THE MOTOR WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20337, 20 February 1928, Page 4

THE MOTOR WORLD.

By ACCELERATOR

FIXTURES. OTAGO MOTOR CLUB. The fixtures for the motor cycle section are as follows: Tuesday, February 28.—Club ran (motor cycle). Saturday, March 3. —Southland Beach races (car and cycle). Wednesday, March 7.—Pillion run (cycle). Saturday, March 17. —Beach races, Waikouaiti (car and cycle). Easter tour, April G, 7. 8, and 9 (cycle). Saturday, April 28. —Paper chase (cycle). SOUTH CANTERBURY. March 18. —Club run. March 31.—Hill climb. April 6-9.—Easter tour. ' April 22. —Club run. SOUTHLAND. March 3. —Beach races at Riverton. THE MOTOR CAR WAS FORECASTED IN THE BIBLE. Those who think the motor car isn’t 1 in the divine order of things because it ruins attendance at church are wrong, j It was forecasted in the Bible. j Nahum xi, 4 and 5, says: “The chariots shall rage in the streets; they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways; they shall seem like torches; they shall run like lightning.” BACKFIRE. What is a backfire? It seems like a very simple question, but few motorists know one when they hear it. i A true backfire is not so very noisy. What most people take for a backfire is what is known as after-firing. This happens in the exhaust and muffler. After-firing is merely ignition of unburned gases in the exhaust. It’s really an explosion. A true backfire is ignition of gas back through the intake and into the carburet* tor. Often it is not much more than ordinary “popping back” through the carburettor, and is accompanied by smoke under the hood. When an engine actually backfires there is danger of fire. The driver should be on his guard and ready for trouble. ’ CONSTANT, COMPRESSION. Constant compression engines continue to engage the attention of inventors. The latest is a French experimental engine evolved by M. Aiolet, an engineer well known in connection with two-stroke engine developments, dealing with constant compression in four-stroke engines. When running with only partial throttle openI! 1 ?’ violet admits exhaust gas into t-a cylinder under pressure. It is claimed that by reason of stratification these spent exhaust gases do not mix with the fresh if 'Ji 6 ’ remain as a layer on the head or the piston, thus increasing the compression without interfering with the firing of the fresh charge. after the track test were that the device did not reduce the speed 0 toe ear the engine remained ve-y much cooler, and there appeared to bo important luel economy. Interest attaches to the device in view of the invention of an AucklandVaineer! <■»>»• A PLAYFUL PARADOX. In fining a stone-deaf motorist one pound for driving without a license the mZVbn cs common was, " This is a case where • rnnfI S< t - h ? U c i n< V, cr bo Seated,” says Contact m tho Motor. Some magistrates are hard to please. Ana topsy-turvyism mocks 'sense in cases such as these For here’s a sort of paradox’. Admitted that the man, who ought JLo have a license, ought to pay A fine because ho hasn’t bought A license; that s as clear as day. But here, the bench s ays. is a case "bore the defendant never ought lo a license. On tho face Of this remark one might have thought That there might bo a doubt about Whether he really ought to pay Ihe damage for not taking out. What he ought not to have, they say! SOME MOTORING TERMS. The top-gear ratio is determined bv the arrangement of the final drive, because on this gear there is no alteration in revo Jut-ions when the drive passes through the gear-box. The other gear ratios, how ever, are affected by the gear wheels employed in the gear box itself. Thus in a three speed car if the top-gear ratio 13 5 to 1 and the second-gear ratio is 10 to 1 this means that the gear-box is so arranged as to give a ration of 2 to 1 on second. . Finally there are some general dimensions which are always stated, but not invariably understood. There can of course bo no misunderstanding about such simple terms as the overall length, width, and height of a car, but difficulties often arise in connection with wheel base and track. The wheel base is the distance measred between the hub centres of tho front wheels and the rear wheels in a fore and-afr, direction, and is therefore the same as the distance between the points at which a front tyre and a corresponding rear tyre make contact with tho road. Tho track is measured transversely from tho centre of one tyre tread to tho centre of the tread on tho opposite side. If this measurement be taken on the front wheels some difficulty arises owing to the fact that the wheels usually slant away from one another when viewed from tho front. As a rule, however, the practice is to measure (he track at a point where the tyres actually touch tho road. TO KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE ON THE HIGHWAY. Drive slowly on ourvesi, grades, and crowded highways. If you have any doubt about having the right-of-way. let tho other fellow go ahead. Signal early and correctly every time you turn or, atop. Don’t give a sloppy little signal with your hand, but stick your arm well out where it can be scon. Keep on your own side of the road, especially on turning from a side road into the highway. Have your brakes inspected frequently and adjusted .whenever they need it. Brakes that are fighter on one side than the other cause skidding. Don’t come to a stop on the road; pull off to one side. HOLIDAY EPISODES. A noticeable feature during the holidays was the huge number of motorists on tour and the great increase with those who camped out. There were numerous delays and mishaps noticed also, due to several causes. Overladen cars, packed to the limit with camp gear, found the weak places of the machines, chiefly in springs and tyres. The best of cars is no better than its tyres, and if the covers had not been examined for some weeks or months, perhaps longer in some cases, the added car weight, plus the two very hot spells we had at holiday time proved too much for many tyres; they simply could not contain themselves. Lack of care and inspection of tyros arise from their present reliability and comparative immunity from puncture; simply the covers are not now so frequently taken off the rims, with tho result that the car owner does not know of the actual condition of the tyres—perhaps 'a puncture now and then is worth while! It has been stated that one reason for tho great numbers of cars on the roads at holiday’ times was due to many old cars having been furbished nn and made usable for the time being. V»hilo a few might have boon recommissioned after many months and noted because of their appearance, they were not numerous enough to make accidents the more plentiful. _ The real reason of so many motors being on the roads is that there is a greater number of cars in use to-day than before, and with reduced prices and low operating costs wo may expect a still further increase.

