MOTORING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 10

MOTORING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. The monthly run of the Auckland Automobile Association will be held today, the route . selected Deing the round trip, via Titirangi, Exhibition Drive, and Waikumete. Afternoon tea will be taken at the shelter shed at the end of the Exhibition Drive. ' The dangerous part of the Rangiriri Road, l&own as the "Devil's Elbow," claimed another victim last week when a motorist, his wife and child, went over the bank in their car. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt, and beyond a bent axle and the tearing off of two tyres, the car was not damaged. In connection with the foregoing paragraph it is pleasing to learn that a communication was received by the officials of the Auckland Association this week, to the effect that the Whangamarino Road Board had favourably considered the request of the Auckland Association to have the dangerous corner cut down. The board had plans and specifications prepared, and, these had been forwarded to the district engineer for approval, the expenditure on this particular part to be up to £200. When the necessary assent is received tenders will be called, and the work be proceeded with at once. The Auckland Association, which is fully alive to the interests of motorists, might, with very little expense, adopt the English practice of placing boards painted red at the approach of dangerous parts of the roads. This would at least give the unwary traveller an' indication of the nature of conditions ahead. As the result of persistent agitation on the part of the Auckland Automobile As, sociation the Raglan» County Council is framing fresh by-laws for the purpose of opening the road between Ngaruawahia and Waingaro for motor traffic. The prohibition of motor traffic over this road was, no doubt, decided upon with the intention of conserving the road, but it was short-sighted policy, and many settlers have since found to their cost that the prohibition of motor traffic in their district meant, in these busy days, that many intending visitors intent on business have passed that district by because they | we denied the facility of rapid transit. " Murray Aunger, the South Australian, who recently astounded motorists by driving his Dunlop-shod 25-h.p. Vauxhall i/fl M el bouroe to Adelaide. 679 miles, in , m 54m 425, records a peculiar incident that occurred during his .trip. While racing along at a speed of 70 miles an uj*'j he swung round «a corner sharply and dashed into some stones. There was a report, from the. front of his car, and simultaneously a section of a motor tube flew past.his head. Upon dismounting, it was found that while one of the front tyres was flat, the cover was secure and properly clinched in the rim, and there was no burst and no mark on cover to denote anything out of the ordinary. A spare wheel was fitted and the run resumed. After arrival at Adelaide, the flat cover was detached, and. Aunger found that a 9m section of the inner tube was missing, but how it got out is still mystifying the record-breaker. The missing piece of tube was subsequently picked up on the road by another motorist, and handed to Aunger.- - On& possible explanation of this peculiar occurrence is that when Aunger crashed? into the stones, the front cover must have struck a rock sideways. 'The terrific impact forced the cover bead inwards, allowing the highly-inflated tube to protrude and* blow up balloon fashion. The sharp rebound of the cover bead into the clutch of the rim severed the tube, which exploded and flew past Aunger. This may not, of course, be the right solution. Anyway, it's an incident that many motorists will no doubt theorise upon. ~ The popularity, of the self-starter in American motor cars may be judged from the fait that of all the cars listed, in the United States for 1914, no less than 87 per cent, are fitted with electric selfstarter's as a standard equipment. Only five per cent, of the cars, made have no provision for engine starters. Another interesting, fact in connection with the American automobile trade is the increasing output of six-cylinder'cars. For 1914 the four-cylinder car 8 listed show a' decline .from 62.7 per cent, to 55 per cent., whilst *he fl ix-cyhnder variety-has advanced from 00,4 to 44 per cent, of the cars catalogued- ' More short-distance ftotor-car 'world's records have been established by L G. Hornsied on his 20Q-h.p.' Behz at Brooklands, England. The new figures are: — len miles, from a flying start,'in 6m 19.75, equal to 1124 miles per hour:- a standing ■P" 1 * in 41 i-§s, ami a standing half-mile in A{s. Both the later records are the mean times of drives in both directions. A remarkable bench test of a motor-car engine was recently carried out under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America. A four-cylinder engine (4in bore by 6in stroke) of the. Silent Knight type, was run for 337 consecutive hours, without a atop,- at a speed of over 1100 revolutions a minute; During the whole test, the engine developed 38-h.p., and in the last hour run developed 53-h.p. at 1678 • revo* lutions. Upon dismantling the engine at the end of its 14 days' continuous run, there was not the slightest shake or wear m hearings, and the working parts were practically in the same -condition as when the test was started. This is the greatest bench test any automobile engine has yet ■been put to. ■>-,- = - J .« At the recent Brussels Show an official census was taken- of the types of wheels fitted to the 389 ears exhibited: «e wheels, 227; fixed wood wheels, 145; detachable wood wheels, '9; steel wheels, 8. 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It is Stated that 70 per cent, of American cars are now being fitted with electric engine starters. In this connection it is interesting to note that the. arrangement where the pinion of the starter drives the engine through a gear' ring on the flywheel is the most popular method, being found on 62 per .cent, of the" cars; in 15 per cent, of : the cases it drives through chain or gearing on.to the crankshaft, in 13 per cent, -to the timing gear, the remaining 10 per cent, being divided between a number of special methods. Some indication *of the development of the motor movement in Canada., and the consequent increase in the, consumption of petrol, may be judged from the fact «hat the imports of petrol into the Dominion during the last fiscal year attained a value of £1,169,273, as compared with only £392.202 in the preceding 12 months. . It is stated in America that Edison and the Ford Motor Co. are jointly working on the designs of a light electric car which will be able to cover a distance of 70 miles on one charge of the battery at a speed of 15 m.p.h., and 50 mites at 25 m.p.h, t The French automobilist has evolved an idea of special - automobile roads. It may be a dream, a cauchemar, or a reality. He' has had the temerity to suggest to* the powers that be that his circulation taxes be compounded for ten years and spent on a reseau of boulevarded trunk highways from the capital to the principal seaports and frontier towns. The idea may- be visionary, but it is not bad. There are fifteen million franca a year paid into Government coffers for the privilege of rolling rubber tyres, over the roads of France, and. a hundred and fifty' millions would go far towards resurfacing by modern methods. From Paris it is reported that a gentleman, accompanied by his wife, daughter, and two friends, while motoring in a closed car, had tightly closed all the windows. After travelling for some time the chauffeur pulled up to ask for instructions. Not receiving any reply, he opened the door of the car and was astonished tc find all the occupants breathing with difficulty and practically unconscious. The inrush of fresh air somewhat revived them, and they were soon able to be taken to a neighbouring chemist's shop, where restoratives were administered. It" is suggested that either poisonous gases had escaped' from the exhaust-heated footwarmers, or that, owing to a badly-fitted silencer, the burnt gases had filtered through the floor 1 of the car; but the, entire exclusion pi air from the compartment might be sufficient to account for the incident. At a meeting of the Transvaal Automobile Club (States a Central News Johannesburg telegram) it was stated that . Captain Kelsey and his companions, who are motoring from Capetown .to J3airo t jStJra&ted^i^tirai

Africa, and an appeal was made for fundi to assist the expedition to proceed., The expedition .started from the Cape in August last, and we have from time to time given reports; from our Capetown correspondent of the progress that was being' made. The last report (December 27) stated that the expedition had reached Livingstone. How far they travelled before being stranded does not appear from the report now to hand.