MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 268, 8 August 1919, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By "Clutch.")

Question of Taxation. One of the most important subjects in which motorists are interested is that of taxation. Much discussion. has taken place on the point from time to time, and amongst the principal' suggestions that luiivo been made are:— (11 That the tax should be regulated by horse power. (2 X That it should be regulated by weight. 1 (3i That it should lie regulated partly bv (ho horso power and partly by the ireight of tho car. (4) That the tax should be levied on tyres.

Jr. the United Kingdom the tax on horse power has been in force for somo time, and the same tax has been adopted in some, if not all, tho States of the Commonwealth of Australia, with the exception of Tasmania. The matter has engaged tho careful attention of Mr. I'. S. M'Lean, of Hawke's Bay, president of the New Zealand Automobile Union, and he Doiiits out that in deciding on the nature of a motor tax there aro certain things desirable. These are:—(l) Simplicity in nature of tax; (2) permanency in liaturo and amount; (3) capability of easy apportionment amongst the several districts entitled. A tax on horse power would satisfy all those uquirements, a tax on combination of horse power and weight in a somewhat less degree satisfied them, but the proposed tax on tyres did not, in his opinion, satisfy any of them. A tax on horse power, or on combined horse power and weight would be fixed by statute, and would, therefore, have a degree of permanency which would be wantiiii? in a tax on tyres, because the tyre tax would tako the form of an import duty. I'his would come within the Customs tariff, and would bo siiblect to revision every year without necessitatinsr the repeal or amendment ofany statute. There were several inherent objections to the tyro tax. The first of these was tho practical impossibility of apportioning-it amongst the several districts for tho special maintenance ot roads. Tyres would be imported indiscriminately at the various ports of the Dominion. Tlio bulk of them would bo discharged at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttclton, and Dunedin, and would pay their import duty there. Another objection was that the motorist would have to pay to tlio importer a profit on the duty as well as on the lyre, which would increase his tax by a considerable percentage, and which increase would not go to tlio improvement of any roads. A further difficulty was that most tyres would bo used on tho worst roads; where, for instanco scoria was the principal metal, the tax would be unusually severe, and assuming that apportionment would bo possible among the local bodies, tho worse they kept the Toads tho more revenue would they receive. The next difficulty was that taxi-cabs would be called on to pay a,much heavier tax than private cars. There was a further difficulty, which suggested itself, although it might be regarded as a minor point he thought it worthy of consideration. Tho more resiliency there was in a tyre the less it damaged tho road. A solid tyre was more injurious than a pneumatic tyre, and the nearer a tyre came to solidity the more mjifioup it must be. A tax on tyres would inevitably. lead cither to the uso of tyre protectors, or liners, which invariably lessened resiliency, and would probably induce tyro makers to -manufacture tyres approaching to the solid tjro. There was one condition which he wished to urge upon 'the owners of private cars, that was, that they should, in considering the fan-new of n tax, take into account not only tho damage they did to roads, but apart from that, the necessity to them of 'procuring the best of roads.

Carrying Capacity, What should be the carrying capacity of the standard car? asks an Exchange. Pour, live, six, or se'ea iwivsmis? I'or whatever has been tlio number decided on by tlio mainifaeir.rer, that number "lias invariably bcs.i exceeded, ana the seating of three in a IwrMOiiwr, five in a four-scuter, six in a fivo-seater, and so on, and the number of inquires rer-eived for . more capacious -bodies on ths conipardtiveiy low horse-powered chassis, point to the fact that it is not w:se to build too largo 1 ; for the icßnltant training in .of the extra passengers is good for neither chassis, tyre?, nor body. For the popular 16-li.p. tiie most HUitablfl capacity would bo a five-sea'.er 'driver included) seating three at the rear awl dispensing with emergency seals, which necessitate an extra length of nodywork, and if any extra iengch of whret bass is not forthcoming, this extension of ihe coachwork is to be deprecated. lu this connection it may bo remarked -juit tho tendency is for the erases makci to come to tlio coachbuilder s aid, and many post-war cms mil have considerably longer wheel bnses than have been tho rule, but .this inay b& ui their efforts to attain good springing rather than to help tho coach il™Z™i\ At any rate,, so Ions; as .the uUimalo , comfort of the passengers, is arrived at, at least one of tho three objectives i* attained, whilst unquestionably a moro beautiful and graceful carnage line can be adopted.

