MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2336, 18 December 1914, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

[Bi Clutch.] Holiday Tours. Now that the holiday season is at hand, many motorists will be contemplating more or less lengthy tours, and it may bo as well briolly to mention points that should be looked to in preparing a car for an extended tour. The oar, of course, must be cleaned thoroughly, from radiator to rear dumb irons; the cylinders should be removed and oleaned; valves ground, tappots adjusted, and the entire engine and lubrication system thoroughly rinsed out with paraffin and filled up -with fresh oil. i'Vcsk lubricant should Lβ put in gear box and back axle, and every joint or pin or wearing part about the car freely oiled or greased. The contact breaker and distributer of the magneto should be lemoved and carefully wiped, and the brushes and platinum points trimmed up. All electrical connections should be carefully looked over. Tho ignition alone has a dozen connec-

tions, besides the . mechanism of the switch and in the magneto itself; and when there is a starting and lighting set installed the connections amount to quite » large total. Another important point is to see that detachable wheels are really detachable. They all should be taken off, and any part liable to rust -should be greased.. A wheel rusted on might mean many minutes' delay at an inconvenient moment. As for spare parts, the rule is to take as many as one conveniently can. A spare set of sparking plugs, a spare valve, and a set of bulbs for the lamps are desirable. A piece of rubber tube is exceedingly useful for temporarily mending broken petrol or oil pipes, while a careful man will naturally see that he has a supply of bolts and nuts, copper wire, split pin's, etc. A useful thing in ■an emergency is a couple of hanks of stout sash line. In the matter of lighting, any spare bulb that is used should be replaced as soon as possible, so as to have the complete set at hand. If the lamps are acetylene, spare carbide and a spare burnoi- will take the placo of the bulbs. With regard to tools, tho mechanically-minded man will take a rather fuller kit than usual. Wood v. Wire Wheels.

Under the observation of the Automobile Club of America an interesting trial of the comparative behaviour of tires fitted to wood and wire wheels has recently been carried out. The was made on two Lozier touring oars of the same model, cne vehicle having wood and the other wire wheels, all being equipped with 37in. by Gin. Vacuum Cup tires made by the Pennsylvania Rubber Company. Both oars were driven over the same routes at the same average speed, one car following in the •track of the other. Furthermore, to render the test equally-fair to both classes of wheel, the. drivers changed from one car to the other on each day, and the vehicle that led the way one" day acted as follower.the next. The average speed of both vohicles throughout the trial was 17 m.p.h., a maximum of 45 m.p.h. being at times attained, average touring conditions being followed. Altogether nine tires were used in the test, but one of these did duty on both wire and wood wheels and cariipt therefore be considered. As a matter of fact it burst at 2660 miles after a bad gash at 1040 miles. The tires were maintained at the pressure recommended by the makers, viz., 801b. par square inch for the front tiree and !)olb. for the rear. The wood wheels weighed 70.61b. front and 95.91b. back, while the weight of the wire wheols was 55.71b. front and 87.41b. back. The cars on which the tires were tested weighed 36.6 owt. (wood wheels) and 35.3 owt. (wire wheels). After the distance travelled by the tires appeared to be about half their probable life, the tires were changed from the left front to the right rear wheel, and the right front to the left rear, and vice versa. The wheels were also changed from one car to the other, but each of the eight tires throughout the test was used on the same type of wheel—wood or wireas at the commencement. The results obtained may be summarised as follow:

.On Wood Wheels. • . Mileage Total Tire No. before puncture mileage. 1' 3,290 5,700 2 - 7,500" 3 7,610 -8,940 4 — 10,164 On Wire Wheels/ Mileage Total Tire No. before puncture, mileago. 1 : 5,690 5,820 2 2,390 4,300 3 — 9,220 4 8,350 6,540 The average lifo of the four tires on wood wheels worked out at 8076 miles per tire, as against only 6470 miles in the case of those on wire wheels. The greatest mileago secured was 10,164 miles on wood wheels, and 9220 on wire wheels. Report on the Test. Quoting from the official report on the test issued by the Automobile Club of America, we read: § "lu comparing the mileage of tires useel on wood and wire wheels, the effect of injury sustaind by certain of the tires should be noted, in nearly every case the ultimate failure of the tire was at the point of previous injury. Furthermore, tires injured early in their life'evidently failed sooner than they would otherwise have done. Three or the tires used on wire wheels were thus injured, whereas but two of the tyres used on wood wheels were punctured, and one of these bad run 7610 miles before puncture. These facts render a fair comparison more difficult. The one'wire-wlieel tire which was not punctured rau 9220 miles, whereas the wooden-wheel tire which was not injured ran 10,164 miles before failure. These last figures alone are not conclusive evidence of superiority of either type of wheel, nor can it bo certainly.said that the greater average mileage of the wood-wheel tires finally proves this type of whee l superior, for the injuries received by tne wire-wheel tires were more numerous and damaging. One fact is evident, however, partly from careful study of the final results, and partly from close observation as to comparative wear during the tost, namely, that there was nothing to show any superiority of wire over we-od wheels as regards their effect on the lifo • of tires."