[ltoma of newe—short descriptions, of tours, the stats of the rowfa, &&., onto mant, or inquiries will be welcomed by ‘'Accelerator,”]

state of the used car market in New Zealand, the owner of a cheap or moderate priced car which has seen 12 months’ service, might easily drop 30 per cent, on either a trade in or private sale. It is to the credit of the motor trade of the Dominion that it has escaped so lightly from the used car tangle. Unwise used car deals have upset many an excellent agency in Groat Britain, America, and Australia. The phenomenal demand tor now cars during the last three or four years induced many motor traders to plunge into the used car business in a fashion which absorbed the profits of the other side of their activities. Although there is no reason why used cars carefully handled should not be a lucrative business, there have even been cases in Now Zealand where dealers have regarded secondhand deals ns a necessary evil, and have been prepared to maintain an unprofitable department. What has been known as the “ Windsor scheme ” has been put into operation in England with a view to solving the used car problem. The idea behind the move is to obtain returns of used car sales froni all dealers and to publish these for the guidance of the trade. The aim is thus to reveal to dealers the limits within which trade in deals can be safely made. A problem has arisen in connection with the publication of these details, ns some motor agents complain that it would bo unwise to allow this information to get into the hands of the potential purchaser. The objectors contend tlfat if data showing the average depreciation of every car oil the market is published widely, the seller and the buyer of a second-hand car will know just as much as the trader. The dealer’s argument against the dissemination of such knowledge is that purchasers of used cars will make no allowances for reconditioning, and that they will insist on tho published price,or seek out a trader who is prepared to take a hazard and exceed the general values. Another argument is that when the possible purchaser of a new car saw in cold print what a car would be worth after varying periods of use, he would invest his money in something subject to less depreciation. The Motor Agents’ Association of Great Britain is not in accord with the objectors, and in answering criticism of the Windsor scheme the president of the association says; “ The public has been educated to accept the manufacturer’s figure as tlie price of a new car. It must now be educated to accept the trade's figure as the price of a used car—and that price is based upon what the public will pay when it rebuva those cars, less a fair margin for reconditioning and handling. By the adoption of the used ear market report confidence will be established between buyer and seller.”

