high enough. power-Weight ratio. This high ratio is necessary, as the steep hills are bf sufficient, length and frequency to make high speeds on hills essential for a good average speed. Good acceleration at low speeds is required, ias explained before. '_; While all high-powered British cars are expensive this makes them quite unsuitable, as most of the extra price goes in smoothness and general refinement that is quite unnecessary in a service car. Thus we find that Amencan cars are almost alone in this work." They v have skilled attention between runs, so extra high quality is not required. They run not only on the main highways but also work on some of the worst backblocks roads.1 Often the service car is almost the sole link with the outside world that many remote homesteads have, and there the service cats and their drivers hava earned the reputation for reliability that H.M. mails have over the whole world. For. the 1933-34 year there were 029 service cars licensed ,and of these ithe first eight makes were American, ! comprising 69 percent. The remainder (was unclassified and divided between i 45 makes." I Mr. Coleridge also refers to cars used Iby commercial drivers and business

so much in the ingredients as in the use of a special catalytic the formula ■for. which Has been entrusted to the keeping of solicitors mall the important countries of the world as a precautionary measure. -The:basis of the new fuel,is raw 'i alcohol, obtainable from Avood ■or potatoes.. The fuel contains 40, per cent, of, this, ;10.or .20 per cent ,of water, ; the waste from distillation : of brown .coal, .and certain. .other ingredients selected, from, those available in the country of' manufacture. The fuel is so blended that it can: be. used in place of /petrol, without any 'alteration to the carburettor, or making' any other' adjustments. Complete combustion is claimed, with practically no carbonisation.' ■ An1 important point is that in its free state it does not burst into flame. It will ignite, but burns' quietly with a weak blue "flame. .On;this-account it is considered-that it has; great merit for. use in ■ aircraft.- , • '. .. Tests have been carried out in Austria 'by various manufacturing firms and official.'organisations, and the. reports substantiate the claims made. .The hew fuel has been awarded a gbjd medal and'the Gold Cup of the Austrian"'Ministry of Commerce. WORLD'S GREATEST PIPELINE . In "Improved Highways" (published' by the Shell Company) striking.details are given of.the Irak-Mediter-ranean pipeline, by which oil from 6000 feet below the, ground surface of the KirKuk hills is pumped directly into the holds ,of ships, in the harbours of Haifa and' Tripoli at its terminal points. '. The, total length of the 12in sunk pipeline is 1150 miles, con-, structed over hundreds of miles of' desert' and involving the crossing of the'rivers Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, and Orontes. Twelve ' powerful pumping stations —each ' a veritable township—have been' erected, three of which are on the fringe of civilisation and nine in the idesert, with a relief station in the Jordan depression. In addition, a dozen smaller installations were necessary to supply drinking water, involving the drilling of desert wells and the iaying- down of over, 200 miles of pipelines. ■ - The capacity of the main oil tankage at stations and terminals exceeds 500,000 tons, and the terminal works include eight submarine pipelines tomooring berths a mile from the'shore. The total, cost of the construction of this pipeline was approximately £10,000,000, and the total weight of pipeline laid. was 123,000 tons, mainly in-40ft lengths of 12in diameter. . ; This pipeline is-not.only the greatest of all electrically welded lines,' but from the combined Viewpoints of tlirougbput capacity and of capital.cost it stands as the greatest pipeline' construction enterprise ever carried' through as a single Operation.

Used cars for sale in New Zealand are imported from time to time, and' concern is felt by some traders lest the used car position may be rendered more difficult on 'this account. An investigation shows that from October X, 1934, to April 3D, 1935, 180 cars were imported, into New> Zealand, which had previously been used in another coun-, try." A large proportion of these cars have been purchased by New Zealanders visiting England and used by them in that, country. . Nearly all of these cars are of English makes. The figures show that the importations, which are less than 2 per cent. o£ the total sales for the period, are not large enough to disturb the used-car ■■market1 at present-- '

SMALL OUTFITS FOR CARS A British company is announced to have devised a small cheap filter which seems likely to bring oil filtration within'the range of the individual motorist. Larger filters made by the company are widely used by Diesel erir give manufacturers, by big transport companies, and by the Air Ministry, and have been found to recover about 95 per cent, of the original oil in a completely reconditioned state. The principle of the filter is thai dirty oil is- driven by compressed air through the walls of a cylinder composed of thin paper discs packed tightly together. The impurities remain on the outside of the cylinder, while the clean oil passes between the discs and escapes down the hollow centre of the cylinder. This form of filtration is much slower than the centrifugal process, but it is clainied by the-manufac-turers that it purifies the oil far more efficiently. When the impurities have formed a cake on the outside.of the cone, the direction of the compressed air is reversed and the cake is blown Off. ■■.■:■.-■ ' . ■ It remains to be seen how far the new and smaller filter can be used to reduce the individual motorist's oil bill. Its operation'is so slow that it will take him a day to filter the contents of his sump. Oh the other hand, the-filter can do its work while the engine if running, and if, therefore,, it can be fitted on the car hear the engine, the oil can be filtered without'inconvenience to the motorist. *his seems to be a matter for experiment by drivers or manufacturers.1 The owner of a small fleet of vans, on the other hand, should be able immediately to start reducing his oil costs, and the small-gar-age owner will be able to recover good oil from the filthy accumulations1 that he empties, out of 'his .customers' sumps. . Moreover, the spread of the practice of oil filtration should prolong the lives of engines.

SPEED THE CHIEF FACTOR In reporting for 1934 the first increase in the State's motor accidents since 1929, Connecticut's Departmeni of Motor ! Vehicles emphasises' wha< American safety authorities are realis ing more forcefully every; day: that the worst among the causes of ; automobilf mishaps' is the demond speed. Driving too fast, failing to grani right of way, and inattention were the most hazardous practices; defective condition of cars was blameable in bul 3 per cent;.of the accidents. Were' the speeders inexperienced youths out foi a joyride? On the contrary, the time tried man-at-the-wheel, who had been driving cars for ten years or more, was responsible for the greatest numbei of accidents,, the report says, adding that such drivers were apparently over-confident and took greater risks Testifying possibly ; to the effect ol education,: children showed a bettei record adults in the number ,od injuries arid fatalities. The conditions and classifications under which the accidents occurred re mained about the same as in formei years. The greatest number of acci dente were in December—Saturday is the day on which most accidents oo curred, with' Sunday following.