FUELS AND CARS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 28 October 1925, Page 8

FUELS AND CARS

riIE.M'NIASS AND STRENGTH

< v r,v [1 Massac I3uijst) I',-, put yu'ir f not down on 1 lie ni: ceb-ra! or peda I of n ‘’flabby” huge engined .::n capable of gathering .spend suddenly on the- direct drum is to feet ,i S ibungii fuel'were streaming e»tJ t ol tiie tank on to't he engine: and •i11!*... i. uli.it does; Imp pen. Nobody is to liUuni for cMrnvagauco because the P 1 1" lie fur v. liuli l ids by ik» menus numm - on., .law. of seeming cheap eiir '* signed priin.irily Ims proved to the giver, mu tut fact .tirers time and again that lu iII nut thunk them to save fuel, -these users \ a-lue other qualities, and seoin that. 1 have had personal experience ut that. In the Nov World especially- ,, H mtv , vueusive to get per.unnjnv in eon jtuiet ion w ith fuel economy, mo tunillv* there is no complaint by • iiuuiui'acturcH* *<> votl l\V l' l * l L ,' In consequence, some, ear hmldei s n ■’ to M'.eml tinv more money to find out how u- combine two points so very much had in desire l,v the average bn yh motorist. Of course, any would-be nu>tur owner who accepts a. statement. ... lo fuel eoiisumption oil-hand may hn badlv. There was a time beloro the v.ai when (lie. great tiling among matin fact lifers was to achieve 20 lUhto Ilie gallon of fuel, up l'' ll inld dI,N dale, with middle size ears, even as a ■ a later period a market was created lot • class of ear Unit could travel 25 m les to a gallon in tlmse circumstances. What was the result? Nearly a l the 'i'iii.s\tlaut io ears of the. middle Sl/e .< gliblv marketed here as having smulni fuel eonsumption. Of course, they hail, nothing of tiie sort : on the contrary, b> coin pa risen they ‘simply slicked it- up. Vet mauv who sold them, when taxed hv me with making statements not in accordance with facts. looked at me .scornfully and aslmd il T believed that :l n\- manufaetliter of a. ITilish, or ol a fontinentai. ear wlto claimed lo do those consumption figures came anywhere peat the mark either? Though 1 could quote chapter and verse, halving measured dozens of fuel consumptions during loose seasons, still such men were, quite plmn|v .mil earuestlv mieoiivineed. <n course, to this ’hour fuel consumption varies great 1> with the work done, and will continue to carry as long as mis arc propelled hv burning liquid fuel. Hat it, , hanced that our compel if ions haw- of ten been governed in Europe rlueflv bv fuel consumption, hence the progress made here, towards economy hut not. sought in America at the given titpe

l-'UX’/XEi* l-01v THK I'N.INH’IATI D

There, arc several puzzles for f !<<■ lay niari in regard to the, subject- of motor fuel. For" instance, the most, flexible I'ligme in net necessarily tile most e. Ira val'ant' of fm 1 : on tin- contrary, that type of engine makes the most, rhect '■ use of the given fuel allowance by burn mg u most completely. When >" the course of driving.’ wanting niov power, vc.i depress Use ’accelerator poda! v.-.th a

\ if; •»- I;. •>! 't .• 1* I! » y lMOri', pO Wt.T you ••no really getting It l IV ex' remedy crude It. K. pOiStbk for g.'lfi Ul.lt ".l 1 ! burn m the cylinders to possets ncnr’-l e rail in v.'iclelv i'lined proportions : i spirit or air That it. t , ’ ( ' rna-niK-r m which engine control has been exploited to date. But it is extremely wasteful The ideal way. not yet attempted as far as I am aware ,is to find out the most absolutely economical and efficient proportion of air to fuel and never to vary those proportions. Such a car would need an automatic means of varying instantly and infinitely the crankshaft. back axle turning ratio. Of course, when you put down tlieacivlerator pedal and let proportionately a \cry great quantity of Itlel pass through''the carburettor into the engine

