MOTORDOM

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 October 1928, Page 4

MOTORDOM

NEWS OF THE ROAD

(By

"Gearbox”)

HOUSING THE CAR. | DRIVE STRAIGHT IN. An article intended to put the novice driver on the right track in learning to control a, car, the other day stressed an immediate concentration on achieving ability to reverse. The advice was well intended and in a way excellent. Skilful use of the lexers© gear is the best, and often the only method, of handling a car m .difficult situations; given a foot or two backwards or forwards an expert driver can always extricate himseli fairly readily, while parking can be accomplished by a reverse manoeuvre where it is/ hopeless to attempt folward entry into the kerbside. But when the article went on to recommend reversing into the motor house as a start on the road to proficiency it certainly took a stand on ground .the most insecure. “Perhaps, said tho article, “the best way to begin is invariably to reverse into the motor house, rather than to drive in and imt off the evil of reversing until the morrow. The convenience of having the car instantly ready for use, and the better accessibility of the engine are sufficiently good reasons in themselves for this rule, but the practice that one obtains in reversing is invaluable.’’ The novice will be well advised to do no such thing. In the first place why risk almost certain damage to a perfectly good car and a perfectly good garage. If backing into the garage is advisable it will be time enough for a novice to adopt the practice when he has ’become sufficiently expert to run no risk of damage. Quite apart from this, however, it is not a good to back in, unless the space in the garage is so confined that it is really difficult to get to the front of the car, and’ if this is so, then all the greater is the reason for the novice not to attempt backing in until he has become proficient. A car driven in forwards can be handled to an inch by even a novice, -and stands ready to back out with little risk —generally none whatever —of fouling anything. The garage should be roomy enough to allow one to get past the side of the car. Another point is that when a car is driven forwards into the garage the exhaust is left pointing straight out of the door and into the open atmosphere. This is a matter of greater importance than many people realise. There is real danger in allowing a car to run with the exhaust discharging into the confined space at the rear of a garage; the fumes contain deadly poison, and even though a driver may not actually be overcome he is gaining no benefit from steeping himself in them. Most garages open direct on to a street, so that backing out is quite a simple procedure. A toot of the horn will wafn pedestrians on the footpath of the presence of the car, and the footpath provides sufficient space for traffic to see and be seen before the car gets on to the roadway. The whole process is simplicity itself, whereas to back into a garage is a complicated manoeuvre, without real advantage when accomplished to recommend it. Further, a car can always, if necessary, be pulled back out of the garage. If it has been properly housed the steering wheels are set ready to allow it to come back; there is no need to squeeze one’s way alongside to get at the steering wheel. The novice need only look around him to see how rare it is for a car to be backed in. He will see this method adopted once in a hundred times. After he has ripped his door off its hinges and got his wings straight again he will probably realise that backing is best practised in an open space where no harm can be done. DIESEL ENGINE. POSSIBILITY FOR CARS. When one considers* the marvellous degree of efficiency to which the modern internal combustion engine has been developed, with its 4,6, 8, and even 12 cylinders, its smoothnes and silence of operation and its flexibility, it may come as a surprise to many to learn that a coterie of eminent engineers in England, France, and Germany is convinced that its supremacy is about to be threatened by the Diesel principle. Actually, the Diesel engine has been extensively developed of recent years, hand in hand with the petrol engine. Although the Diesel is an internal combustion engine, it .does not operate on the same principle as the power units at present employed for automobiles, in which the charge of petrol vapour and air is drawn into the cylinders from the carburettor, ignited by an electric spark, and burnt instantaneously. In the case of the Diesel engine, only pure air is drawn into the cylinder and compressed, and oil fuel is then injected as a fine spray into the highly .compressed air. The air is compressed to a pressure of about 5001 b per square inch, and the temperature is sufficiently high to ignite the spray of oil, but in view of the high pressures which have to be dealt with, the Diesel engine is necessarily of very robust construction,, and its weight has been the main difficulty to be surmounted, before they could be developed for use in road vehicles, or possibly for aeroplanes. Nevertheless, considerable attention is being paid to the Diesel engine behind the scenes, and in engineering circles in England and on the Continent, it is not considered impossible that the day will soon come when the various difficulties will be surmounted, and this type of power plant will be ultilised for all classes of mechanical transport on land and in the air, for it possesses one great virtue —economy in fuel comsumption, apart from its unquestioned reliability and safety from fire risks, compared with the normal petrol engine. BREAKING TN. Breaking in during the first 500 miles is one of the most important periods of the life of a car or motor cycle. Much depends upon keeping down speed, but overloading, through neglecting to change down before it becomes absolutely necessary, is a form of abuse not often recognised. Changes of oil should be made at 500 and 1,000 miles for cars, and‘at 250, 500 and 1,000 for motor cycles. Plenty of oil should be used, and some agents now insist upon the uso of a special upper-cylinder lubricant in the petrol. ? i, i

