MOTORING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16098, 11 December 1915, Page 10

MOTORING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. Tests conducted in, Great Britainhave shown that the use of rubber taxes «tt <£" huge wheel* of steam tractors greatly » creases the efficiency of the vehicles. Before the war no one dreamed of ?n»fif»LjK r tyres on the broad wheels of. »f but rubber tyres have now J'"*j£? d ..their -use from the experiments conducted at tne front. The results of teste have been so surprisinKly rood that the majority of . b 8 "actors. both in Great Britain and behind the battle lines in Flanders, have been rubber tyred. The tractors formerly had steel *T»a. "Trouble lamps" are very handy ana useful to all owner-drivers, and almost /ma spensable in all garages ana worKshops Sometimes it is very hard to fix .the■ " trouble lamp" in such a position a to thro* the light on the point whore the trouble is. j Unless another person holds the lamp, the driver has to work with one hand—his other I hand being kept busy supporting the lamp. , A new type of lamp has just been marketed in America, which at once does away with i this diincuity. It is httea with a " nia«tne.ic , base, enabling it to " stick" to any iron or , steel part- The socket at the end of a 10ft ; wire will St any electric lamp socket on the ■ car. while the base of the lamp itself can be stuck to any part of the motor chassis. >n | any position- desired, where it will remain i until detached by switching off the light and I removing it by hand. I In a French report recently issued it was | stated:—"By roason of the growing difficulties in renewing their supply of petrol, new measures have been taken in Berhn to restrain the use of automobiles Motor-cars placed at. the disposal of particular persons, such as doctors, for their professional use, are not allowed to be used by their families. • Hiring of cars is forbidden. Severe penal- i ties are prescribed agairst offenders." When expert military writers are having their conclusions proved incorrect on the eastern front. 1 shall, says an English writer. I attempt no prophecy as to the course of ' events in the conflict between Russia and j the Central Powers. It is obvious that our I ally in such gigantic operations must have need of a large number of ambulances. Had I there been any doubt on this matter a letter* from tho British Ambassador at Fetrograd,' I which came before the committee of the K.A.C.. would have quickly set it at rest. That letter recalls how welcome were the ! ambulances which have- already been sent I out from tho City of London, and mentions . that the Grand Duchess Victoria Fcodorovna | has asked foT assistance in getting tome I strong cars from England, as several of those j belonging to her own ambulance seiaice are completely worn out. Her Imperial Highness. Who accompanies her ambulances to the front, has herself tended tho wounded I under fire, and since the war began her i service has taken nearly 12.000 wounded from J the firing-line. The fact that, the Princess is! a. daughter of the late Duke of Edinburgh, by birth a British Princess, naturally make? our Ambassador anxious to do all he can to assist in the good work. ! The first annual balance-sheet issued by the Melbourne General Motor-'bus Company, ! Ltd.. discloses some very interesting figuresr irst of all. the total distance run by the fleet of 31 'buses during the company's tinunrial year was 1.258,813 miles, making an average for the fleet of 3448 miles per day. The daily average per 'bus worked out at 111 J miles, and 40.606 miles per 'bus per year. These figures must brine home to the ! general public a fair idea of what a tremendous amount of work the up-to-date motorvehicle is capable of. The passengers carried during the year prove conclusively the need and popularity of this type of conveyanceAll told, 6.796.404 people were .carried, or nearly five times the total population of Victoria—over 10 times the population of Melbourne and suburbs—and this during a year when traffic has been considerably affected ,by the wcr The takings amounted to £60.319, and the garage wages totalled £29,472. petrol oil and grease cost .£14.997. tyres £7735. and repairs and renewals £4722. An interesting 100 miles cballcngo motorcar race was decided last month on the Chicago. I'.S A., speedway, two miles circuit, tour champions took part in the match namely. Do Rest a <Pcus*ot>. Cooper (Stutz), ,™m»n (Pougeout), and Oldfieid <Deiase). Do Rests, who has been. winning all the big American speed event* this year, again proved the victor, and incidentally established a new American record by covering the 100 milts in 5Sm 54 2-5». The match proved, a magnificent struggle. Do Kesta ° u 1 ""'? °y 52s from Cooper. Buroian. who had two stops '.or tyro troubles, finished 3m back: and Oldfieid. who was in the running for 96 miles, then retired owing to carburetter troubles. Over 20.000 people witnessed the race. Both De Rests sad Cooper had tyro troubles, the former stopping for a I cover at 74, miles, whilst Cooper had to make a change in tho 80th mile. The average pace was about 104 miles an hour. DV Rest a's great performance is not a world's record, for faster time was recorded in. England