CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 26 July 1916, Page 3

CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

Eroin the Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia, Limited, lor the week 22nd July, iOIG. Dario Restn, by his recent success is the classic American motor track race, at Indianapolis, easily won £2100. liesta went to the front after -to miles had been covered and never afterwards was headed, the crack Italian driving the 300 miles is 3hrs. 3omins. losccs., giving ail average ol 84 miles per hour. The ovent was such a good thing for the winner that the "Motor Ago" (Chicago) states that Resta won nil endurance drive, not a speed contest. The race attracted 21 starters, but did not produce the excitement of previous years, the absence of drivers of tlie calibre of Ralph De Pa Vina. Goilix and the late G. Uoillot, being greatly missed. Some 83,000 spectators paid to see the"race. The piston displacement of the winning "Pcugot" (French) car is 271 cubic inches, the dimensions of the cylinders (four) being bore B.<sin, stroke (S.Cin. The successful ear had one (if the smallest engines in the race. Are not motor cor manufacturers and dealers injuring themselves by putting so much stress on the hill-climbing qualities of their curs oil high gear? The amateur driver is told that his car can climb oiivthing on high, and naturally lie attempts to do it, with the result that he seriously racks his ear by hanging on to the high gear too ■ long, a'nd then takes a week's wear out of the gears in attempting o "'frantic, last-second change. It is exceedingly poor policy, and bad practice as woll, to hang on to the high gear on a hill nntii the ongine begins to pound, in the hope of pulling up the last fow ynrdg without a change, as this pounding indicates that the engine is being Attained in a way that will surely shorten the period of its usefulness. The gear should be invariably lowered when the engine is still pulling freely, and further lowered at. the slightest sign of distress. (The loss in time resulting from this system of driving can hit counted in seconds, while the increnscd usefulness of the ear is measured by months.

It is astonishing; the difference there is in tlio cost of motoring, much d*epnmling on the man nt the wheel. The careful owner-driver get.« results seldom achieved by the paid driver. As evidence of what can be accomplished in this direction, a Victorian motorist, Mr X. S. Cozens, lias supplied some interesting and instructive figures. Driving nn E.N. car (Belgian), shod with Australian-made Dunlop tyres, Mr Cozens covered 15,100 miites from Ist February, 1914, to July let, 1915, the actual running cost being £134 18s Bd. Petrol, oil, grease, etc. cost £71 (3s (id, averaging 1.33 d per mile, whikt the tyro upkeep was £32 2s, equal to .olid per mile. Repairs, overhauling, painting, etc. ran into £31 10s 2d, equal to ,5d per mile, totalling a cost of 2.14-ld per mile. The car weighed 2oewt. Up to the end of March, 191(j, tiie total distance travelled was 23,500 miles; the cost of tyres being £59 17s 3d, fuel, oil, etc, £107 10s 5d ; repairs, etc., £37 19s 2d ; the running t'Ofcf. being 2d per mile, lor the wholo distance. Tlie we.kly average for tlie full period mentioned was 210 miles, at a coat of £1 17b Id per week. Tkene figures go to sliow that motoring is not an expensive luxury when a car is driven with care ami moderation.

The old saying "the pioneer pays" has come true in connection with the attempt to run an up-to-date motorbus service in Melbourne. Although a comparatively short period has only elapsed since a company with a nominal capital ol* £250,000 was incorporated in Melbourne to conduct motor omnibus serives, financial troubles already have arisen, and a winding-up application has been made in the Victorian Practice Court with a view to dletermjiining whether the Melbourne General Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd. shall be wound up voluntarily, compulsorily or under the supervision of the Court.

In a letter to the secretary of the Automobile Club of Victoria, au officer writes ewthuiastically of the work the Australia motor men are doing in France. The Anzac motor men claim the record in Franco, having loaded on to mofor lorries supplies, including horse fodder, for 22,000 'men and horses in 33 minutes. During the week 400,000 shells daiiy were fired by ' tie Allies in the section of the front where the Australians are located. One of the waggons, with a sergeant, was biown up by an enemy shell, and the ticwoori r two cccaped with wounds, lroin which tliuy are recovering.

A year ago great tilings were expected oi the armored motor car in the European war, and it certainly made a good record lor a wlulw; but as soon as both armies dug themselves in its usefulness. wan greatly discounted. Where armies are on gaged in active aul rapid movement, not mere sorties from trenches, the armoured ear us «I great value, but at p%>seut it is being little used in I'"ranee. Oil the other hand, the ammunition and supply cars that lfave to gu up to the front are not frequently armoured, with advantage, although their means of olfeuce, or rather defence, is limited to die rifles of their guards. uSow that the Germans arc being pushed back from their elaborate trenches on trie western front, and the British cavalry are coming into •peration, it should not be long before the armoured cars get an opportunity of proving their worth.