THE MOTOR WORLD

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10063, 30 August 1918, Page 8

THE MOTOR WORLD

CARS IN-iUfIOPE

LUST HEADED BY GREAT BRITAIN.

The number of motor-care infuse in. Europe is. 522,112'. according -to figures compiled*by tho / Fiat Press- Bureau. ■-Ic is not surprising :to - find that' Groat Britain heads’ the list, with 171,607 cars for 1917, the Hun coming second with 95,000 cars in- 1914, -the last year for which statistics are ''available. Prance is third on tho list, -with Italy fourth. While of interest, these figures will bo modified by the ,-.war. Generally the returns are for touring oars only, and do not comprise lorries and motorcycles. England's returns are lower tor 1917 than they were for 1911. Yet England has added very considerably to her number of com merciaJ,, niotors by reason of the war. Tne Fije,nch returns ,-are always on the under side, being based on actual taxes paid "and not including taxic-cabs, lorries, or motor-cycles. Before the war the actual number of pri-vately-owned motor vehicles in France was - about 115,000. Since then it is os?;, timated that Franco has imported or built 80,000 war motors; The principal battle front : being in France, there are' actually more motor “vehicles ia-*-th«t----country at the 'present -moment" tlrenin any other in -Europe, for, in- addition to those‘of the French-Army, they comprise those of - the British..'American, Italian, Belgian, and. Portugese forces. -.-. -

Most persons, if asked which country had the greatest number of cars per head of population.'--would— reply England, and doubtless'-would bo surprised to*find that they'were wrong. The record is held by the tiny Principality of Monaco, with one car for every. 95.6 inhabitants. England comes" second with 265.5. while Den mark-"takes-third place with 343. France just “boats ••'•the British possession, Gibraltar, for fourth place, the respective figures being 402 and 411. The country with the smallest number of cars and also with the greatest number of inhabitants per caris Crete, which is officially returned as having three care, or. one for 121.666.6 inhabitants. Naturally, geographical conditions are an important factor in determining the proportion of ears. . Italy, with its vast mountainous region, can never have the same number-’of cars as comparatively level England, although both are important catvproducing countries. Unfortunate Serbia had a Jot of leeway to make up, oven before tho war; while Austria-Hungary does’ not stand high as a motor country'." ■ ’ ‘ " •*.

FUNCTION OF THE CAEBUEETTOE. If .asked, Iho average motorist. Would' assert quite confidently that a carburet tor is an instrument for, vaporising the liquid fuel used in the internal combustjon engine, and for, inoddently, mixuig air with this fuel. Xo carburate-v----sometimes spelt carburet anything, means to impregnate -u . with carbon. Coal gas is, of course, primarily, hydrogen impregnated with:- ''carbon: ■•p-Car. bnretting therefore means ■ the thorough mixture of any substance with carbon; the substance and the carbon' ' ’would necessarily be in the gaseoUs state. It seems clear, then, that a carburettor is an instrument for impregnating air with a fuel containing carbon, and that cosequently the vaporising properties of the carburettor are really incidentals. - In its generally accepted sense, a carburettor is an instrument tliat vaporises—more strictly atomises—a ' liquid " hydrocarbon fuel, and then mixes the fuel with a certain amount of air; while carburation is the mixing the fuel'with air and. of cAuise. the previous vaporising of a liquid fuel. < '-■■■” Most motorists. especially motorcyclists, are familiar’with" that"bell-like sound known ns "pinking;” the cause beiiig that when the temperature of the mixture is raised above a certain critical value, the charge fifes in-a manner mort nearly equivalent to a detonation. , This critical temperature is- muchv lower for petrol than for benzole, and if a little benzole is mixed with petrol the pinking disappears. Petrol, ignites- spontaneously at 370 deg. C.. and - benzole . at oOOdeg. ! '. If the fuel be composed of .four-fifths nstrol and. one-fifth benzole

there will be no pinking—in a clean engine. at least. "- OH A-i NsT ON MbTOK-GrOLES. Chain drive throughout is now a standard method, of power transmission on motor-cycles.. and it is found thatsome;times the front chain gives out, first, and at others the rear and longer one. It is not always realised that a lowspeed. chain is subjected to greater tension than- one, at high, weed, and that’ it is not tension that decides its We. - The shorter chain is subject to less tensions than the main drive, yet it frequently is the first to go because of the higher speed at which It runs. periodical adjustment and constant lubrication, however, are necessary if a fair amount of service is expected o' them. USE OF FRENCH CHMLK. .....Considering the abuse to which inner tubes are subjected by the ordinarycar owner, it is a wonder, eays 1 the Dunlop Rubber Co., they stand'-Up a s they do; but the increasing coat of tyres will undoubtedly compel more careful methods of handling. Take a single point in tyro manipulation •./How many people properly French chalk a tube when putting it into a tyre? Many do not even provide themselves with this necessary material. The constant movement between the casing and the tube causes a friction that is destructive to the tube. Moreover,- this friction, and that resulting from. the constant flexing of the casing, heats the tyro, ca.us. in” - tho tube to stick to the casing, with...the result that the tube ia torn. To overcome this friction a, liberal quantity of French chalk or powdered soapstone should be rubbed over -the, tube - when it is put into the casing to act as a lubricant between the casing and the tube. .Care should be taken, however, not to put too much of the powder into the casing, as is frequently done, for the loose excess collects inti hard lumps that arc apt to grind » hole through the tube.