CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 January 1917, Page 7

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

KEWS AND NOTES. • Very few motorists realise the vital importance, from n petrol economy point a \iew, of exploding tlio charge ac the correct moment, ami also of restricting the speed of Hie vehicle. The Autocar, ill referring to experiments carried out on the Brooklands track by Mr. [Tarry Ferguson, mentions that lie ran with tlll's park fully ■ulvniicccl over a inrnsiir ed distance at a speed of 22 miles per hour, anil the consumption worked out at 32 miles per gallon. He then retarded the ignition to the half-way position, and on repeating the test found that the consumption was Increased, the mileage only amounting to 2-">.fi per gallon, lie then ehecked the consumption at a speed of 22 miles per hour, 311 miles per hour and 38 miles per hour with the ignition I advanced. At '22 miles the consumption vyas 32 miles ,ier gallon, as already mentioned At SP miles per hour the mileage per gallon was only 21, and at 38 it dropped to 20.5. As a result of other teste it was found that a very weak mixture was uneconomical, owing no doubt ',O combustion being incomplete, and therefore the throttle had to he opened wider to obtain n certain speed in order to compensate for the .amount of waste of fuel expelled unconsiimod from the exhaust, A weal; mixture is also inclined to cause overheating. The Autocar sums up the, problem of fuel economy as follows: —(1) To keep the whole chassis from end to end in the best possible ''tune." (2) To so adjust tlie carburettor that the mixture is a shade les3 rich than that- which will give the maximum power. (3) To drive comparatively slowly, instead of always "pushing" the «ir to its maximum speed. (4) To avoid unnecessary alterations of speed by way of frequent slowing down and acceleration. Three :icw Australian motor-cycle road records have been established in Australia by the Victorian rider H. Parsons. Tbe distances and times were: 10 miles stnight-away, in 7min, 21 1-5 sec., equal to a speed of over SO-m.pjh. (previous best J, Booth's 7min 45 4-5 sec); 25 nvflea (on circuit) in 22min n 2-ssec. (as against E. Taylor's 23m in 55 l-sset.); and 50 miles in 44min 32 1-5 sic (previous nolder, E. Tver, in 48 mirf 30sec.) A Harley-Davidson motorcycle was used in these speed bursts. Parsons subsequently made an attempt to better E. G. Baker's 24-hours' figures, but ufler a few hours, from some cause, gave up the attempt. It is reported that he 'negotiated 177 1 /;. miles in the. first three hours of his ride. Some high ear speeds were attained (luring the Christmas 'holidays on the sea, beach at Seaport, Queensland. W. Jewell, driving a Studebaker car, negotiated half a mile on the hard sand from a ; flying start in 21 2-ssec., equal to a speed of 84 miles per hour. A mile wag also covered in the fast time of 44 :*c. (nearly S2 m.p.h.). E. Lahey, on a T't'-h.p. motor-cycle, covered the mile in a second slower time than the car. The tests attracted considerable interest in Queensland motoring circles. The timing was controlled by the Queensland Automobile Club. A well-known American motoi-cnr manufacturing concern recently offered a prize of a modern car to the owner of the oldest car of its mako in America still in service. The winner 'proved to be a motorist in the State of Indiana, who is still running a car that he purchased in 1807. An experiment conducted in England showed a surprising loss of power between tihe engine and road wheels of a II motor-car when the different gears were in operation. For instance, on a three-speeded car the average loss was 5 per cent, on top gear, 10 per cent, on the second gear, and 27 per cent, on the bottom gear. Now no one will be surprised at the difference in efficiency between the direct top gear and the indirect second speed, but it is certainly surprising at first sight that there should b'/ a further power loss of 11 per cent, on the first speed, because it is no more indirect tlhan the second. This additional loss is attributed to the churning of the gear-box lubricant being so much more rapid on the bottom speed, and the experimentalist makes the excellent suggestion that some engineering college should conduct w, scries of experiments to measure gear-box losses in an actual gear-box, using different lubricants for each test. It is a well-known fact that the keener competitors in hill-elimbs always empty their gear-boxes of the usual thick oil and replenish with a minimum quantity of a thinner lubricant, and there is, perhaps, more in the practice than some of t'lii>m have recognised. For instance, taking the average of the above tests, and assuming, as we safely may, that gear oils intermediate in thickness between engine oil and grease were used in the gear-box, the loss with an engine developing 25-ih.p. on the brake would bo such that on the bottom gear only 18.3-h.p. would be developed at the road wheels, and this (heavy loss would be reduced by using a thinner lubricant. Incidentally, theso facts provide the strongest possible argument in Favor of nioti scientific lubrication of the gearbox and back axle.

Motor Cycling is responsible for the announcement that remarkable lightweight motor-cycle is to be placed upon the English market, whioh will undoubtedly help to revolutionise the, present trend of design. The machine in question is provided with a two-cylin-der rotary engine, and although the typo of power unit has in the past been experimented with considerably, success has not attended the designer's ell'ovts, and, consequently, we iind that these experimental power units have not been proceeded with. In the present instance, 'however, a mileage running into thousands has been covered, during whicli the machine has been subjected to every conceivable test. The power •produced is out of all proportion to its capacity, i e., 350-cc. Notwithstanding that no gear or clutch was fitted and direct, belt drive relied upon, there was no necessity at all for any form of c'uloh or gearing, owing to the fact that the engine would fire at speeds so low that they bad to bo observed to be believed It is said that once this machine is available, as it will be after the war, in quantities running into thousands, it will mako one of the biggest sensations that the motor-cycling world lias experienced for a very long' time. It will then, of course, be provided with a suitable clutch and gearing.