LESS NOISE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 199, 15 April 1932, Page 2

LESS NOISE

WATCH THE ENGINE AND GUARD AGAINST TROUBLE. PRACTICAL HINTS. Traffic noises has interested the Ministry of Transport recently, as it has interested for a long time scientists who mahe"" a study of the effect of noise on nerve strain, says an English writer." A large part of the noise made by- motor traffic can readily he prevented. The following suggestions, if generally adopted, will do much towards making streets quieter. Avoid racing the engine before starting the car. Many drivers malce a practice of this in a mistaken belief that it ensures reliable operation under load, but it is entirely unnecessary, especially in warm weather, nor is it required in cold weather, for a slight application of the choke will give better results. Rac:ng an engine is always detrimental, particularly | when it is cold. j Always set the throttle for a very ' low idling speed so that the engine ! will not roar when it is declutched. Never op'en the throttle and race the engine when shutting it down. This does not make the next start easier, as some drivers seem to think. It is a great mistake to accelerate a car 'excessively in bottom and se- ! cond gears before engaging top. j In stopping the car, except in emeri gencies, let the closely throttled en- ! gine slow down the car before the stopping place is reached, thus avoiding violent brake applications. Clashing of gears can be entirely eliminated if the driver will use judgment as to engin(e speed and car speed, and change only when they approximately correspond. Try different engine and car speed relationships and varying degrees of quickness in engaging the gears, until the conditions giving the utmost smoothness and quietness are determined and make the changes accordingly.

Not Only Prohlem. Noise is not the only prohlem of the streets. A car with a foul exhaust • can be a menace to health as well as to comfort. It is incumhent upon 'avery motorist to do his bit to minimise this evil. Incomplete combustion of petrol and the vaporisation of partial burning of excess cylinder oil are the causes respectively of the presence of carbon monoxide and of irritating and ill-smelling vapours in the "breath" of engines. The chief cause of incompletcly hurned fuel is over-rieh carburatter adjustment, hut irregular or weak ignition and imperfact vaporisation are contributhig factors. The use of as lean a fuel mixture as practicable, the maintenanee of perfact ignition, and the use of suffieient heat to ensure completa vaporisation are the remedies. As to the obviation of oil fumes, the use of the best oil, capable of standing up under high temperatures, and of piston rings so fitted as to prevent the entrance of excess oil into engine combustion spaces, together with such adjustments of bearings and pump pressure as will insure against an over-supply of oil to the cylinder walls, will prove effective. Fortunately, waste of fuel and oil, which makes a car with a foul exhaust a public nuisance, also makes it wasteful and uneconomical to operate, so that self-interest as well as self-re-spect can be appealed to.