which in those eireiimstimees is goner--4ill y turning fairly slowly whereby inueli less air is used in relation to luel—you are not getting that, exact extra horsepower, nor anything like it. You are wasting most of the. fuel. The process, however, has served- our turn 1 1 date. Moreover, gradually we are developing engines of higher speed and of greater responsiveness owing to them having lighter reciprocal ing parts and so on: tin' periods during which fuel is used was'tefully are reduced considerably in practice because, as soon as you put down the accelerator pedal, a lively engine begins turning faster so that it is soon using Unit, extra fuel allowance under conditions that are Improving con staidly in measure as the engine gains speed, because in those circumstances it sucks in more and more air, too. If any doubt that this is the belter way of setting to work let him have, in mind the extraordinary results tlial.-liave been obtained during the last Iwo years’ racing by lilting superchargers. otherwise supplements’ v I lowers, whereby more, and vet more air can be forced through

:>u ermine 'it consei'pienco of which mai Ijllu'are developing an mucli an more horsepower hf>; per has even been claimed. C-ert :i inly. we. shall have, supercharged standard as distinct. imm sports cars. in ;t few years. I lie muse nuisance is Ihe eliief let. :i(. I lie mmimiil.. Never! helei-ii, prcsenl.lv motor uiiiiiiUu.se.s must. Lie- lilted willi four w heel brakes I o cii.i bio flicin In lie pulled up in lens compass with, lens strum In tin- road and the tyres. ;md their engines must be fitted with more cylinders- -sav si.\- «'ilh <*\ erliead \ wives and with enperehiirgors. Tiie whole problem <if dealing with irallie in congested areas, '■here it pays best to ply these \ chicles, consists in the prompt ness of the. acceleration front rest, as distinct from inert axing the maximum speed attainable. Already these vehicles, like must commercial motors, hn\c a maximum speed suflieit lit fur all requirements. NOT THE ONLY CHERRY OX THE TR EE

We arc emit inunlLy rt*i)tiiny; about the. ever fluctuating ami often dramat ie oil industry, of winch motor fuel I- a branch. Most assume that the fate of motoring is wholly bound up with that. At the moment it is of prime importance to motoring: but alreadv Iheie is evidence that ml need no more dominate thi' Held in the ultimate than actually tti! dominates the world's fuel problem in general. \ asl as is the oil industry today, it is it fact that it does not account for JO per cent, of the fuel used for all purposes throughout the world. Albeit, of eo urse. it accounts lor well over 90 per rent, of all the motor spirit used. Presently, however, sueh a. series <if discoveries will he made, and so many :t! present experimental processes will he perfected commercially. that it is assured that motor spirit derived from the distillation of erode oil will not ronsl t lute more than TO per cent, of the motor fuel the world will use year by year. I Jeil7.nl is one fuel of very valuable ipinlilies. but in this eouidry its prodtlef depends entirely on the prosperity of the coal mining and of the iron industries. Benzol so derived is by no menus the only liquid motor fuel Ihnt can be obtained from coni, as is about- to be demonstrated in very striking fashion this autumn by the building, even in lids country, of a full scale experimental plant- if will treat AO lons of home pro 'luinl raw material a day -to exploit, a Merman patent which has passe.) success fully every form of experiment to date, and each lias been of a very searching ch.iractei I ,et me add at nnee that there is her l ' no opportunity for the. vendors of oil to exploit, a new line he cause patents in ijuestinn are possessed by one of the greatest loutish organise • tons in the world and wliieli is eon I'eriiod with quite anolner industry. Nor p'9 i< need to go to the public, for any (inane ■.

Tln'i-f is every ri’ilSOM fn hr innfiilriil i;i Hirer nr filin' ye-'ii',. Inn r fin- }*)■*';- cm) i.-i-.i-k Mill rr.'illl in iff: 111:1 rl.il in:: i) mol or furl '■vliii.'.h 1 11 rnhrrly it vol'.ifioni;t Uh lli'" I'liioilrv M" |, 'V'll" n;|itrp.;l 111 .111 lII'.I v.liirl) 11: i;: l'l’inli'i'i-’l hi *'h:))°i : ■ h'D 1. for :i Ito Inf *- ■: f.rnti:i|;. r.n fc)i'i‘i'’o ■'* iMilrn h\' •mi t r.-f ;.f. miili I'm- f:n;t 111 ;i. I in l!ir mil ') m M i'l l' 1111 it iM ini'lrpcnilpnt C'HEMIST'P OK Af J. N'.ATIO.Vjs E Y.FEBIM ENTINO n«- -ImoM c'c lie in (no 1 t.tr-<. c.cnrbv stutcmcntß to (lie effect that the