MOTOR CYCLING FOR BUSINESS AND PLEASURE. Of the many different types of people that use motor cycles for various purposes it can be said that all are imbued, to some extent, with the sporting spirit • of the pastime. This statement may at first sight appear an exaggeration, but a closer analysis will show that it is substantially correct. That it is true of a sporting rider who competes in realiability events and speed trials is obvious; but even the motor cyclist who uses his machine mainly for business or utility purposes cannot deny that the sporting side of the pastime makes an appeal. With the exception of the British, few, if any, people can claim .that they combine sport and business in satisfactory proportions, and perhaps this is the reason why Britain leads the world as far as the motor cycle trade is concerned. SPARKS. A city chap was taking a country girl for a ride in his car. Lowering a window, he said: "Does that air bother you?” She looked -at him dumbly for a moment, then asked: “ That ’ere wlmt, Bill? ” « # * The Boy Friend: Say, who’s the dumblooking guy that drives your ear around and works in the garden? I notice he always gives me a nasty look when I come in. The Gii’l Friend: Oh, don’t mind him. That’s just father.—The Pointer. • * • “ Hello, Hayseed,” said the facetious youth. " How’s it for a lift to Centerville? ” He jumped into the car without waiting for an answer. Twenty minutes passed. “ Quite a distance to Centerville, isn’t it? ” “ Uh, huh.” Twenty minutes more. "Say, how far is it to Centerville?” “Few thousand miles if you go this way: ’bout 20 if you got off and walk back.” • • • Speaking at a function held by the producers of a British car in which sheet metal replaces all castings, the chairman, Mr J. S. Wardlaw-Milnc, M.P., said that Iho company hoped to effect huge savings and produce a car in the £IOO-£125 class which would give a new impetus to the British industry. He stated that the welded steel pressings used so extensively in the car cost less than 3d per lb, while the common drop forgings of the orthodox car cost 4d per lb, and steel or malleable iron castings, 6d per lb. • • • M’Guimiess had been posted to keep guard over (he entrance to a road which led to an old and unsafe bridge. Presently a car came along and he held up bis hand. “ What’s the matter?” growled the driver. At that moment. M'Guinncss recognised him as the county magistrate. “Oh, it’s yersolf, yer Honor,” he said genially. “Yes, it is!” was the snappy answer. “ ’Tis all right then,” said Mac, as he stepped politely out of tho way. “ I got orders tc let no traffic through because of the rpttcn bridge; but seein’ it’s you, yer Honor, 'tis a pleasure—go right ahead, sir !’’ » « • A sports Chrysler has been disturbing tho dreams and occupying the waking thoughts of the Melbourne police patrol (says an Australian paper). It was stolen in November, and as there are only two or three of its special kind in the Stale it was easy to locate. But it was not so easy to catch. Several times the Lancia has come upon it or it has flitted past; but despite tho speed of the police car the Chrysler has vanished from sight like a projectile. “It seemed to get up to 85 in its own length,” remarked one dazed Bobby. Just as the for;u; was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t a variant of the Flying Dutchman the elusive machine was discovered disabled in a suburban back yard. As its captors were driving it to Russell street they had a blow-out and one of the cops went to tho nearest garage for assistance. By a curious coincidence it was the place where the owner had left his spare wheel to be repaired before the car was stolen. « ■ • • In the course of a lecture delivered recently in Berlin a leading member of the Mineral Oil ami Coal Utilisation Company stated that with, an expenditure of some £20,000,000 Germany would be j able in 10 years to erect sufficient coalrefining plant to produce the two and ahalf million tons of motor fuel which she required annually. His estimate, he said, was based upon the latest developments of the Bergius process for rccoverinf oil from coal. • * * A maker of a popular six-cylinder car has departed from custom and has eliminated the name badge from the radiator and tho monogram from the hub caps. The idea is that tho ear is so distinctive that it requires no identification mark. The car is in the high-price class, so that' no question of economy is involved. It is questionable whether the average owner will approve of (ho step. Most owners of powerful, expensive cars take some pride in the factors name, and a radiator may look a trifle unfinished without a badge. lino would have expected that the maker’s inclinations would be in the other direction. Some designers are not con tent wiih tho distinguishing marks on the hub caps and radiator. One finds the name incorporated in the stoplight at the rear or emblazoned across tho tyre cover. Engbsh makers rather favour initials or_ lettering in conjunction with tho red triangle on the right-band roar mudguard. (Continued on page 5.)