MOTOR & CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 19 September 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

MOTOR & CYCLING

NEW MODELS OUT EARLY NEXT YEAR’S CARS AVAILABLE. MORE "BABIES” AT LOW PRICES. .(London Motoring Correspondent.) British automobile manufacturers are announcing their new models even earlier than usual this year, a circumstance that must make the annual Motor Show in London in October an even staler function than in former years. By the time October arrives all the new cars will already have been on view in the shops of local dealers, while many of them will actually be seen on the roads, and the element of surprise will be almost entirely absent at Olympia. Incidentally, this precipitancy in announcing the models for next year emphasises the unreality of the present system of dating cars. . Here we are in the summer of 1931, when the sale of current models can still be said to .be in full swing, yet - we are already being invited to inspect the models for 1932. This is taking time by the forelock indeed, but presumably oui - manufacturers know what they are about. It will at any rate solve the problems of 'those people who are deferring the purchase of a new car because they consider the season too far advanced to do so. . They need not now lose some valuable months of motoring while waiting for these new models. They can buy one any time within the next few weeks. For instance, if they have in mind aproduction from the Standard factory, the whole new range for 1932 is now available, and it includes a new .’’ar named the Little Nine for such motor- j ists as may desire a saloon after tlie type of the Big Nine which neverthe- j less will give the running economy and low purchase price of a ear of the “baby” class. ROOMY SMALL CARS. The Big Nine —an excellent produe-, tion which gave the Standard Company a considerable “lift” during the past two years —is, of course, retained in the 1932 programme. The body is decidedly roomy and the engine is full of dash. I have always considered it good value at its price of £205 for the standard saloon. The Sixteen and the Twenty, formerly known as the Envoy and the Ensign respectively, are also retained These six-cylinder cars give a good allround performance at a very moderate cost, the top price for any Standard model being £3'55, and with the improvements and amenities added for 1932 they deserve to command even wider attention than before. Coming to details of the entirely new model, the Little Nine, which I inspected at Coventry at the "unveiling” ceremony, a great similarity to the Big Nine is revealed, though there are naturally certain modifications to enable it to sell at its low price of £145 for the tourer and £155 for the standard saloon. It is a 9 h.p. four-cylinder job, which will carry four peopl“ very comfortably, and it is capable of a speed of well over 50 m.p.h. on top and about 35 m.p.h. .on second gear, which is of the silent type. It has attractive lines and may be welcomed in every way to the ever increasing ranks of small cars. It is freely rumoured that the entry of the Standard people into the low-, priced small car field is only the beginning of a wider appreciation by makers of all nations of the possibilities of this market. I hear that other British makers also have “babies” to launch upon the world, if not this year then next year, and that their plans are founded on the belief that reasons of economy will give a great impetus to the purchase of such cars. FAMILY REQUIREMENTS. World depression, if it continues, may possibly lead to the more widespread acquisition of the smallest types of cars by next year, but prospective purchasers will do well to reflect upon their needs before they commit themselves to membership of the “More Economical Motoring Movement.” Such a course may in many cases prove a false economy. It may seem a most desirable thing to purchase a car that costs anything from £lOO to about £l5O and runs about 40 miles to the gallon of petrol with a negligible oil consumption, but it is only desirable if the car is to be made use of within the mechanical limits set by the makers. The family man may be attracted by considerations of economy to the smallest type of ear, but the point is, will such a car carry his family and the holiday luggage without subjecting the vehicle to loads it was never designed to bear? The small car is a highly efficient and decidedly economical means of transport eminently suitable for certain classes of motorists, but it can only be called a family car by stretching that designation. The real family car is the full five-seater, which after all costs only £2O or £3O more than the small car and makes available for this additional sum a chassis that will stand as heavy a load as the average family man is likeiy to impose on any car. The engine also is much more powerful and flexible, and generally speaking it makes for much more comfortable motoring. Petrol consumption may be somewhat greater, but in these days of cheap petrol that is not so important a consideration. In any event I should prefer to spend a little more in petrol than find myself mulcted in heavy repair bills due to ovcrloadiing ailS overdriving a small car. AMERICAN PLANS. American manufacturers also appear to be announcing their new models much earlier this year. Chrysler, for instance, announce a new De Soto Six, with a 19.8 h.p., to sell as a full fiveseater saloon at £299. We have not been hearing so much of Chrysler activity in Great Britain lately, but that is because economic conditions have militated against the widespread purchase of American cars costing in the neighbourhood of £4OO. The now De Soto Six at the price given is, however, fully competitive despite the shortage of money, and em-

