MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3159, 10 August 1917, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

(By "Clutch.")

Glaring Headlights. The common use of diinmors has krgoly eliminated tho glaring headlight nuisance bo far as- Wellington streets ' are concerned, but no great progress has been made towards devising a headlight which w,ould satisfactorily meet the- demands of country driving at night. Dominion motorists will be wiso to actively interest thomsolves in tlifc question, if only for the reason that some of the rostrictivo 'proposals which have been advanced are utterly unreasonable and impracticable. For instance, one country local body recently suggested that motorists should bo restricted' to a headlight illuminating the' road for a distance of forty feet ahead of tho car. A motor travelling, at fifteen miles an hourr-not an iinmodorato speed on country roads-covers-forty feet, in 1,81 seconds. It is therefore obvious that the drastic restriction proposed would introduce greater dangers than result from _ the- use of glaring headlights. It is just as necessary that sufficiently . powerful lights Bhonld'be permitted as that dazzling glare 6hould l)b eliminated. . .Useful-guidance:on the headlight question 6hould.b3 obtainable presently from Australia. Last -week a demonstration was carried out in tho- presenco of tho principal police and traffic authorities' with tho object of determining which is. tho. .best method of effecting an improvement in the. present use of glaring headlights on motor' rohicles, so that, without unnecessarily interfering with tho benefits of tho lights for driving purposes; tho objectionable glare -which is so annoying to pedestrians and often dangerous' to'-other drivers may bo eliminated or. reduced. An Australian oxchange,' in reporting .tho demonstration, remarks that: Various methods have been introduced in other places, particularly in Amorica; for achieving this object, tho chief ono being to 1 prohibit' the U6e of any lamp the main beam of light from'which is moro tfcan 3ft. Gin. high at a distance "of 75ft. in" advance of the lamn;-'Tho-effeot:of: this law,,if applied, would materially reduce the element of danger to other drivers, as when. the.7sft. zone was entered tho light-would..bo; below tho level, of their' 1 rango of vision. Other methods havo,been.instituted; thechief boing specially ■ constructed' glasses to bo inserted in front-of tho lamps, in lieu of thoplaih. clear, glass generally in use. Thcso special glasses- diffuse the light or reduce- tho glaro without: materially diminishing the amount of illumination projected for tho benefit of tho driver. Other schemes; to tilt tho lamps forward and to place over'tho top of tno lamp a hood which will deflect tho light ro thoroad, have, been tried :.with success.' Six cars, showing lights from. 15 to 60 candlo-poweiy. look part in-the demonstration. A post:of-the required height..was placed in position, and- the various, device'si tested for-about- an -hour '.and •a' half. Included in the number ■ was anAustralian invention. A. regulation .will be "framed, and.Submitted .to th'e'Commo'nwe'alth' Government for,'. approval. When.-the regulationis -.available ?t' may gh-o: a. useful -.lead to action, on similar. lines in New Zealand.

