MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1917, Page 3

MOTOR AND CYCLE.

NEWS AND NOTES One of the most sensible things that lias occurred in the automobile world for many a day is the decision of the American National Automobile Chamber of Commerce to abandon the practice of fitting oars with muffler cut-outs; and It now remains to bo seen if Die manufacturers generally will live up to this decision. The cut-out has been an unmitigated nuisance for years, but just because it constituted a "talking point" li has been retained, to the disgust of the Saner portion of the communiy. It lias been demonstrated that a properly designed muffler absorbs but \m insignificant fraction of the power developed less than is required to haul iaround! the unnecessary "accessories" seen on many cars, so there is no good reason for retaining the cut-out on that ground; and it is certainly superfluous in uny thickly settled community. Xo one is more ready to say harsh tilings about a noisy motorcyclist' than the automobile owner, and yet many car drivers are guilty of the very same offence and with far less excuse.

An important point for prospective motor ear buyers to look out for when selecting a car is the accessibility of its various parts for adjustment and repair. When it is nccessav,. to remove the entire body to enable a single loose bolt to be tightened, or the engine to make a simple adjustment, the repair bill on what should b? but a five-minute job is decidedly discouraging, not to speak of the loss of time. These examples may be rather extreme, but' the fact remain's that accessibility is often made a secondary consideration by designers. That this, should be so is difficult to understand, for goodwill is an important asset in these days of keen competition', and no amount of fancy accessories and free extras can off-set heavy repair Mis. 'in an interesting article on defects in design, as revealed by obsemttea of ears in the Italian war service attrition is called to the fact that no provision is made for placing the jack, m many cases there being no place for the jack other than a bolt head. 'Burther'more, frequently a jack that will go under the front axle is too low for the roar axle, and manufacturers might well give this isubject more consideration.

Before the war, if an aeroplane was provided with one horse-power for about every twenty pounds wight it was considered capable enough for use over the battle lines. At the present time aeroplanes having this ratio of weight to I horsepower are used only for instruction purposes at primary 'training llvin« fields, because, they are much too slow and do not have the climbing ability that is required in modern warfare. The fast seonts may have one horse-power [for ev«ry eight or ten pounds weight, and m some eases of recent development the proportion has been ever lower than this. If we consider briefly the requirements of the aviator it will be evident that tile most important ia securing maximum power output with minimum mass, ami at the. same time it is desirable to con servo as many of the good qualities existing- in standard automobile motors as possible. The development of light motors has been carried on in ail of the warring countries, though each •group of hellrgerents bas worked on •somewhat different lines

The Germans have concentrated their efforts on. vertical cylinder motors of the Benz and Mercedes types, and have seldom used engines having more than, six cylinders. The Allies, on the other hand, have experimented with numerous types of engines, and aeroplanes are now m service which Have power plants with from two to as liigh as twenty-lour cylinders. The rotary form which has been developed in France is a popular type for certain work, lmt for the most part the engines contrived are of the eight or twelve-cylinder V-form. Some, of the. aerial motors have been really complicated types made light bv the skiiful proportioning of parts and the use o the best and most expensive materials of construction, such as chrome nickel; and cliromo vanadium steels; others are< "refined. simpler forms, modified from, current automobile and racing engine practice. Indeed, the most ?ucca?sfiil engines may be considered as following conventional engineering rather than freak * design, the only noticeable departure from this rule,."being in, the ro» tary cylinder - ■