SEVERE MOTOR TEST

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 237, 27 December 1927, Page 11

SEVERE MOTOR TEST

CAR LOCKED IN GEAR 240-MILE ROUND TRIP The endurance test which was carried out with a four-cylinder Rugby car recently in Wellington illustrates in forcible degree the standard to which the motor-car generally has to rise in order to stand the test of reliability. This event was unique of its kind. The car was sealed in low gear, and, with water and oil supply also sealed, set out from the G.P.O. on a 240-mile round trip: Wellington, Levin, Palmerston North, Woodville, Masterton, Wellington. It was expected that the trip would produce a gratifying result so far as the car itself was concerned, but the actual figures of its mileage and consumption were illuminating. The car left Wellington at 9 p.m. on Friday, December 9, and returned at 12.51 p.m. on the following day—four hours ahead of schedule time. The water consumption was one quart, and the oil was one pint and ahalf of Double “Shell” Motor Oil. The average speed (not allowing for stops) was 15.15 miles an hour, and the petrol consumption 15.28 miles to the gallon. “Shell” Motor Spirit was used. The car is reported to be none the worse after its having been subjected to a test, the equal of which has, it is believed, never previously been accomplished in the world, and certainly not in New Zealand.