MOTORING WORLD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 74, 22 February 1930, Page 14

MOTORING WORLD.

NOTES. Nearly 2,000,000 gallons of petrol aro consumed daily in Great Britain. Magistrate / “What is the charge?” Officer: “Driving while in a state of extreme infatuation.” To be correct for any engine the oil employed must be of such character that when brought to the extreme temperature encountered in the engine it will still possess sufficient body to maintain an unbroken protective oil film between frictional surfaces. The Ontario Government is_ to take drastic steps to prevent reckless driving of motor vehicles. The Minister of Highways has announced that whenever a motorist is suspended his name will be posted in the Parliament Buildings and the list will be open to the Press. About 1700 driving licenses were cancelled in the province last year. Denmark holds first place in Europe with regard to the number of fuel stations ip relation to registered motor vehicles. It has 5,700 stations and 106,000 vehicles, making 18.4 vehicles to each station. Then follows France with 22.1 vehicles to every station, Switzerland w r ith 22.9 and Germany. with 23.3. Holland has 23.7 and England 27.6 registered vehicles to every station. A remarkable aluminium street car constructed along new and luxurious American lines appeared on the streets of Pittsburg reoently. It has large, square windows, like those in Pullman diners, which afford >an unobstructed view and can be lowered and raised like automobile windows. _ In addition, the car has form-fitting seats, a floor of non-skid composition, and soft, subdued lights. A few years ago the rear vision mirror was regarded as a “gadget,” more an ornament than of any practical use. The gradual alteration of design and the advent of the closed car and high, wide tops of lorries, has, however, altered the position. The motor regulations of 1928 make it compulsory for nil vehicles to oarry a mirror fixed in such a position as to make all overtaking traffic clearly visible. “The public does not realise the good which is being done for their pleasure and health by mptoring, and especially by motor-cwcling clubs,” said Professor A. M. Low speaking at an English Motor-cycle club .annual dinner recently. “I was told by Sir Alan Cobham,” lie continued, “that had it not been for the sport of motor-cycling, which developed the air-cooled ' engine, the wonderful achievement of flying the Atlantic would never have been possible.”

The third Australian Grand Prix, the greatest road race in the Commonwealth, will be held at Phillip Island, Victoria, on March 24 over a distance of 200 miles. The cars will be separated into four classes, each of which will carry prize money, while all will compete for the Grand Prix Cup. Last year the race was won by Mr A. J. Terdich, who holds the fastest time for the distance at an average speed of 61.7 ,m.p.h. With the idea of studying rapid methods of communication between North Africa and French West Africa, a French mission has just left on a “grand tour” of the Sahara desert. A number of prominent men form part of the expedition, which consist of one 10 h.p., two 15.7 li.p. and one 18 h.p. cars. They are ordinary four-wheeled vehicles, with special back axles and radiators. The mission will attempt to cover the course in the shortest possiblo time. It is proposed to average 300 miles a day, and the round trip from Paris to Timbuctoo and back to Paris will occupy only one month.

CHANGES IN DESIGN. REVIEW OF PAST YeTvR. POPULAR ENGINE FEATURES. Looking back over the past twelve months, it is interesting to noto the changes in design, that have been gradually but surely taking place in the modern average car (says an exchange). During 1929 there has been little of revolutionary character introduced, such as the popularisation of four-wheel brakes four or five years ago, but changes have nevertheless been taking place .all the time. The year 1929 has undoubtedly seen a marked increase in the number of cars fitted with six and eight-cylinder engines, with a corresponding decrease in the number of cars with four-cylinder power units. Quite a number of new small sixes have made their appearance. , DESIGN OF ENGINES. With regard to details of engine design, it may be said that overhead, valves show a slight increase in popularity, and the tendency to increase both the number of cylinders and the crankshaft speed is likely to result in oven greater use of overhead valves. It is also owing to the j tendency to increase engine speed that 1 greater attention has been paid to lubrication systems, and, while the fully forced system has for some time been standard practice, it is now improved in quite a number of cases by the addition of an oil-cooling radiator. t Very closely connected with tho engine is the ignition system, and during tho past year the magneto has definitely given place to the coil and battery; it may be said that this was foreshadowed in 1928 by tho great increase in popularity which tho coil system then enjoyed. * There has also been a definite increase in the number of engines with pump circulation of the cooling water, and there is undoubtedly a tendency to provide some means of controlling the cooling system. TRANSMISSION FEATURES. As regards the transmission, features which are increasing in popularity are the unit construction of gear box and engine, the provision of four forward ratios, and the use of an open shaft in place of one enclosed in a torque tube. One other very important change in the transmission may be said to have taken place during 1929, that is the introduction of the “silent third.” Strangely enough, it is to America that we really owe this, for as three-speed gear-boxes were universal there, certain manufacturers decided that they could gain an advantage over their rivals by providing their cars with two top gears, hence the expression “twin top.” Gear boxes of tlris type are slightly different from tho normal four-speed box used on British and Continental cars.

