A “BETTER” CAR.

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 242, 3 January 1928, Page 6

A “BETTER” CAR.

THE FOURS AND THE SIXES. SOME IDEAS ON BOTH. To many people it may seem ridiculous to pay a higher price for what is known as a “better” car. If one can purchase a fourseater car at £2OO, or a saloon at £3OO, which will go anywhere, travel at a fairly high rate of speed, if desired, and convey four people, why pay more? A very large number of motorists find an answer to this question. It is obvious, because most of the manufacturers of popular cars have a superior model, usually with a larger engine, more commodious and more highly finished coachwork, costing, perhaps, another £IOO, which sells almost $$ readily as the cheaper model. There are, however, still larger and much more expensive vehicles which also sell very readily, and in these few notes it is intended to set out what may be termed the allurement of the larger car, particularly the six-cylinder compared with the four-cylinder model. In the first place, a more powerful engine is used, ranging from, say # 16 h.p. to 20 h.p., and with six cylinders instead of four. This engine, of course, is capable of a higher power output and therefore it is possible to increase the strength and weight of the chassis and bodywork, employ larger and more robust gear-wheels which will withstand greater wear, and a more substantial back axle, to wheels of a larger diameter and wider tyres, to afford greater leg-room in the body, and to supply a substantial coachwork with a flne finish and good lasting qualities. That is certainly a concession to comfort, although many will consider the smaller and lighter car more conveninet to handle, especially in traffic, requiring less garage accommodation and having substantially lower running sosts.

Naturally, the larger and heavier the <?ar the more petrol it will use, although in these days of cheaper fuel that is not so important as it was, especially when one bears in mind that oil <jonsumption, the wear of tyres and general upkeep will not be any greater, excepting, of course, that replacements of tyres would be more costly. A much tnore important point, however, is that of the performance of the car as a whole. The motorist who goes from the small, cheap car of 12 h.p. to 14 h.p., costing, say, £2OO to £3OO, to a larger one of, say, 20 h.p., costing approximately £SOO, immediatelv finds a difference, and if he can afford it he certainly will not want to go back to th« cheaper vehicle.

In the bodywork he will appreciate a sense of roominess, with greater insulation from road shocks because of the deeper sprung seats and also because the larger th e vehicle the less accentuated are inequalities of road surface, which will convey to him and his passengers a pleasurable feeling of greater comfort. A comparison between a six-cylinder and a four-cylinder engine is in favour of the lormer. True, there are more moving parts to wear and there ar e six sparking plugs instead of four, but then adjustments to valve tappets, for instance, or cleaning sparking plugs, are not often necessary in the course of a season; indeed, they are better left alone by the average owner-driver, whether the car is a small one or a large one. But what a difference there is in the running: How smoothly, how silently and how swiftly the more powerful sixcylinder engine gets into its stride: On reaching a hill the driver of a small car communes with himself whether it will be necessary to change down into a lower gear or not, and if he decides *his P fbe negative he knows that he must keep up his “revs,” for if be slows down on the hill or “loses his mixture” by lifting his foot off the accelerator pedal, in all probabilitv he W'lll have to change down. Th e driver of the larger and better car, owing to the superior acceleration of his engine, gets away from a standing start much more quickly, and once in top gear it is not often that he has to come out of it. There is, too, a fine sense of satlsfaction in sitting behind an engine which moves smoothly and silently. A good, well-balanced six, which one expects when paying mor e than the price of the cheapest possible car, moves without fussiness, has no period of vibration at certain speeds that can he readily detected, and gives r feeling of effortless power. This sense of power and smoothness on top gear is expressed in a way that must be unknown to those who have had experience only' of smaller cars when driving slowlv in Braffic.

Summing aj., therefore, the points in fa\ our of the better car are its improved acceleration, due to the higher relation of power to weight, which means getting away from another vehicle without fuss or bother; easier driving under all conditions, but particularly in traffic: fast or slow climbing. as desired, of easy or steep hills; higher average speed on long journevs; better insulation from road shocks; more silent and more comfortable travel.

On the other hand, there is the higher first cost, higher cost of running charges, greater overall size, which means that the vehicle is less handv in congested thoroughfares. The smaller and cheaper car is naturallv much less expensive to buy, slightlv ‘less expensive to run, and puts up a performance which meets the requirements of the majority, but, on the other hand, does not give the same degree of comfort, case of travel, relative freedom from luss, vibration and anxietV of the larger car.