Motoring.

Southland Times, Issue 18810, 1 May 1920, Page 9

Motoring.

I (By “Headlight.”) Carburettor Troubles. —-Take the case of a carburettor that, after the engine has run a minute or two, stops. That is a sure sign of a block in the petrol line. First try the petrol pipe, uncoupling the

union at the carburettor. Turn on the tank tup, and, if there should be a good supply of petrol entering the float chamber, examine the jet, removing anything of a foreign nature with a fine wire. Take care not to enlarge the hole when doing this. If the jet is perfectly froe and the engine will run for a minute and then :up and then start again, examine the pass eonnerting the float chamber and the jet _ The recent falls of rain have left no doubts in tile minds of motorists as to where the pot-holes are. However, the ultimate effects should be good, because the fine weather experienced of late has brought the metal to the surface with results that are destructive to tyres. The Australian crack sprinter, R. Spears, who has developed into one of the foremost riders in the world, vanquishing the best in America and Europe, has arrived in the Commonwealth. He appeared at the Sydney Cycling Carnival last Saturday and whilst successful in the two miles race —was beaten by (he Tasmanian sprinter, A, Grohda, in match over a mile. When thoroughly over his sea trip), some firstclass contests should result from the meeting of Spears--and S|>encer —the Canadian sprinter who is in Australia on a racing

' visit. 1 The friction drive which lias been ap--1 plied with considerable success to light care makes use of two discs at right angles, the om being the rear face of the flywheel and the other a traversing disc on a countcrj shaft. This arrangement necessarily is un--1 symmetrical, the pressure being entirely to i one side of the crankshaft; and the single 1 point of contact limits the power that can ; be transmitted at moderate pressures. A j French engineer has developed the principle in a manner which, while sacrificing some of the original .simplicity should extend the scope of the drive considerably. Instead of two discs, four are used. The i first of the series is, as before, the flywheel. : On (he face of this press two parallel discs at opposite ends of the, horizontal diamet ter, and they in turn squeeze a traversable disc mounted on the cardan shaft, and I parallel to the flywheel. An infinite number of gear ratios is obtainable in either j direction by sliding this disc along its shaft towards or front the centre, where the disc is in "neutral.'’ As regards the first and i Inst discs of the series the stresses are balanced, and its friction occurs at two points instead of one, more power can be transI milted at lower contact pressures. The : modification has the further advantage of being suitable for shaft transmission, j which (ho two-disc system is not. ; The Automobile Club of New South I Wales has decided on hokiing an Inter|;'l;ite reliability motor car contest between j Sydney and Melbourne in October next, the I dates being the 20th to 23rd. The Vic- ; torian Club is being asked to co-operate in j making 1 he event a big one. It is suggested that the hundred-guinea “Victory I Cup” donated by the Dunlop Rubber Co. I for such a test—when the English car I makers are in a position to be adequately represented in such a test —should be put up for competition in connection with the October event. The question at present is, will the English makers have their postwar models on the Australian market by then? At present little headway has been made in this direction but of course the next six months may see an influx of the iciest models, but the home demand is such that every car made in England has several customers waiting for it. Of course, some of the leading makers may set apart a portion of their output for “Colonial” use, wtth a view to winning back their export motor trade, which during the war period has gone into American channels. Unless this policy is followed then few British cars will bo here for October next. If they are no doubt the Dunlop Co. will be only too pleased to offer the “Victory Cup” for the proposed reliability contest. A further condition that the donors wished to apply to the trophy was that the event br held over the new coastal route, via Gippsland and Eden, a course that provides ideal conditions for such a test, and has the additional advantage of being a particularly picturesque one. Since the resumption of motor car manufacture in England there has been a marked tendency for designers to narrow the weight-power ratio of their cars. The weight of the average pre-war car was altout five cwt per passenger in a fourseater, and in the lightest of light cars, the weight was rarely below four cwt per passenger. This means that for every 100 lbs of useful load, the engine has to propel a further 400 lbs of dead-weight. To narrow this ratio ' must make for greater economy in petrol and tyres. A great saving in weight can be made by the adoption of air-cooled engines, which incidentally, are also more economical than the water-cooled type, as witness the wonderful results obtained in America by the Frank-