[bodying as it does the refinements of Chrysler engineering it will be interesting \o note what appeal it will make. Another interesting American car is the Plymouth, which Chryslers tried to introduce last year, but apparently did not push very much. The reason is now apparent. It has been entirely redesigned to throw down a challenge to Ford and General Motors, for it is to sell, with several mechanical novelties including a free-wheel, for £lO7 in the United States. I saw one of the new Plyinouths in town with red trade plates the other day, so presumably it is the intention to market this car in the United Kingr dom also. Free-wheel devices are becoming more and more popular on American cars, the well-known Essex having also recently been fitted with a free-wheel. USE OF HIGHWAYS. MORE TAXATION, LESS MOTORING.. Definite evidence that excessive taxation of motor vehicles retards the use of highways within a State is presented in° the results of a study just completed by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. That high automobile levies and petrol taxes have a tendency to decrease the number of citizens who can afford to own motor vehicles was established by a study of the United States Bureau of Public Roads reports on State motor vehicle registrations and State license and petrol tax receipts for the year 1930. The Government records disclose that while motor vehicle registration for the country, as a whole, increased during the year, there was a registration drop in 20 States. A significant feature of this is that of the 20 States reporting decreases in motor vehicle registrations, 10 were among the 12 States having the highest per vehicle tax average. In Oregon, where the average, total tax revenue per, vehicle was highest, amounting to £l2 10s per car, there was a decrease in registration from 269,000 to 252,000- vehicles. . Tn other words, high taxation contributed to a situation where 17,000 citizens of the State were unable, to continue enjoying the privilege of automobile ownership. In Florida, with an average tax of £ll 5s per vehicle, there was a decrease in registration during 1930 of 18,000 vehicles and a decrease of 7000 units for the preceding year. The Chamber recognised that current business conditions may have contributed materially to the resultant decreases in registration. It was pointed out, however, that increases in registration were reported in States where business conditions were’ known to be comparable to those in States where decreases occurred, and where the only known difference was in the rate of taxation. PAVED ROADWAYS. MISTAKES TO AVOID. "Main road paving is leading many motorists into a thoughtless procedure which is fraught with danger to other users of the road,” states the Canter-: bury Automobile Association in its latest message dealing with safety principles. “This fault is that of' halting the car on the paved roadway. There is a growing tendency to pull up for some reason or other on the paving, and alight from the ear. It seems to be forgotten that the paved portion does not constitute the whole road, and by pulling up on the paved stretch motorists are not obeying the rule of the road of pulling over as close as possible to the extreme left when stopping. If the: shoulders of paved roads were ii. bad order there might be some excuse for thus monopolising the paving, but that excuse does not apply. “It is extremely bad motoring prac- : tice, and highly dangerous, to halt one’s car within a few feet of the centre line of any roadway, and the offence is aggravated on a main highway carrying a great deal of fast traffic, some of it of the bus type. “If you are travelling, make use of the paving by all means; if halting, get over to the extreme left out of the traffic stream where no obstruction will be caused. And cyclists, too, should show more consideration for other road users by not riding three -and four abreast on paved roads, or any roads for that matter.” MODELS COMPARED. WHY THEY FLUCTUATE. When slogging steadily up a hill, with the engine working at its hardest,' have you ever been passed by an exactly similar make and similar model to your own and wondered why? asks the “Light Car and Cycle-car,” and have you ever summed up the situation by saying, “Well, I don’t know, but it appears to me that some of these models are much faster than others?” Probably you have; in fact, most of us have, but few of us arrive at the conclusion which is correct in nine cases i out of 10—namely, that the ear we are • driving is suffering from a 1 of power due to causes which are fairly easily leapable of correction. In certain cases, of .course, the car that passes us may bo quite definitely “hotted up”; it is more probable, however, tha' its owner is one who takes a pride in its perfornii ance and who never neglects to go over the chassis periodically in order to I make sure that it is o iving of its best. The owner who pays regular attention to those little points mentioned in the makers’ handbook is always well repaid for his trouble and gets infinitely better results than the motorist who regards his car as his slave and treats it accordingly.