by the late Percy Lambert, who in 1913 covered 103 miles 1407 yds in 60m. The trench crack, J. Goox (Peugeot), subsequent raised the figures to 106 miles 387 yds. Later Chassagne, driving a Dtmlop-shod 12evhnder . Sunbeam, negotiated 107 mites I 1673 yds in the hour, but these performances ■ were . put up against time, and not in com-! petition. j The Packard "twin sixes" shod with 1 ***2&*** tyros established some new records lor stock cars under touring conditions ! at the Chicago Speedway recently. fWith '■ eowh passengers, top and windshield up, 1 and Ralph de Pahna at the wheel, a large twin six flashed round the track at the rat© o 69.8 miles per hour for 10 miles: lhe result is said to be a new world's record. In view 0 { the growing importance attaching to the -reduction of weight in the reciprocating parts of a petrol motor, it is not surprising that aluminium pistons are much used for engines built specially for racing purposes. It is only recently, however, that their advantages when applied to pleasure car engines appear to have been realised, or perhaps it is that makers have rather fought shy of them on account of fancied or real drawbacks to their use. In America, on the other hand, side by side with t. th t growth of the number of cylinders, which, by itself, renders possible the reduction of weight of reciprocating parts, has grown up the use of pistons of some- aluminium alloy. One of the best-known firms in trie States is specialising in the manufacture of these pistons. Made from msgnaliuni. an alloy of aluminium and mtgnesuun. the weight, size for size, is as one to three as compared with ordinary castiron pistons Mngnalium is in fact even lighter than pure aluminium, since the specne gravity of magnesium is only 1.74 whereas that of aluminium la 2.6, so thai the saving m weight, it will be seen, may be fairly considerable. Indeed, the makers state that in one particular case, a reduction of no less than 241b in reciprocating weight was effected by substituting the new metal lor the original cast-iron pistons It is stated that.out of 611.695 cars manufactured in America in 1814, 261.860 were, ntted with electric starting and lighting OQiupment It is estimated that thew care called for the following bulk supplies in the making:-670,000 tons of steel: 4020 tons of l7 Ummm m and alloy 2141 tons of brass; soSrTroo es for J upholstering (besides 3.280.C00 square yards °* imitation leather',. 8 450000 ft of hickory boards. «,tc, : and 79d0 tons of cotton and 9338 tons of "rubber for tyres. These are only a few of tbemo£ important items used in the making of America's great output of cars OT For the first time in the history of the motor-car it has been demonstrated that a oar ran be started from a di.u Boe by means of the wireless telegraph. This was Moved recently in America, wTero an Overt*?! IS was started every five minutes bV a wirele« ""ark ,to P the Overland hea%uarterl in Indianapolis, five miles away. AoonipleS. wireless outfit, consisting of motof genera or transformers relays, and other oara»ne»a?& was. msta ed in the show widowsof the Indianapolis depot. This was Connected with in mt»! on the roof of the bufwin?, Tna , . r « Bte P n »>K the alternating current un J«m ?. 10 & to 16.000 volts '«&" "$£ car was fitted up with a receiving* The 2Si <S? fitted np Wllh a receiving apparatus and the necessary automatic switches -.rTJi relays for throwing on »nd off th« tLtSn current of the starter "and magneto JK a low *» °* to ™° for 45 seconds, lifter «£i ,£? %***&> was c «* off. The ' opera tion of starting the car was repeated at five minute intervals. One of the most i£U£!t mg features .of the *£?£.; that the entire operation of starting mS. « ci was accomplished without thTaid J*l human. hand. A time switch!™ £ connection _with the ouffit 3 *^ is oi 8: «S£s^? chased gallons £ 191-* o K B £S d vs nr " I*'l4. anfl ssraaiww ,t? r »C 13 * ss.soo.ooo in June. Italy 4^y f %rebsed y w e « H S , i ,ast land's command of the seas In SlkSft *• •" alone ha, been of %£&& *&?«£ fc*iear u^TC^ia the recent solemn wSeaf K^h^°rT* T - W d of the British EKCraAtt" single sovereign go out of d3flH&&&3& ? can possibly be iSm* i?«,?-? lrtl v 'which should be taken to heart iS'SJP *%-s**^K» motorists. Sending sronV m^SLr^;«rralamaa lands is only^he n p f i a^ 0U t 0 uSSS \S to , oth ,er ported tyres made outside the Empire"* m - That the motorists of Victoria are "doing more than their share towards the maintea* anoe of roods is evidenced by the fact that . ««jf h „. u„ »l£% At, that Country Koads Board in majt m.i-:-_ Under the Victorian Motor-car Act thelnolor taxes have contnbnted a, sum of uS matoly £40.000 per nuun. which b^wSS n %l & ? T **?£ °! *• «!»*• amount ■ 5 /*H i? seen therefore that Victorian motorists have so far oaid inter»*t and am£ S n «» Mtfire eiroenditare 0 the Victorian Roads.Board. Few ™he nnbUo apr*ar to recognise or appreciate this fact Fieurea published by the PorfOnmS» of Arr-eric* show that'for the Jl ij «•»*»!. TOB.SIB care wwre builtT and' sold CaWatujc on 300 workine days tor the year, thii gives ** *??*«« dailr ontnS: of I|WfVH, Durin, Jfh? K nasi IS V»*tl *%« total numbxr of Fords wld wfSj? The output in 1913-14 was 170 ft ffi" as against the present huge ficawiß. y ' '