On the whole, there has been surprisingly little change in suspension systems, although several promising designs, most of which incorporate independent wheel-springjng, have been produced. In some minor, but important details, changes are noticeable, and centralised lubrication systems are becoming more popular both on English and American cars. Also, the need for lubrication of spring shackles and such points is avoided by rubber bushes. In some cases the vacuum feed tank. which has long been the most favoured method of raising fuel from the rear tank, has given place to a fuel pump operated cither by the engine itself or by electricity. A number of developments of tried merit on racing cars and sports models of advanced design do not seem to have made much headway. Frontwheel drive, for instance, has been adopted by only one British and three American manufacturers.

As regards equipment, quite a number of small changes have been made, and one may cite the increas-. ing number of cars fittedP with an antidazzle device or dipping headlights. Controls have been rendered neater and are usually carried out in a more workmanlike manner than was previously the case. _ “Finger-tip ctntrol,” as it is called in the United States, for example, is on the increase. In every case, the changes which have been made during the past year make for improved performance or ease of maintenance and each year the task of the owner-driver is being made easier. MANUFACTURING FABRIC TYRES. There are probably as many different ideas on how tyres are made as there are people who have never had the opportunity of making a trip through a factory. The production manager of a tyre and rubber company gives the following rough sketch of the production of a tyre: —1. Rubber arrives at the factory in smoked sheets. These are taken and, by a process of washing between steel rollers, freed from impurities and broken up into a spongy mass. The rubber is then dried, mixed with other compounds and thoroughly kneaded together between the heated steel rolls of a “rubber mill.” The rubber is now ready for calendering. 2. The fabric is tested for imperfections and when passed goes to the ironer—here it is passed between many heated rolls to prepare it for calendering. 3. Both the rubber and fabric are now worked together into a fabric by the process of calendering—that is both the rubber and the fabric are passed together through heavy rolls whicn force the rubber into the fabric. 4. The compounded fabric is then cut with a bias cutter which cuts it “on the bias” so that the cords in the fabric run at an angle, giving added strength 'in tyre construction. 6. The tyrebuilder now takes these bias strips and from them builds up the carcass of the tyre on an iron core by the aid of machinery finishing off however by hand. 6. The constructed tyre then goes to the curing room for vulcanisation where it is placed in a steel mould in which the design of the tread is cut. The whole mould is then lowered into the heaters where steam heat and hydraulic pressure weld the mass of rubber fabric into the finished tyre. The final inspection then passes the tyre for marketing. PILLION RIDING. Earle Howe was the guest of honour at the annual dinner of the MotorCycling Club, which was held recently in’ London. Proposing ihe toast of the club, he said that the M.C.C. trials were, among amateurs, the most classic events of the motoring world. He was once, he continued, not only the proud possessor of one motor-cycle, but of several; he wished that people who expressed opinions about motor-cycling would do so with some sense of proportion. The flap-per-bracket was one of the best ways of getting out into the country and of enjoying the open air. “Do let us live and let live,” he continued. “A little more spirit of give and take all xound is required'.”' ' * " "