ROAD MILES BASED ON AREA. JAPAN THE LEADING NATION. Although the United States has the greatest milcage of roads in the world with 3,016,381 miles, or 3'B per cent, of ‘the total in existence, other countries are rapidly and intensively constructing great highways. The above percentage in the United States is a notable decrease from the 46 per cent, of a recent census. Russia ranked second with 776,712 miles, followed by Japan, 573,325; France, 405,028; Canada, 381,977; Australia, 300,000; India, 283,506; Germany, 216,672; United Kingdom, 179,095; Poland, 139,631. The fairest basis on which to compare road mileage figures seems to be the proportion of road mileage to area. One country large in area may have a greater road mileage than a smaller country, and yet be less adequately provided with the roads it needs. Another factor that should be considered is the quality of the roads. A large mileage of unimproved roads will mean less in terms of highway transportation than a smaller amount of improved roads. However, because of the fact that the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with a combined mileage of more than a million, do not show the length of their unimproved roads, it is not possible to make really adequate comparisons. Considering the area and total mileage only, without regard to quality of road surface, Japan leads the world, with three miles of road to the square mile, followed by Luxembourg with 2.6; Northern Ireland, 2.5; United Kingdom 2; Denmark, 1.9; France, 1.89; Irish Free State, 1.75; Belgium, 1.43; Lithuania, 1.28; Germany. 1.19; Netherlands, 1.18; Hungary, 1.05. As commonly used, the term "improved roads” includes all roads on which some work of improvement, such as grading, draining, etc., has been done.The of improvement varies so greatly on different roads and in different countries that it is almost useless to attempt comparisons when earth roads are included. It is more feasible to consider only the hard surfaced roads, from water bound macadam up to asphalt and cement concrete. The standing, regarding hard-surfaced road mileage in proportion to area in those countries having an area of 1000 or more square miles (omitting the Aegean Islands, Germany, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, which did not report fully by types), is as follows: Northern Island, 0.4 square mile to one mile of road; Luxembourg, 0.4-4; Irish Free State, 0.573; Czechoslovakia, 1.21; Italy, 1.26; Austria, 1.57; French West Indies, 2.13; British West Indies, 2.21; Porto Rico, 2.63; Belgium, 2.66; Hungary, 3.19; New Zealand, 3.34; Rumania, 3.96; Cyprus, 4.07; Denmark, 4.13; Bulgaria, 4.34; Poland, 4.83; Ceylon, 5.16; Jugoslavia, 5.52; France, 856; British Malaya, 12.11; Tunisia, 14.40 and the United States, 18.11 square miles of area to one mile of hard surfaced road. MIXTURE TROUBLE. CAUSES TO LOOK FOR. Mixture trouble in the carburettor may be due to the flow of petrol, to extra air getting into the mixture, between the carburettor and engine, or to water being in the float chamber. As to trouble due to the flow of the fuel to the carburettor, th< ways in which this might be effected are as follows; The car may be out of petrol; the gas may he turned off; the feed pipe may be stopped up; the carburettor may be higher than the level of the fuel tank, if the car is on a hili and has a gravity feed system; there may be trouble with the vacuum tank, if the car has a vacuum feed system; the petrol strainer in the line may be dirty; the float valve of the carburettor may be stuck or clogged. As to the extra air, sometimes the bolts* holding the carburettor to the manifold, or the manifold to the engine, loosen, thus allowing air to get in at these joints and so weaken the mixture. It is a good plan, therefore, to test and tighten these bolts once in a while. By pouring oil around the joints it is possible to see if there is leakage, as, if there is, the oil will be sucked in. " PETROL CONSUMED. AMERICAN AVERAGE. An average of 594 gallons of petrol was used by each motorist in the United States during 1930, according to figures compiled by the American Motorists’ Association, based upon petrol tax returns reported by the 48 States and the District of Columbia. The total petrol consumption last year by all motor-vehicles was 15,759,000,000 gallons, compared with 14,500,000,060 gallons consumed in 1929, when the average per capita petrol consumption by each motorist was 544 gallons. The highest per capita consumption last year was by motorists of Florida, each using an average of 692 gallons. The lowest was by motoricts of lowa, with an average of 502 gallons per motor-vehicle.

