MOTORING & BROADCASTING NOTES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 10052, 10 February 1927, Page 1

MOTORING & BROADCASTING NOTES.

5 • «0—■ = | (By “AUTOS”). |

<<lllllllll!lll»li:i!ll!llilE]lllll!llll!l[]illllllllll!C]IIIIIIIIIIIIClllllllllll<'' THE ECONOMY CAR. The largest motor-car market today is undoubtedly for the economy car, and truly no class of car is more misunderstood or abused. There is still an extensive following of the fallacy that the real economy calls the car that' costs less to buy. People who have indulged their belief in the fallacy to the extent of putting the idea into practice and pf buying a cheap car with the idea that it will prove an ultimate economy car, know how wrong the idea can be, but they have found oiU at considerable personal inconvenience and expense. The true economy car 'is the car that while moderately priced, has a very modest fuel and oil consumption, is light on tyres, and, above all, is so well made that its maintenance coats very, little. This means

in practice that, judged on the basis ol engine-power rating, the economy car is not cheap 'to buy. It is possible to buy a 20-h.p. car for about £2OO, it is very easy to double this amount and more for a car of which the engiiiie is rated at from 12 to 15 h.p. Which of these two is the economy car?

In a general way it is /said that

the size of a motor-car varies directly with that of the engine, and'that a car having an engine ratted aT 20 h.p. will iii every way be a much larger vehicle than one of which the engine is rated at only half the power. Now all motor cars must have certain essential working parts. The engine must have cylinders, a crankshaft, connecting rods, and so on; there must be an ignition apparatus, a fuel tank, and carburetter, there must be a gearbox and some means of transmitting the power from gearbox to back axle and thence to the road wheels. There must be at least'four road wheels -complete 'with tyres, and there must be a body in which the passengers may sit. In one case we have all these things offered for a sum in the region of £2OO, in another we must pay, we- will say, twice the N amount for the same things in smaller sizes. Do we necessarily get batter value for £2OO than we do for £4OO. We may get more material, moire upholstery. and so on, but it by no means follows that we get better value.

It is possible to buy iron at £3 a ton; it is possible to pay six times this amount for special steels with infinitely greater durability and strength. The very low priced .car will be made mostly of chea>p metal, the more expensive vehicle will con--tain only the very best that the modern metallurgist can specify. Does the car owner gain, and if so, where? Ask aoiy man who has owned a car of each class for more than a few months. He will tell you how the cheaper vehicle has ha'd to be constantly in the hands of the repairers, so that if its use has been really exacting there may be actually very little of the original car and its material left. On the other hand, the. more expensive car will often show a record of many years of running without having needed any serious attention, beyond the universally necessary periodic adjustments. Records; of ten years' conltinuous hard service from prewar British made cars are of common occurrence in this country, and serve as a good example of true car economy.

The ih>st and ultimate cost are factors thai call for consideration by purchasers of cars to-day. The buyer who aims at securing a car thait will give him many years' service, will find that the higher priced car will turn out by far- the most durable and economical, and this is a fact of importance to the buyer of a new car. It's for him to decide wheither it is to be a case of first outlay or the ultimate cost. Another important matter to the potential motorist is the question of tyre equipment, whether the car you think of buying is fitted with tyres of ample size and air space to ensure comfort and long service on our roads. ELECTRIC CAR CLOCK. The winding, of one's watch is seldom forgotten, Is is pant of the routine of going to bed, and therefore, takes place at regular intervals. Not go-the clock on the clashhoard of a car that is taken out ait odd times; and the frequency with which such clocks sto-p -because the owners have forgotten to

wind them up is astonishing. A car clock can now be obtained which winds itself, so far'as any attention on the part of the owner is concerned. In reality it is wound by electric current from the lighting battery. Moreover, it is continually maintained in the fully-wound condition, the electric devive acting at the firs't tooth of the winding ratchet. This' feature promotes good time-keeping, since the strength of the spring is always the same. The winding is done as follows:—The unwinding movement makes an electric contact at one-minute intervals, which passes 'current through an electric magnet. The result is (hat an iron armature is drawn up to the poles, and this movement winds up the spring one •'click" of a ratchet wheel. At the same time the contact is broken; and immediately after the armature has done its work it is pulled hack by si spring, ready for the next wind. The current, ,0.5 at 12 volts, is on only for a fraction of a second, so that the demand on the battery is almost infinitesimal. (A' small hand at the bottom of the clock dial shows the rewinding movement as it 'take; place..' The time -keeping movement is of a high-grade type, and tile clock is of a high .standard size to suit the opening in the dashboard.

THE SUPER-iCHAIRGER

From a mechaiiikal and engineering point of view, there is not much to say in favour of gear changing as incorporated in the present-day motor car. It is a necessary nuisance in all cases, and a continual reminder of the fact that the internal combustion engine is still less flexible than the steam. It reminds us, always, of the limit of maximum pressure above two pistons, Avhich cannot be increased as in the case of a steam engine, although superchargers have let us <go a little step in that direction.

That leads to a train of thought which may be usefully pursued. 'lt may be that with the six or eightcylinder engine and a super-charger for the gas we may yet reach such a ..stage of development of'.the internal combustion .engine that we may do away with the gear, except for reverse or purely emergency use. We are fast travelling in that direction. Wihe.n We reach the stage of doing away with the variable ratio between engine and road wheels we shall have improved the motor car out of all resemblance to the vehicle of even ten years ago. To-day there are- many cars which can be driven . almost anywhere without gear changing.

The super-charger, which so far has beeii mostly used for racing purposes, has the very great advan tage of allowing fuel consumption to be used, when required, for the production of high powers on occasion. It is, therefore, more economical than an engine of,normal design'which would be big enough'to give excess opwer. The super charger is, therefore, likely to be more and more used, and in "time will probably be incorporated as a standard fitment in touring cars. It may be that engines suction-charged will be a thing of the past in cars of a few years hence.

Super-chargers may become as necessary an adjunct of 1 the up-to-date car as are four-|Wiheel brakes and detachable wheels.