MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 86, 4 January 1918, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

/By Cldtoh.l

Gas Containers. Now that so much attention is being I'ociisscd on coal gas as a motor fuel in Knglawl, it is interesting to noto thai, practical progress is heing mado by many big manufacturing concerns with fairly convenient and serviceablo containers. Thousands of cars are now being run on "gas" in Great Britain at the present time, no other fuel being obtainable. One of tho most practicable containers is made for attachment to tho running hoard. It is cylinder shaped—ojft. long by 14in. external diameter. When fully charged to 18001b. pressure, it carries 500 cubio feet—tho equivalent of two gallons of petrol. The container is mado of rubber and fabric, and, all told, weighs 601b. It is interesting to i;oto that at the present price of petrol in England it costs about £30 to run a light car 5000 miles for that item alone. On coal gas tho cost, at 3s. (id. per 1000.cubic feet, is about £6 (is.. Truly a very important saving which soon covers the cost of the installation.

Motor-Cycle Driving. The "power" of a motor-cycle engine, says an exchange, depends greatly upon the speed at which the engine turns over —the rate of its revolutions. Henco we 'have the new term among motor-cyclists, "revving" —not a pretty word, it must be admitted. Hewing i means inoro than merely revolving; it indicates that tho engmo revolutions per minuto are high, and therefore that adequate power is being developed. To obtain the best results, according to circumstances, - and to carefully nurse the engine, the revolutions should be maintained as high as possible compatiblo with the speed at which the condition of the road permits the machine to be driven, even if a lower gear ratio must be resorted to. Not very long ago one of the British motorcycle papers published an articlo in which a rider pointed out that it is often tho ultra careful man, desirous of saving his maohiue, and economising in every way possible, who drives in the moßfc Rtrocious manner. The driver who refrains from opening tha throttle when he should does not save petrol, but, on the other hand, generally abuses the engine. The ra,te of the revolutions must bo maintained, more especially with the single-cylinder engine hauling a side-car, even if tha gear ratio be reduced, which means also that the average rate of travel is lowered, though not so very much. It, is known, too, that most careful drivers dislike to hoar their engines turning over at anything approaching high speed. They attack a hill at a comparatively, leisurely pace, allow the engine to ''konk" (another new but expressive word) along at slow speed, deferring the gear-change down , until tho last moment, and, oven in low gear, keep tho speed of the engine so low the impulse of each explosion is articulate. ' That absolutely is the wrong way of handling the machine, for,. where it does the engine no harm whatever to turn over n high speed, the overloading at low rates is apt to work considerable mischief; it is a matter that should be understood. What it really mcans'is that overy stroke of the engine delivers a shook or jar throughout its bearings, and the transmission system, even to the tyre, whereas if the speed of the engine be maintained the torque is tho more oven. Moreover, when an engine is running slowly on heavy load, the liot, slow explosion causes pitting of the \alvcs, also increased oil and petrol consumption. In hill-climbing' tho driver should appruach the grado lit a lively gait, and change down early if at all necessary, so that the engino may keep up a business-like purr throughout the climb. In changing down, ho should not close the throttle, for then will the engino pick up tho lim'ased speed (requisite to maintain the rates of travel on second gear) during the fraction of a second that the clutch was released on changing gear.

Amorican Exports. Some remarkable figures relating to America's motor export trade are issued in the official returns of the trade of the United States for the year ended June 30, 1917, which have recently come to hand, and not the least remarkable are those relating to the exports of motor-cars from tnat country. During the year in question , nearly 81,000 motor-cars, valued at £19,000,000, were exported from the United States, as compared with about 25,000, worth some £5,500,000, in the last pre-war year. Of the total last year some 65,000 were passenger cars and 16,000 commercial cars. The following statement gives the actual figures for the last five years. year ended Passen- CommerJune3o. gercars. cialcars. Total. 1918 ... 24,293 993 25,286 1914 ... 28,306 784 29,090 1915 ... 23j880 13,999 37,876 1916 ... 56,234 21,265 77,499 1917 • ... 65,834 15,977 81,811 It /will ■ be noticed that there was a considerable decrease in the number of commercial cars exported last your as compared with the previous year. This is accounted for by the fact that tho sales of motor lorries for military purposes to the Allies were oxtremely heavy during 1915-16, but that latterly there has been a falling off in the shipments of this class of car. As regards values, the total value of <the cars exported last year was £18,950,000, as compared with £20,805,000 in the previous year, and only £5,536,000 in 1913-14. The average value per car in 1916-17 was £156 for passenger cars and £552 for commercial cars, as compared with £160 and £556 respectively in 1915-16 and £187 and £314 in 19131914.

Here and There, At this time of the year motorists should rcmcmbor that rubber in almost any form deteriorates quickly when subjected continuously to excessively strong light and high temperatures. This is particularly true o£ an inflated tyro for tho hoa't, besides being injurious to tho rubber, will sometimes melt or soften vulcanised spots or patch on the inner tubs. A simple precaution in protecting tyres from the sun and preventing what often results in serious injury is to throw robes, canvas, dusters, or almost anything over them. Neither should spare tyres ever be exposed. F. Birtles has put up a fine car drive from Frepiantle to Adelaide—a distanco of 1753 miles. Birtles, aboard a Maxwell car, left Fromautle on Friday, December 14, and arrived in Adelaide on Wednesday, December 19, his full time being 5 days 6 hours. The previous host for this trip was 5 days J'J hours, by Messrs. Fraser and Armstrong, but their performance was only an intermediate one, inasmuch as they wero intent on the Frcmantle to Sydney record (2959 miles), which they succeeded in reducing to the remarkable timo of 8 days 23 hours 35 minutes. There are some 30,000 motor ambulances in u|e with the French Army, and it has now boon announced that a further 10,000 are to bo procured immediately. In the French chamber recently, ill addition to the present allowance, 76 million francs was demanded for tho Jimbulanco servico lor 1918. When it is desired to drain out the waste oil front tho crankcase, do so while the engine is hoi e.s the oil I being thinner in its warm state will flow more readily. Do not replace tho plug immediately the oil stops running, as thorp will bo a good deal of the lubricant clinging fo the interior of

tho crankcasn, cylinders, and pistons. Replace the plug when the drip has ceased, and charge with fresh oil. Rome American local bodies have adopted a practice which is particularly commenrlahlo from tho point of view ol the motorist. This is to paint white ;ill bridges and fences defining approaches to them. The result is to greatly reduce the dangers which ariso from the difficulty of distinguishing tho narrowing of roadway at bridges and culverts. In Newton County, Indiana, not only are bridges and fences at either end painted whito, but the ends of small culverts are defined by a stout whito rail on each side. Thus the motorist cannot get into difficulties by running one wheel off tho end of the culvert. An Australian writer describos a devico which automatically gives warning should the_internal pressure rise above a safe limit. A valve, ho states, has been evolved that givos notico of either undue internal pressure or of the deflation of a tyro, by whistling, once it has. been adjusted to the advisable maximum and. minimum pressure. In the event of a leak causing the tyre to become under-inflated, the whistle continues to sound till a prcssuro 151b. below tho sot maximum is reached, and then ceases. Lighting-up time.—To-day, 7.28 p.m. Next Friday, 7.27. p.m. Petrol Saver.—Tho Speedier Vaporiser, which can be fitted to any motor-car cr motor-cycle, saving one fourth to onethird of petrol, can be purchased from Robert Miller, Main Street, Greytown.— Advt.