MOTORING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 16 April 1932, Page 4

MOTORING

NOISY MOTOR TRAFFIC CAUSE OF IRRITATION MORE SILENT CARS NEEDED If 0110 tiny* when flic weather is fine, you should sit beside a main road and close your eyes, you would hear many sounds. You would find that the noise of traffic is due chiefly to exhaust notes, and you would realise that, in spite of much progress in general design, we have not had any radical improvement in silence among the mass of cars, says a writer in the “Motor.” Exhaust notes are still noisy, horns are still high-pitched and piercing, tyres still hiss and bodies still rattle. There is a time, not so long ago, when the horn of the “peep-peep” variety was the monopoly of only the fastest and most powerful motors. Now they arc fitted to all and sundry. No more do drivers jump in their seats and swing hastily across to the left when they hear such a horn. It has become the high-pitched voice of the crowd. Again, you would hear that, on some cars the incessant and often extraordinarily loud hiss of the tyres is accentuated. And, if you half-opened your eyes and took a sly glance, you would find that luxury limousines are the chief offenders. However, special silent treads for the tyres have been developed, and it has also been found that mudguard design is an important factor towards improvement. Perhaps listening to all these sounds you would wonder if we shall ever obtain complete silence in motoring. There would be a tremendous fascination in cruising smoothly along, without any vibration of engine noise to indicate the motive power. The comfort of travel would be. enormously increased. Conversation would be easy at all speeds. Most people would welcome such a change, but wiywoulojinevitably lose the impressioa of power reserve and speed, which the fainfeunleashed throb of a willing engine parts. Among the general roar of traffic, you may, still dozing, hear an uneven whine, sometimes rising to an-i; animal - Uke shriek, sometimes dying to a steady roar—the sound of a supercharger! If, as the noise grew Wilder and the motor nearer, you -heard the healthy note of the exhaust, the cutting in and out of . the “blower,” the engine “revved” for the changes up and down—a sports car, sportingly driven! Would you not open wide your eyes and watch her accelerate in and out among the more slovenly saloons! Watch her roar past you in third, change up with that inevitable “whiff” of racing oil, which somehow is so infinitely more pleasing than the most delicate perfume? And would you not invariably come to the conclusion that if such a motor were to be made entirely silent, it would lose much of its appeal ? It is obvious, however, ■ that every car cannot be a supercharged sport 3, and such a type must always be limited; So in the interests of the majority, it is time we had more silent cars. The ordinary, mass-produced model istoo noisy, and it will be a triumph for the manufacturer who can tackle this problem adequately and successfully —and who can give us silent motoring for the masses. ->

* THREE-WHEELED CAR

DISTINCTLY ORIGINAL DESIGN INTEREST CREATED IN PARIS A German thvee-wlieeler of distinctly original design, known as the Nciman, has just arrived in Paris, where its advent has created not a little intcx - est. ~ From external appearance there is nothing about the Nciman to suggest that the engine is at the rear, although such is the case. Closer examination reveals an even greater surprise In the design of the frame, which appears to have been inspired by that ot certain well-known Austrian cars in which a single-steel tube of large diameter constitutes the chassis. In the case of the Neiman the tube is offset relative to the centre line .of the vehicle, and the rear wheel is anchored from one side only,: an arrangement which makes for easy wheel changing. The power unit is a 600 c.c. side-valve N.S.U. single cylinder incorporating a three-speed-and-revcrsmg gear-box. Final drive is by a short Renold chain. ’The cylinder is enclosed iff a .cowling through which air is forced by a large four-bladed fan driven by, belt from a pulley on an extension of the. camshaft. The engine cradle is attached to two very substantial steel - Collars?, brazed on to the central tube. .Suspension arrangements, both front and rear, include helical springs working in leather gaiters, aeroplane-type clastic belts and pneumatic shock absorbers beneath the axles. It may be noted that one of each pair of belts is longer than the other and does not come -into action until the short belt has extended a little, thereby reducing fatigue in the elastic. At the rear the suspension arrangement is completed by a stout, single-leaf spring which acts as a radius arm. The suspension may seem rather needlessly complicated, but'it is certainly efficient. Accessibility is a good feature of tjhe Nciman. The tail portion of the .body hinges upwards like a bonnet, exposing the engine and transmission. A point which appears open to criticism is the fact that the exhaust is carried directly into the central tube or “chassis” which acts as a silencer albeit in a highly efficient manner.