Here and There. Is there any advantage * n a engine us compared with a- short-stroKo onef is a question, that » asked. The answer is, tnat a long-stioke is more economical tmd more powerful for a given bore. Lightlng-up _ time.—.To-day—s.l p.m. The Government of Trinidad, British West Indies, has taken steps against a trasoline combine by wluch. P» c Q es £ gasoline have been increased to 48 cents ner Ballon. Tho consumption of gasoline in Trinidad is 3G0,000 gallons a year used chiefiy for automobiles and up to tivu years ago local dealersbuying tho supplies from the United States, paid -8 to 31 cents per gallon. About that time local oil companies formed a l» ol > *"4 in order to develop and protect tho local companies the Government granted them exclusive 'use of a Government warehouse. following which the combine immediately advanced prices to 48 cents. Evidence produced at a recont lawsuit proved that gasoline sold locally for IB cents cost only 18 cents with an excise tnx of 6 cents, making a total of A cents. The Trinidad Government gave the local companies thirty days| notice to discontinue storage of gasoline in tho Government warehouse, and has invitedl storßge of American gasoline. This oner will be accepted as soon as shipping I a ivhiclp are now prohibitive, aro .reduced. Tho American automobile dominates tlm markets of the Dutoh Bast Indies, and will probably continue to do so, according to Consul A. E. Carleton, who reports that there aro 12,000 cars in use in the country, and that sinco 1915 practically nearly all imported and sold hru e | been of Americau manufacture. -1 reviously Italian and l'ronch cars were popular. Imports in tho last three yc®™ have averaged 2500 cars per year, the truck market is comparatively undeveloped. There aro only 200 in the country. Motor-cycles are quote common in tlafnvia and Wcjtevreden. Governmont construction of highways has just been undertaken in Java, and numerous roads are being built. , ,ln important stand has been taken uj the British Rubber Tyre Manufacturers Association, which has decided to abolish the milcago guarantee usually given u ltd solid lyres. It is a move, towards modernising motor trucks, wagons, etc. llieio is cert;«inly something very archaic about a miloage guarantee, and probably the Association is right in attributing its existence to the need of educating tho user to tho practability and economy of the solid tvre. notwithstanding its high cost. It has now 1 served its purpose, if it was projected with the solo object of popularising the tyre, because' no one interested in motor transport to-day is. left ivitli any apprehension lis to its efficiency. „ , , A glnnco at the list of English motorcycles to be manufactured this year siiows that change-speed sears of one kind or another have been almost invariably adopted, jl'he majority of machines from ;H h.p..upwards appear to be lilted with three-speed or infinitely variable gears, whilst, among the lighter types, tho two-speed clutch'ess gear-box seems very much in favour. A few small sin-gk'-'gear two-strokes are standardized, but one cannot, help feeling that this is dono .■hielly with the intention of keening I hem'within the poor man's-purse. Thcro e-'ii be mi doubt whatever that there is Hit; II demand for the single-gear 3! li.p. T.T. machine, but the majority of mami-

facturers are not putting one on ths market. Motor-cyclists demand gear# and clutches. Extra weight and pneo go with tlieni, but that is only to be expected. Few motor-cyclists realise what a big increase in price of machine is incurred by the addition of a three-speed gear and its essential fitments. Uno well-known firm in England charges isli for its 4 h.p. single-gear model. For the same machine with a three-speed gear the price is about JEBO. This will serve to illustrate how these extras increase the price to tlio user. If a low-priced machine is needed, then all such fitments will havo to ho eliminated. That they are not absolutely necessary has ' been proved in the past by tlio line work done' by single-geared motor-cycles tho worid over.

On cars equipped with, a planetary gear transmission some difficulty is experienced in placing the hand speed lever at an intermediate position, with respect to the control shaft bracket, which is necessary when backing or reversing the car, says an exchange. If ■this lever is pulled too far to the rear it engages the emergency brakes, when, if tlio reverso'pcdnl is pushed, the engine will bo stalled, as it cannot well move tho car with the brakes set. When the lever is too far forward, the highspeed clutch will engage, after the foot releases the clutch pedal, and tho engine will invariably be' stalled. To overcome tho difficulty or p6sitioniilg tho hand lever, a groove was filed on the control shaft bracket, without removing it, |in. wide by 1-lGin. deep, at the apex or point whero the curved surface and inclined faces come together. The edges of the depression are bevelled, so" that the adjusting screw on tha clutch lever bracket passes smoothly in and out of the slot. AVhen tho hand lever is/ pushed forward, the neutral position is immediately apparent to the operator, for his hand ''feels" tho ad--' justing screw dropping into the depres-. sion. -Besides being certain that lift lever is in neutral position, the driver saves tho time required to get out and crank the engine, as is necessary wJieu the engine is stalled. "I havo found the one-cylinder tyre pump most useful and-ecoiiomicul, as it has no packing glands to look alter, or to becomo stripped of theit threads," observes an American wwtei. "I discovered that It could be greatly improved, however,. by the. addition of an i-Xtra cup leather with washer and nuts to hold it on tho rod. I removed the original cup leather and nuts, and cut two inehee more of thread on the rod. I then put ilia new leather washer and nuts on the rod just above the oldone on tho ncivly-cut threads. By keeping the cylinder freo from dents, and adding, occasionally, a few drops of neat's foot oil tho pump_is kept ia good working condition.-"