The test extended over 122 days in the case, of tires mounted' on wood wheels, and 101 days for those on wire wheels, tho difference being due to tho fact that the set of tires used 'on the' wood wheels lasted after those on the wire wheels were worn out, all tho tires being run to destruction. Proposed Tasmanian Tax. Thore is talk of revenue of motorists in Tasmania having to pay a tire tax in 1915 for road purposes. The proposal is that motorists shall pay a stamp duty equivalent to 12J- per cent., on the retail selling price of pneumatic tires, and 15 per cent, on solid tires. This applies to all new tires purchased. Half tile above rates to bo levied on tires already actually ia use. Should tliis class tax, which has been laid by the Tasmaniuii Treasurer beforo tho House of Assombly, bo passed—which is doubtful —it will constitute one of the heaviest taxes imposed on motorists in the world. Take the owner of a 16-h.p. car, shod with 880 x 120 "Dunlops," who uses his car in and out all the year round. _ He will probably use two sets of tires. Should thu proposed tax go through, he will nay about £0 10s. duty, which 1 I would be collected, as a stamp duty, on

similar lines to tlie beer stamp duty imposed on bran-era. At present Taemoniau motorists only pay an annual tax of 10s. a year, and naturally there is strong opposition to the proposal to jump this sum to the dimensions suggested. Under the Victorian motor car tax, the owner of a 13-16 h.p. car pays £3 35., which is itself a fairly etiff tax, but under the proposed Tasmanian tire tax the owners of the same class of car would pay three times as much. One weak point in connection with a tire tax is that motorists would have to pay just as much on a cover that ran 5000 miles as on a tire that hid run only 150, and was then discarded! through being badly cut. The life of a tire is too varied for taxation purposes. If a class tax must be imposed on motorists, the petrol tax is the most equitable, for the further one travels the more one pays. Hints and Tips.

Beginners usually take their first lessons on unfrequented side roads, and it generally happens that these, minor roads have a pronounced damber. In other words, the sides slope sharply down to the gutter. To the novice the steering becomes very trj'ing under these conditions. If possible, he should be warned to select a flat road for his first essays at the wheel. When driving over hew metal, show consideration for your tires. Recently, on a long run,. the writer struck no fewer than a dozen patches of roadmaking. The time-honoured suggestion or withdrawing the clutch, and allowing the car to coast over was tried and abandoned after the first attempt. A certain amouut of speed is necessary or sufficient momentum will not be obtained. The result was that the car rocked like a ship in a storm, and the wheels did not seem able te get any grip on the loose material. By far the best plan is to stop at the patch of loose metal, put in your first speed, and proceed-at a crawl; only when the patch is very short can one "coast." Flickering when, electric lights, are In use is very often due to loose terminals, the vibration causing alternate-ly-.good and bad contact. An English' motoring journal, however, describes a case in wliich all the contacts were tight, ,the accumulators were in perfect condition', and it seemed obvious that, the trouble must lie somewhero in the dynamo itself. The cover was removed from the cummutator, and It was found that the commutator itself wan generously eprinkled with metallic dust which had apparently been shed by the brushes. ' There wae no symptom of anything else unusual in the ( appearance of the dynamo, ao all the dust was blown out, the face of the commutator polished, and the cover replaced* On trying the lamps agains it was found that the trouble had disappeared, and that the lights burned as steadily as they had ever done. Presumably, the metallic duet was tending to short circuit certain sections of the commutator, and so produce irregular output of current. The moral obviously is that from time to time one 6hould give the commutator end of the dynamo a wipe over, and see that no dust from the brushes is allowed to accumulate.' Here and There. ' Legal lighting up time for motor-cars and motor-cycles: To-day, 7.37 p.m.; next Friday, 7.40 p.m. Five of the seven directors of the Paris house of Bleriot—';he illuminating engineers—are, wo learn, at the front, including M. Louis Bleriot, who has organised one of the flying divisions.

With the object of demonstrating the efficiency of air cooling for motor-car engines, the Franklins Automobile Co., of Syracuse, N.Y,, U.S.A., ie organising a 100 biles non-stop test to be made entirely on the low speed by all the agents for Franklin cars throughout the United States on one certain day. Owing to the fact that the mutilation of road signs by sportsmen and others has caused considerable confusion to tourists and motorists in California, the California State Automobile Association is reported to have lately placed a bull's-eye target on each post below the road signs, with the lettering, "If you must shoot, shoot this." Many of Europe's greatest road riders have fallen in the fighting in France ansd .Belgium. Thys, the Belgian crack, and the greatest road rider of the day—he won the Tour de France in 1913, and again in 1914—has been killed in action. Marcel Buysse, and his less-known brother, are also amongst the fallen. Amongst the French cracks that have given theii\ lives for their conntrv are the champions Poulain and Garrifeun.; Tho "Business as Usual" motto— adopted by traders in England—is being carried out to good effeot in the English motor cycle trade. During September motor-cycles to the value of £140,000 were exported, and this during one of the most critical months during the war. ;' :