MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1928, Page 7

MOTOR AND CYCLE

NEW PRICE CUTTING WHY PRICES FALL. CHAR-A-BANCS AND THE RAILWAY (By Edwin Campbell—Special to News.) London, Aug. 23. Having reached the penultimate stage of the 1928 trading season we were warned that- prices, having touched bottom, were going to react. It was asserted with some definiteness that the prices of the smaller and most popular classes of car were to be raised, and that announcements to that effect would be made early in September. This year's sales in those classes, taken all round, have not realised expectations, not merely because they have not reached the quantities budgetted for at the beginning of the eesaon, but because they have not equalled the sales of 1927. Some hold that the reason is to be looked for in the general condition of trade as exemplified by the rising figures of unemployment; others that it simply indicates the end of . the expansion of motoring that has 'been continuously in process since the war. Whatever the actual cause the result was to be a revision of production programmes by the quantity firms, and an increase in catalogue prices. I have often been entertained when--motorists, in the discussion of car -prices, have ventured to estimate the amount of the manufacturers’ profit per car. Usually the lowest estimate has been some hundreds per cent, in excess of the probable figure, and incredulity has been my reward when I have suggested that a ten pound note would be quite a healty net profit margin on cars selling below £2OO, and that most of the firms competing in that market do not always obtain it. The public’s ideas of manufacturing profits on motor-cars are based, I am afraid, on the apparent facility and success with which severe yearly pri.ee reductions have been made in popular marques, despite the simultaneous increase in value connected in better finish, equipment, and performance, not to mention that expensive item—service subsequent to sale. A BOLT FROM THE BLUE. Like a bolt from the blue last week the Austin Company falsified all those ideas and predictions by making cuts of from ten to thirty pounds in their current prices, and it may be taken for granted that other competing firms will make similar announcements. There are at -least two explanations for these reductions which, while they will now hold until the Olympia Show is over, are not advertised as 1929 prices, or as pertaining to I&2® models. One explanation is that stocks have accumulated owing to demand not having kept pace with production, and as room must be provided for such improved models as are planned for next year, the reductions are intended merely to stimulate end of the season sales. The other is that as factory production settles down, and everything is running smoothly, it is possible to effect economies in a variety of directions which can be used to admit of price reductions or to increase profits. That process probably was more graphically demonstrated by Henry Ford’s success than by any other example in the history of the motor industry. From costing about £l5O on the American market, the Ford model that has now been superseded actually was reduced year by year until it sold at half that figure, without in any way deteriorating the product. The chief factor in such reductions is overhead charges—those items of expenses which remain fairly constant whether the output of the factory rises from 10,000 to 15,000 cars or dwindles to 7500, and so if an appreciable increase in production over the original estimate is secured, the saving per car in the allocation of overhead charges admits of price reduction without reduction of profits. If this be the case with the Austin reductions we may assume that there are not going to be any alterations in tjie current models for the coming season. Obviously a similar condition of affairs does not obtain generally, or there would not have ben these inspired rumours of increased prices and whether the Austin example will be followed by others depends on whether they are in direct competition with it. INCREASED PRICES PROBABLE. It is vehemently denied that there is anything in the character of a pricecUtting struggle between th® firms that are competing for the small ear market; i but one cannot shut one’s eyes to facts. > Cut is answered by cut in a way not always justified by balance-sheet figures, and so long as the latter are kept on the right side of the profit and loss account it is all to the good so far as the public is concerned. The need to do this, I am convinced, will cause at least a section of British makers to increase their prices in some models. I daresay that when we are given the new prices and the new specifications for 1928 wo will discover that the former is justified by the latter, and that the difference between the 1938 and 1929 prices is more than accounted for by the intrinsically better value of the latter models. Rumour suggests that the price increase will not amount to anything likely to intimidate buyers, being more intended to stabilise the margin of profit than to squeeze a few more sovereigns o-ut of the buyer. It is a condition of entry at the Olympia Show that prices of cars as stated in the official catalogue shall remain in operation for a certain subsequent period, and as the material for that catalogue must be in hand a month or so prior to the date of opening, the compilation of the catalogue is the cause of most of the new prices being announced. The Olympia Show will open on October 11, ey that by mid-September the truth or falsity of all these canards probably will be determined. Personally, I do not expect any increase in prices outside the email and cheap car classes. The actual productive cost of the new low-priced eix-cylinder models introduced last year to combat American competition will have been discovered, and there may 'be readjustments in some cases If sales have not come up to expectations. THE SPEED OF CHAR-A-BANCS. The power of the Minister of Transport to permit heavy motor traffic to travel at 20 miles an hour if equipped with pneumatic tyred wheels has been questioned, and it is pointed out that it will require an Act of Parliament to legalise any increase of the legal limit of speed for motor-cars. The pro “eding, however, is quite regular, as the