world w 1 1 ! run i lmrl nf oil.- It- "mild .uni. i',-i lit. o more * Imii -t tcm pur.'i rv npsel (~ in.i in;; if it were lode liming I In* next 1 1 1•«-:11 1 1*. Tilt', mere fai l , however, if. tli.it I In-. ivi'i'M eould liu'ivas.' ils do iiiaiiil for nil iiiiilrr all heads a lnii.iilrcillul, I and. still. llii'H'. i mild lir plenty fui'l iu'i'ining t<‘ last! U-i' <Vjii|si.dci'alily morn Iha a a hundred years. I.eynmj dial hi- im d la-1 t rntiliii- In nl;ito liri'aiim'. a!ready, mankind is developing inanv ; .iiiii'rt's of supply of other Hintin' finds. J'dir insta nee. during I tie last Id iai>i i* 1 1 s m iru 111 ■i • M. Camille l.nuretd lias f,n«a i' d d hi t raiisfiirmniji Irul min h;ip. Halt a gallon nf Irnlmr. m l hi; find is railed. %i ■rs results npial to a

•.;;iHen of pi-iiol. or petrel lit.'iizol mixt.nvc. To j>h>iiut f* it i.’O-sts a few pemv only. In ily ;i ynir'is urn of ouuinc.'- v ith tiiit- now fuel il it! found lh.it tln-rr sno tailing, nor tin're ooi - - losioii of ihi‘ lyliiiclo’.s. On tlie cnuli'firy

the pistons :i::i cylinders take mi a fineiirnii/c mlui'i'. ;i ixl ran even defy ;i I'll". Thi.~ liipiid ixplndes only u lien in the form of pis. and is. therefore, to he regarded as nnii inflammable ami safe for transporlal ion. Neither i.h" heat of the sun. nor dampness. nor movement itas anv effect oil it. It ran he produced ill -111 nuaidily desired at almost nominal cost. Hut ai present it is not the type of motor fuel or wliich yon conid star! a i old engine. For that volt would need a cheap stt pph'ioent avv small tank 11 lit t ontld feed the etirlmrel tor through a bypass with net n I. or benzol, until the entitle eels warm. 11l this 'pa rt ie it It: •• In.line is akin to parallitt. whieli can lie used in eerlain i lasses of engine with great smcess ouee they are warn). Warming with ordinary motor fuel is not expensive. Nor is there anything experimental. <*r diliiruit. alioti! it. W'iieii the engine is warm'.and ready to take on the ether sun of fttel. the dri ver has merely to turn a tap as he sits Ml Ins seat. I take lrolioe. however, to tie hut one example among many that. 1 :! i o 1 1 1 he cited that, present practical prospects if rendering the Western Kn ropran nations free at no indelinttely distant time of the necessity to depend on shipments of motor fuel from far distant. (.•minifies. This does not mean that we may expeel to see our hi;; oil corporations go nut of business tin the contrary, doubtless the "feat motor fuel dislribnt in" organisers will he anion;; the first to secure licenses for certain new types of fuel which shall I" 1 proved ei numerria 1, fur thev are m business to till even water if that can he made to function as a satisfaetnr\ fuel in a motor vehicle Should any doubt this, let him have in mind that- the five biggest, ml organ isa lions in the huiled Stales of America took out- two years ago licenses for ex ploiting tetraethyl pis. that dope which lias proved so extraordinarily salisfactorv in elimina I ing the antiknock problem and which, therefore, hat; opened i he way to the. American automobile indust rv to imitate. Knropenn practice is getting more power from smaller, there fore, holder and more ndiiied, plant l.’etraethwl gas has been used satisfacIrjnlv m an experimental wav in this ii.motrv Vo its ma n o fncl ui o. has been eonimeretali: ed aire.idv m Vineroa tlirrii., ii" rr.ismr to doubt that we shall havo it here shortly The further in ' catirVition of tiro problem in the Staler, Vs merely a stage in its eejinmereial lnrtory. That, would onalile our engineers to heighten engine cornprr;moo vet mere amt get tttll better performance.