how ,to tour. take it gently. Many motorists, and novices particspoil the pleasures of touring by ndertaking too long a distance daily. R io urneys tire both drivers and passengers, and those who make large S"llv mileage seem to memorise verry little of .the scenery through which thev have travelled. “Clutch,’ in the “Australasian,” in writing on this topic, says that enquiries made> by him show that the people who. have expressed the opinion that touring is tiring have set themselves to cover at least’ 200 miles, basing their schedules upon their ability to run 150-200 miles quite easily during a day s run from and back home. But it should be borne in mind that a run of 200 miles in one day is a very different thing from running the same distance or even 150 miles on several or. many days in succession. The experienced motorist on a big car may find it well within his powers, and he may set off each morning feeling as fresh as at the beginning of the first day s run. That is what all motor tourists should experience, but there are very ew relative beginners of “older motorists on cars of moderate or low power who can be assured of it; each day they may feel more tired, physically and mentally, if they attempt such daily mileages. As a general rule the actual driving time that should, be planned is five hours a day on the average, and the average speeds cheduled for the running time should be lower than that usually accomplished during week-end runs. After all, the object of a motor tour is not merely motoring, but motoring to see new parts of the country, beauteous and impressive scenery, picturesque and interesting architecture, and so on; and that object cannot be attained if, from early morning until late in the afternoon or evening, the driver feels that he must “push on” to avoid being late in arriving at the day’s destination. For the first day 150-200 miles may be justified in order, to .get right away from the home district, but thereafter 100—120 miles daily is far enough to plan in advance, if the tour is to be enjoyed to the utmost by all members of- the party, and even that is too much where roads are poor.

WITHOUT MOTORS.

STAGNATION?

While it is incongruous in these times that improved transport facilities should be restricted to preserve or safeguard old and less efficient methods, the questions have been raised whether it is wise to defy constituted authority or better to endeavour to demonstrate to the authorities the unwisdom of the action taken in prescribing the use of this or that type of motor transport. While the motor may adversely affect the railway revenue on some lines, it.can,be accepted that on the other hand, it is a potential factor in keeping the people on the land; of increasing production and facilitating business from which the railways must benefit. To eliminate the motor vehicle from town and country life would .mean stagnation, arid the railways would be the first to feel the effects. A FUTURISTIC CAR. An unorthodox car has been built by M. de Lavaud, the French engineer, whose researches during the last few years have been particularly directed toward improvement of transmission systems. This is a very imposing list of novelties, and it may be explained at the outset that it is not M. de Lavaud’s intention to manufacture these cars for sale to the general public. He is a prolific inventor with the courage of his convictions, and has .spent a large sum of money in constructing cars embodying his ideas in such a way that they can be demonstrated to motor manufacturers. It has an automatic, infinitely variable transmission, abolishing all gear changing, and a centrifugal clutch which picks up the load smoothly without pedal control; the back axle contains a free-wheeling roller-clutch differential. The suspension consists of a special arrangement of rubber pads, there being no metal springs, the front wheels are free to move up and down independently, the steering gear is duplicated and hydraulically, damped, the frame is a single casting in an aliminium alloy, and the engine is steam cooled. CHANGE OF SPARK PLUGS , It is not unusual for motorists to run their cars for two, three or even four years with the one set of spark plugs, but many experienced drivers make it a point to change the plugs periodically—perhaps once a year or so. When the car has run, say, 8,000 or 10,000 miles, the spark loses intensity because of the great stress to which the plug itself is subjected, in engine operation, with the result that the weak spark fails to give complete combustion in the cylinder. Not only does this create difficult starting but the engine runs sluggishly and the fuel and oil consumption increase. What actually happens is that the combustion is slower, and instead of the full power having been obtained from the charge of mixture, some of the gases are still burning on the exhaust and are expelled through the valve. WORLD’S SPEED RECORDS. The following table of the world’s highest speed records covering a period from 1908 to 1928 is interesting. It shows a remarkable growth in twenty years from 39 miles per hour to the 318.57 miles per hour of Commander de Bernardi. The tremendous speed of 348 miles per hour has been attained by this airman, but 318 miles is the recognised world’s record average speed over a set course. The records are as follow. —

For a new world’s speed record to be established it is necessary to beat the old one by at least five miles.

Miles per hour. Miles Per hour. 1908 39 1921 205 1909 49.9 1922 • 223 1910 67.5 1923 234.5 1911 82.5 1924 278 1912 108 1925 278 1913 126.5 1926 278 1914 126.5 1927 .1928