MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 255, 22 July 1921, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

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Motor Cycle Reliability Trial. Tho Wellington Motor Cycling Club held a reliability trial last Saturday, and it was very keenly contested. Tho riders were lined up and dispatched fixun the G.P.O. at two-minute intervals. A. pace of eighteen miles per hour was to bo averaged. Shortly after the start, rain commenced to fall, making the going greasy. The first check (secret) was at the Kilbirnie Post Office, where nearly all the competitors arrived too early, thus losing points. When the writer reached the Port Road, blinding rain and gusty head winds were prevailing. making tho riding uncomfortable. Half-way to Karaka Bay u 3J-h.p. Triumph went out of action, and also out of the trial. A short distance further an Indian was held up .with dutch trouble, but was soon O.K. again. Karaka Bay saw three riders getting along together, showing that two at least were out of their reckoning. Just about here another 3i-h.p. Triumph struck I rouble, and after testing his plug and carburettor. the rider found an air lock in his tank. Seatoun tunnel was the second check at which all but three competitors arrived. Here an American machine came a thud through striking and skidding on a projecting tramrail. From tho tunnel to Hoppy Valley was a glorious run, and it was only the high wind that spoilt the run up the hill. A Big X side-car machine had trouble hero through clutch slip, but managed eventually to get going again. Aro Street was the next check, and the run from there to the Post Office finished the trial. American machines predominated, and also seemed to have the heavier weights to pullFirst place was won by A. Broo Harley Davidson); Curtis and Miller tied for second place. The trophy, a. cover, was presented by the Barnet Glass Company. The “Straight Eight” Engine. The engineer responsible for the present revival in the "straight eight" motor-car engine (which is attracting considerable attention owing to most of the contestants in the forthcoming French Grand Prix having adopted it), is M. Ettore Bugatti, a Frenchman, When war broke out he was working on this type of engine in Alsace, from which hs escaped and reached .Paris. The engine was ' tried out successfully by Die French Army laboratories, and subsequently adopted by the French ana American Governments for aeroplane work. Tho excellent results attained by this engine have attracted the attention of the world’s leading motor-car-makers, and it is quite possible that its influence will soon set the fashion amongst the highest-priced cars. Aluminium Pistons.

Though aluminium pistons have long been popular, especially for speed work, difficulties of construction and use have never been quite eliminated. The difficulties are largely overcome by introducing a certain amount of copper, sometimes as high as -W per cent. This •is done to reduce the rate of expansion. Investigation in the direction of utilising magnesium, it is reported, has substantiated the claims made for this metal, which’ is but two-thirds the weight of aluminium. Magnesium alloys aro now marketed which show good durability, strength, and thermal conductivity.

Material Cost and Finished Price. Just how far the cost of material affects the finished motor-car price may be realised when it is mentioned that it amounts to one-third the retail value of the chassis; that is, the steel and nonferrous metals before a pennyworth of work or handling have been expended on them. If this represents .£450 and a 33 1-3 per cent.. reduction is made, there is.a.saving of Xl5O in the. chassis price possible—no small reduction this—for those concerns able to buy new material and not obliged to continue using old stocks.

Traffic Control in Future. It was demonstrated recently in London that it is quite practicable to control a email electric car by sound waves. That is to say, the car without anyone in it can bo started, stopped, or steered in any desired direction merely by blowing a whistle, the sound wave 8 being received on the car by a sensitive detector, which brings the controlling mechanism into action. This experiment has previously been successfully performed by wireless transmission, but control by sound seems to open up a new field for speculation. The motorist of, say, a hundred years from now, may bo controlled by unseen agencies and forces in a manner at present little understood. Every car may be required by law to be equipped with control devices sensitive to sound waves. Bulk Handling of Petrol. A system for handling petrol in bulk is under consideration in Sydney and Melbourne, i.t being proposed that the motor spirit should be imported in tank steamers, and unloaded into reservoirs. after the method employed in the handling of oil for oil-burning vessels. Mix A. D. Dobson, who recently returned to Christchurch from the Commonwealth, mentioned the scheme at a meeting of the C.A.A., and suggested that the day might not be so very far distant when such a system would be considered for the Dominion. It was proposed in Australia, said Mr. Dobson, to Iv-ve petrol tanks in the country towns, which would bo supplied by tank wagons from the seaport towns. B.y this system a largo saving could bo made, for at present tho consumers were paying for wood and tin, in addition to petrol. In repiy to a question, Mr. Dobson said that it. would pay motorists living in the country to make their own arrangements for purchasing in bulk.

Caro of Laminated Springs. While cases of spring breakages arc not so frequent as they used to be, no doubt owing to better material ami improved design, yet they are likely to happen on tho bad road surfaces now so often encountered. Experience leads one to believe that the majority of springs break after neglect, although the immediate cause may be an excessive sudden strain. Tho laminated spring, if unprotected, is subject to very trying conditions as to moisture, dust, dirt, and mud. The easy movement of the laminations upon each other is prevented, and the spring, instead of flexing, breaks. In sonrn cases rusting of the spring leaves has been anticipated, and the roughness set up between the laminations has been considered to have a good effect in sotting up a species of damping of the spring, but this might better be done by some form of dumper or shock absorber. Lubrication of springe, while it increases their efficiency enormously, will certainly also prevent many breakages by distributing 1 lie starins over all the members and allowing tho free movement of one member upon the other. Considerable attention has been directed lately to this question of protecting springs and ensuring their efficient and permanent lubrication by means of gaiters and special lubricating devices, and it has been shown that the efficiency and the comfort of the car have been enormously improved by tho adoption of such methods, while spring breakages have decreased. Lighting-up time: To-day, 4.id p.m. Next Friday, 4.52 p.m.