Attend to the :Silonccr. -.- It is ' becoming moro generally recognised that the silencer-is a very'dnceptive part-.of the present-day •motor, because,' owing-' to.its,effect, : if- lipt.iit'tendctV'to,, and,- particularly,.'clciinßed, Ike aconmu.. lation of ;C.ai'bon,~aiul oil m tho' .pipes and ■ exhaust-box ' causes -increased. ■ presBuro on the .piston-heads, which retards, the pistons,'-resulting-'also--in what, is known as'"prc-ignition," in the-ordinary sense. It has''a still, radrd "detrimental effect' on' tho..engine,/by.. forcing -'-(lowiipast tho pistoii-i'ings a' very- large, yolumo of exhaust itnd" uricxpldded gases, etc., into thovcrahk-chamber, thereby luhiltorating thp lubricating .oil, and. causing excessive wear oh tho working,parts ol the engine... ... -,-,'.,,,-- '■"_■'■.. Yet it is surprising "how"little attention tho average motorist pays to the silencer. It rarely, occurs to, him. that, if thenar is regularly in use, the exhaust passages should be cleaned out three, or four times a year. It is' a 'deceptive adjunct, because, tho longer it remains untouched tho mora silent itbecdiiieH, and the driver imagines it is performing its allotted part more and moro effectively, when Tcally the opposite is the case. Sooner or later i£'foreign llittle rioise starts under tho bonnet, especially when a hill is being scaled, or sometimes when dnv-. ing but of'the'g'aragb'in'the'morning. ■ is tho silencer becomes more defective through inattention,-the driver finds ho cannot handle his car'on top-gear after a while, -unless' ho has'.a-throttlo opening twice as largo as in earlier days, and the ignition very much-..■retarded. •■ .Jnwcover,petrol' consumption increases,daily',' with less mileage to the gallon. • Ho concludes that something is ; wrong—the engine is dirty, tho -carburetter at fault, or ■ there are "leaks in tho fuel-tank or pipes—all of which being attended to he finds, on tho next drive,' that tho noise is still there. Of course, the driver becomes dissatisfied, even to disposing of the car, but those who .l)8J.o the; silencers thoroughly cleansed- find they'have given their motors a new lease of life,-.ensuring a maximum mileag3 per gallon of fuel, and peace of mind; ■•■ • ■ Here arid There. '•"'" Seven motor-wagons were used' by th 6 New York Police department in a series of tests to determine how much time and distance are required to bring these vehicles to a standstill. ; The wagons ranged from a capacity of one ton up to GJ tons, and were tested both empty and fully loaded at various rates of, Bpeod. At 10 miles per-hour, a five-tonner, load-

Ed, was stepped in 10ft. Sin.; whilo a two-tonncr, also loaded, was brought up in 10ft. Sin., tlio period of time for each, respectivloy, being 2sec. and 1 4-ssco. A six-ton Joiulocl wagon running at 161 miles per hour, was stopped in 20ft. 2in., within 2scc; whilo a one-ton truck was brought to a standstill in 44ft. lin., travelling at a pace of 20 miles per hour, tlio time required being 3sec. The value of theso teste would be better appreciated were horse-drawn wagons, similarly loaded, put to the same kind of trials so far as they could be applied. It is believed bv some motorists that a multi-point sparking ping w less likely to soot up tthan one with a single point, but this has been proved to be quite a mistaken idea. If anything, tlio multipoint plug is tlio easier to foul, for the following reason:—The spark always takes the path of least resistance, so that as soon as one of the points starts to becomo oily or sooty the spark jumps to the one that has the least oil or car-bon-on it, Tho point where the spark is taking place is always least likely i.o becomo oily. Where there is no spark occurring, the oil collects without hindrance, and ver?'shortly bridges the gap right across. As soon as this occurs, a short circuit is' formed, and the spaiK atonco ceases. , _ •' In a recent discussion with P. .T. V. Battenburg, chief engineer of tho Pour AVheel Drive Auto Company of Clintonvillc, Wis., the subject of overloading of motor trucks camo up when a photograph was displayed showing a threeton truck hauling an eightcon-txm load on trailers. "I want to go on record right now as being absolutely opposed to the practice of overloading," said Mr. Battenburg. "In lay opinion overloading of motor-trucks Ireyond their rated capacity is ouo of tho principal detriments to tho motor truck industry. This photograph is authentic and it is not unusual. )\o have records of three-ton trucks hauling as high' as a thirty -five-ton load with trailers! {Nevertheless, a thrcc-ton. truck is.built for a three-ton load, and, while built with, a generous • margin over itfl rated capacity, for extreme, emergencies, many drivers, some, dealers ' and sometime's ovon factory salesmen. aro altogether too ready to subject a truck to a far. greater loKl.than.it was over meant to carry. Having found British motor-cycles superior, to her owu, franco has mounted all of her military motor-oycliste on tlio Brilish-raado machines. Tn April Australia bought 303 touring motor-cars from Amorica for a vaiuo ot .£■17,470. In tho samo month England imported eleven, worth .£6125, but she bought 118 motor-trucks at. a cost ot 41258,110.' 'J'bo American car « x P or ts lor April alone show a decline of .11200,000. Vranco has 11,000 touring cars in the service of her army, which cost appnxiniatcly about ,'ttiOO . a year, each to run lor spares, 'tyres, petrol, .oil; etc. . Ligbting-np time: -lii-diiy, •>•■! P-m. Next Friday, !>.ll p.m. .- . . '