MAIN HIGHWAYS BOARD. MOTORISTS’ APPRECIATION. Appreciation of the work of the Main Highways Board is expressed in the annual report of the South Island Motor Union. “Good progress has been made with the improvement of the main highways of the South Island,” states the report, “and motorists are beginning thoroughly to appreciate the effect of the good work that has been done by the Main Highways Board. “Last year additional taxation was imposed on motorists by means of an increase in the petrol tax from 4d to (kl per gallon to make good the withdrawal by the Government of its contributions to the Main Highways Funds amounting to £235,000 annually, and to provide interest on past free grants of £1,226,000, such interest amounting to £61,000 annually, and to relieve the Consolidated Fund of its annual subsidies of £220,000 to local bodies, the additional tax thus paid by motorists relieving the Consolidated Fund to the extent of £516,000 for the year. This extra taxation was imposed for one year, the position to be reviewed at the end of 12 months. “Recently the Prime Minister has stated in connection with the Main Highways Fund that the earmarking of any tax for a special purpose is unsound in principle and that the amount the community could afford to spend on roads should be determined in relation to the relative urgency of all other calls on the public purse and the financial position of the country generally. It would thus appear that there is a grave danger of the Government diverting to other purposes taxation collected from the motorists for the special purpose of improvement and maintenance of the roads. “A select committee of Parliament has now been set up to report on the whole question of main highways finance and is now taking evidence from the various interests concerned and the union has to report that it has prepared evidence which was given before the committee by Messrs. F. W. Freeman and J. S. Hawkes. “As a result of the report of the Railways Commission the Railways Department proposed to fix a new scale of charges for road traffic using combined railway and road bridges. The proposed increased charges amounted to £18,479, as against £2662 now being paid. Owing to the great length of such bridges in the South Island, the greater portion of the extra charges would be paid in the south. As a result of the conference between the representatives of the union and the representatives of the Counties’ Association, the Main Highways Board, and the Railway Department, it is likely that the increased charges will be considerably reduced. “The union in conjunction with the North Island Motor Union again made representations during the year to the Government for provision to be made for the appointment of an additional representative on the Main Highways Board, but as yet the Government has not acceded to the request. It therefore behoves all motorists to stand firm in support of their claim. When it is considered that motorists now provide the whole of the funds of the board (last year £1,840,000) the justice of the request for further representation should be unquestionable, and the matter was placed before the Select Committee by the representatives of the Union when giving evidence, as a result of which it is hoped that a favourable recommendation will be made in the Committee report to tlm House.” 'SILENT CHANGING. DOUBLE DECLUTCHING EXPLAINED On most cars changing up is usually so easy that there is little excuse even for the new driver to clash his gears. To those motorists who have any difficulty the following procedure is recommended, and this should be practised until perfectly silent change can be effected. Press the clutch full out, and at the same time close the throttle, which is usually done by lifting the foot from the accelerator pedal. With the clutch still out, move the gear lever slowly into neutral, pause for a second or. so, and then gently push the lever into higher gear. Now let the clutch in fully, and at once open the throttle. The amount of time to pause between disengaging the low gear and engaging the higher one will depend upon the particular car, but the owner-driver can soon gauge this to a nicety. Most cars are fitted with a clutch stop, which has the effect of slowing' down the lay-shaft quickly, so that the pause between the gears is naturally shortened. In some cases the clutchstop is set to slow the lay-shaft so quickly that the gear lever can be put practically without a pause from neutral into the position for the next higher gear. Some cars, however, are not fitted with a clutch-stop, and in sueh cases it is often easier to change „up by the method of “double-clutching. The procedure is as follows: Suppose you are in the first gear and wish to change into second. Declutch fully, close the throttle, and pull lever intoneutral. Now let in your clutch againfor an instant, declutch again, pull your lever into second, let in your. clutch, and speed up. The reason for those operations is easy to follow. On closing the throttle the engine naturally slows down quickly, but the clutch, having no stop, and particularly if it is heavy, will slow down much less quickly. Now, if after declutching and putting your lever into neutral you let in the clutch again, the friction between the clutch and the engine fly-wheel will brake the former, so that when you declutch again immediately afterwards the clutch and the lay-shaft will have been forcibly slowed down, and the second gear will engage quite easily. Even with cars not having a clutchstop, it is not usually necessary to double declutch when changing up between each speed. This depends upon the difference between the various gear ratios, and the owner-driver will soo.n find out for himself what method is necessary to give him a silent change.