SAVING PETROL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 348, 8 May 1928, Page 7

SAVING PETROL

HINTS ON HOW IT IS DONE The two main essentials in economising petrol are to avoid waste and to drive only on the “high spots”—the points of acceleration, when the best economy is effected for given speeds or loads. These apparently simple factors mainly are the answer to the common question as to why different drivers of identical cars obtain widely different petrol economies. Waste is the most usual fault, and it begins at the fuel pump, where faults are sloppy filling, over-filling and the incomplete draining of the hose. Next, serious waste occurs during starting up, if owners persist in flooding the carburettor for each start. Use the air-choke or strangle instead. Always, when the engine is cold, run it slowly for some minutes to warm it up, as “revving” when cold not only harms bearings and other parts, but wastes both fuel and oil. When cold an engine just ticks over with a rather wide minimum throttle out in every car manual, and are easily opening should be reduced, to ensure the smallest waste of fuel in consequent idlings, in traffic and elsewhere, during the day. This form of practising economy entails a careful use of the hand throttle lever. The setting of the carburettor is important from economy viewpoints, and it cannot be over stressed that a setting which gives best economy on a new car be several times cut down as the engine becomes thoroughly run in. The methods for obtaining such “cleaner” carburettor settings are set out in every car manuel, and are easily followed. The ideal to aim at is a mixture so lean that'when the engine is cold it will tend to backfire, but will run well when the engine is thoroughly warm. To test for “high spots” set the car at a fixed speed, say 30 m.p.h., on a level road and then study carefully how by slightly depressing the accelerator, no increase of speed, or a very small increase, is obtained until the acceleration pedal is noticeably depressed. Continue at the fixed speed and next note how far the accelerator can be eased without any loss of road speed. The results will show that with the speed constant a quite wide variation of pedal settings can be used, and the skilled rnd economical driver saves petrol always by keeping the accelerator at the smallest required depression. Once this habit is cultivated, and applied to driving at all speeds, very noticeable savings in fuel will result.