THE MODERN CAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 May 1938, Page 2

THE MODERN CAR

A PROFESSOR’S VIEWPOINT

To the scientist the modern car is a crude utensil with an efficiency of only about 10 per cent. Its engine is inherently unsuited to its job, having no starting torque; we run it fast to gain efficiency and then lose power in gearing it down; we raise the compression to increase the speed of flame travel, then use special fuel mixtures to slow it down again; we experiment with superchargers and other ideas to increase the weight of mixture drawn into the engine and then fit hot-spot manifolds to reduce it—thus Professor A. M. Law in his talk to the Institute of the Motor Trade at the Holborn Restaurant (London) recently. He forecast that the outstanding developments in car design would ,be i n comfort and acceleration; present springing systems are mostly crude and inefficient, but the average American car is better in this respect than the average English product. He poured scorn on those who confuse hard springing with road-holding and those who find a virtue in difficult gear changes. Professor Low thinks that the invention of a really effective electric storage battery will kill the petrol car, and the steam car has great possibilities which have been sadly neglected. He forecast the development of the car-cum-aeroplane as a popular vehicle of the future.