Minister possesses the power under the Act of 1919, whereby he acquired the powers previously exercised by the Local Government Board to regulate that class of traffic. What is of more importance at the moment is that the police seem disposed to make the concession a reason for compelling fast passenger coaches at least to conform to .the new limit. At the present time very few do, and complaints are rife that their speeds are nearer 35 miles an hour than 20. So long as private motorcars are permitted to travel at such speeds, although the legal limit is still 20 miles an hour, the police do not feel justified in interfering with motor char-a-bancs as long as no violent protest was made or roads made dangerous for pedestrians. The change-over of holiday travel, at least, from rail to coach, has been induced by the superior attractions of the road and the greater comfort of the new luxury coaches that are being put on the road in greater numbers than most people are aware of. I do not think it has any other object, however, than to mitigate the nuisance caused by rival char-a-banc services racing one another, and not likely to be intensified when the railway motor passenger services are launched. I am told that there will be almost a thousand of these in con temptation, and that the greater numbsr have ‘been delivered.

SUDDEN ACCELERATION. HINTS ON JERKY ACTION. "" Jerky action in starting a ear may come about in many ways, one of the most common being simply due to the unsteadiness of the foot when balanced upon an accelerator pedal controlled by a light spring. One of the ways out of the difficulty is to fit an auxiliary spring giving a greater reaction against the foot, but better still is a footrest placed alongside the accelerator pedal. On an extremely rough road, when •it is practically impossible to avoid jerking the accelerator- pedal, the best course is to discard its use altogether for the time being, controlling the car by means of the hand-throttle lever. Sudden acceleration also wastes fuel, so that the aim should be to maintain as steady a speed as traffic conditions permit; the wasteful driver is one who makes a habit of reserving the use of the brakes for the last minute, and then accelerating again with equal suddenness. The actual cruising speed at which a car is driven has a considerable influence upon the pet--rol but . the most economical speed to adopt varies greatly in different makes and types of car. For most medium-powered cars of the family type, with 4-cylinder engines rated at from 10 h.p. to 14 h.p., the most economical speed is probably between 25 miles an hour and 35 miles an hour. For cars with larger engines, particularly those of the six-cylinder type, a speed of about 35 seems to give more economical results.

GOOD COMPRESSION. THE SECRET OF POWER OUTPUT. To obtain good results it is most important that the full force of the explosion should act on th© piston, and that there should be no leakage o_f gas through loss of oompression. ' The com- : pression of any one cylinder can be tested by opening the remaining compression taps or removing the spark plugs and slowly rotating the crankshaft. Avoid using old and broken washers for the sparking plugs. Smear these joints with oil, then, if there is any leakage, bubbles will appear on the upward compression stroke of the piston. A valve head should make a good fit in its seating. If the surfaces in contact are pitted or burnt away, gas will certainly leak. In such a case the valve will require grinding. Cylinder walls are sometimes scored through dust entering through the carburetter. To prevent this, a gauze, protector is often fitted over the intake pipe. The trouble is also caused through dirt or grit in the lubricating oil; the remedy is to remember that the oil filter is meant for use. After long use, piston rings lose their temper and do not make good contact with the cylinder wall. The remedy is to replace them. Occasionally, the slots, in the piston rings work into line, thereby allowing an easy passage for the escape of gas. The slots should face in different directions. WHEEL WOBBLE. THE CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE. In a recent lecture Mr. W. Worby Beaumont (an English engineer) devoted a considerable amount of Ills attention to the centre of gravity of vehicles, and laid stress on the point that a low centre of gravity introduced a number of defects in design and smoothness of running. He pointed out, amongst other results of the low centre of gravity, that it .made a cranked front axle necessary, and that this was, he “thought, the cause of wheel wobble and shimmy. In this connection he said: “Every obstruction and every variation in. road resistance met with by the road wheel on the ground is transmitted through the crank arm of the axle to the attachment of the spring with a turning movement proportional to the crank ram dip of the axle. Rotative motion of the crank arms is resisted by the attachment of the spring. The spring has to resist the turning effort not only by contrary elastic fixture of the front and rear half of the spring, but by transverse bend or twist-resisting effort, the axle crank being exposed to twisting stress and a rearward bending stress. “The wheel on its axle, and with its axle, is thus angularly and momentarily displaced from its right-lined advance only to be brought baek to it by the elastic effort of the spring. The repetition of this action, and the spring recoil, give to the wheel that evidence of vibrating spring effort, which results in what is called wobble or shimmy. It will thus be seen that the greater the crank dip or difference between the height of the spring clipped part of the axle and that of the axle on which the wheel runs, and the greater the distance from spring clip to wheel centre, the greater the stresses on the crank axle and on the springs. “A long cantilever from spring clip to king pin is bad. The wheel shimmy is thus "the accompaniment of modern car design. It was never remarkable in cars of a dozen years ago, and it has not been extinguished in any degree by the palliatives which have recently been tried or suggested