! lyn car, a 30-h.p. 6-cylinder machine with i which over 40 m. p.g. is said to be obtained by the average user. Forty m.p.g. was regarded as the possible consumption with the 100 c.c. light cars before the war, but such was rarely obtained, 36 and 38 m.p.g. being the more general rule. Often it has been said that the pre-war air-cooled engines were just internally cooled by oil, and their thirst for lubricant certainly confirmed this. Witout wishing to depreciate the old light cars air-cooled we must admit that they had power plants which were iitt!e more than re-designed motor cycle engines. We do not think that the average motor cycle engine can be held up as an example of extreme efficiency on the point of petrol and oil consumption, and on this point the average four-cylinder-water-cooled engine is not so economical as it ought to be, probably <jn account of the heavy load it. is called upon to propel. A 10-h.p. car weighing about 17 cwt 'will give 34 m.p.g., a Ford of the same weight and speed capabilities does only 20 m.p.g. because the engine capacity is larger and the compression lower. It is a very interesting subject for the motorist to study, this question of weights power and petrol consumption. There are so many contradictions that it is difficult to come to any decision as to which, is (he better—a large engine running at a comparatively low speed or a small engine which is almost always running at (he maximum of its power. Undoubtedly a 2-cylinder engine is more econ- : omical than a 4-cylinder of the same total capacity and an air-cooled engine is still more economical. After certain manufacturers’ experiences during the war with the production of air-cooled aircraft engines, we may anticipate that the real aircooled engine will fructify eventually (as distinct from the pre-war oil-cooled types I, and mot mists will watch with interest the performances of all newly-designed aircooled machines which are distinct from (hr* cycle car fitted with motor cycle engines. Most motorists will be surprised to hear that a very* light petrol, of, say, .680 gravity, is not necessarily the best. A low specific gravity means ready evaporation, and (his involves great difficulties in storage, transport, and safety. Also the higher (he specific gravity, the higher is the calorific value ; that is, the heat evolved on burning unit weight of the substance. Petrol consists of a number of compounds of carbon and hydrogen, and the higher the gravity, the greater becomes the proportion of hydrogen, but the heat of combustion of hydrogen is over four times that of carbon—a. fact which may help to explain this phenomenon. An enquiry is being institued in England by a representative committee of Government officials and others interested in the price of motor fuel, as to where the profits go in connection with the present selling price of petrol in England. It is staled that petrol is landed in that country at one shilling and ninepcnce halfpenny per gallon, and retails at- three shillings and a halfpenny a gallon. The committee will set itself to discover who gets the profits. The number of detachable wheels and rims on the market makes the question of the best and handiest way t-o deal with th-r-m on the road a matter of interest. It seems remarkable that while the motor car maker has provided us with the detachable wheel, lie seems to have left ns entirely to ourselves as regards the method of lifting our axle and supporting it while we make the change. The ordinary- (and the extraordinary') jacks sent out with cars 1 are, totally inadequate in nine cases out of i ten. They are clumsy to use. and waste | so much that even the easiest and quickest I detached and attached wheel suffers by rea- j son of the jack delay- in getting out, ad- I justing, removing, etc. Why should not the car makers take a leaf out of the book 1 of the sidecar combination makers and fit a permanent quick operated jack as part of each axle end? It would seem the sensible thing to do, and would save a deal of time, grovelling and temper. , American newspapers just received announce the death of Mr John F. Dodge, of the firm of Dodge Bros., the well-known motor car manufacturers, of Detroit, in New York, on January 1.5. The Dodge Brothers’ Motor car is one of the best known American cars of to-day. The fortune of the Dodge Brothers has been estimated at .50,000,000d01. (£10,000,000 pre-war). It has been building since 1901, when Mr Henry Ford made an agreement with the brothers fo take a 5000 dol. interest in his automobile manufacturing plant. In 1912 the Dodges started making their own car, though Mil! keeping their interests in the Ford Motor Company. During the war they erected a 10,000,000 dob ordnance plant, at which mechanism for French 155 mm. guns was turned out. In 1916 they sued Mr Ford and secured a decision in the Supreme Court forbidding the Ford Motor Company from '■ building a large smelter at River Rouge, I near Detroit, and requiring it to disburse

about 60,000,000 dol. of accumulated dividends t-o the shareholders. In July h..-t year the Fords bought- mi; the minority stockholders, paying Mr John Dodge 1-,-500,000 dol, for the investment oi suoo doL he made seventeen years before. Cycling is column back into public favour all over the world, according to Fraid: R. Jones, who ha.-. ret une «: to (or church after an extended to t.. at i> .- tain and America. In New York, at Mathson Square Gardens Mr Jones saw a m; days’ wheel race, in which a nurpns;::.; amount of interest wa, i-i.ham -«o k.-.- a sum than 30,000 doiia.s was nficred in prize money, and champion-* from all over the cov't'ry competed. At the same time gangs of men were dismanthm.' ihr famous motor track at Sheep s I >ad Day, Coney Island. The price of land Lad risen u> such an extent that tin- iruor- were cutting up the [dace into building allotments.