HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20278, 21 August 1937, Page 28 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

LORD NUFFIELD. Lord Nuffield has been chosen by f ffie Royal Society of Arts as this I year’s recipient of the Albert Medal, “for services to industry, transport | g and medical science.” t For Workers’ Recreation. Lord Nuffleld’s philanthropic ac- ' tivities are widely known, and one of , the latest examples of his generosity r is the new sports and social centre for Wolsley employees, opened adjacent to the factory by his Lordship cfurlng June. Here, -covering a dozen or so acres, are playing fields, tennis courts, bowling greens and so on, together with a pavilion with a concert room Beating 600; in short, every conceivable facility for workers’ after-hours’ enjoyment- There is also a special playground for children. The privileges enjoyed are contributed to by the workpeople at a very low rate, the pavilion and grounds being, of course, a gift from Lord Nuffield costing many thousands of pounds. WATER IN CARBURETTOR. If spluttering and misfiring, followed by a complete stoppage, occur in an engine which previously has behaved well, first Investigation should be made at the carburettor, because it is fairly common for the float bowl gradually to accumulate a fair amount of water. This collects in the petrol through various causes, chief of which are condensation in the tanks or kerbside pumps, and in the car’s own fiuel tank. Water will not pass through the carburettor’s jets, and, therefore, when enough of it is present it will stop the engine running. The cure Is to remove the float bowl and drain it on to the ground. Water will indicate its presence by then collecting in fairly large globules, whereas the petrol will immediately spread out thinly over the ground. For the same reason it is a good plan occasionally to drain the glass bowl of the petrol pump, though this should not be interfered with more often than is thought necessary. EXPERIMENTS IN ENGLAND. PETROL ECONOMY. Given a car with standard tuning, whic-h is in reasonably good mechanical condition, the rate of fuel consumption will be influenced to an extraordinary extent by the way in which it is handled. Most people know that fast driving results in a heavier consumption, but few realise how great are the differences for which average 6peed Is responsible. An English experimenter has carried out some tests on a light, but powerful car, of the high-performance type which has a nominal consumption figure of 16-18 miles per gallon, aooording to the maker’s catalogue. It was first driven in a normal manner, over a circuit selected to reproduce average road conditions, without taking tihe engine up to maximum revolutions on the intermediate gears; the capacity of the car for acceleration was not fully employed, and at no time did the speed exceed 50 miles per hour. Careful measurement showed that under these conditions the car was covering exactly 17 miles per gallon. Treated More Harshly. As a second test, the car was driven over the same circuit in racing style —in fact, it was treated more harshly than was fair to the mechanism —the engine being pushed up to maximum revolutions on each gear, while full throttle was employed whereYer possible; braking was left to the last moment on all corners. In these circumstances the fuel consumption worked out at 10£ mile’s per gallon. Just by way of contrast, a third test was made, in which the car was driven with the sole idea of obtaining a good , consumption figure. Accelerator and brakes were treated gently, 40 miles per hour was never exceeded, and the average speed worked out at only 30 miles per hour. With this treatment the car gave 20* miles per gallon. All these tests were repeated three times, average figures being quoted, and were made in the course of a few hours, so as to rule out variations in weather conditions; no mechanical adjustments were carried out in the course of the experiments. These results show clearly that driving methods make an enormous difference to fuel consumption, and have been confirmed by experiences with many other types of car. Violent braking plays a part by causing the fuel to surge in the tank and the float chamber —an effect which often leads to flooding and waste. Frequent Changes In Speed. Nowadays heavy traffic involves very frequent changes in road speed with fewer opportunities than formerly of sustaining a steady rate of travel. During acceleration, fuel consumption is heavy because the mass represented by the oar has to be set in motion by energy supplied from the engine; after this, cruising at a steady speed needs much less petrol. Braking wastes the energy which has been so expensively stored in the moving car, and is followed, inevitably, by a further period of wasteful acceleration. The conditions are similar to those which apply when motoring In hilly country. It is obvious that the increase of consumption due to these factors is the more seriotus the heavier the car. The tendency towards bigger bodies, besides adding weight, has Increased frontal areas and wind resistance, despite streamlining, and consequently more - power is needed to push the car through the air. The more it is accelerated, the greater the demand on petrol consumption.

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS.

EXHAUST PIPE RATTLE. With few exceptions, every modern car is fitted with some sort of flexible engine mounting, which allows the engine to oscillate slightly in the frame when it is pulling hard, and absorbs the vibration before it can be transmitted to the car. With this arrangement some freedom of movement must be allowed for the exhaust pipe where it enters the silencer, and it is at this point that a very annoying I rattle may develop. In some cars the joint between exhaust pipe and silencer is made simply •by slipping the pipe into a slightly larger pipe on the end of the silencer, and gripping the two together more or less firmly by “U” bolts. It is when too rrnuch clearance develops between these two pipes that a metallic rattle develops, whioh may be difficult to trace. If such a noise is traoked to this source, loosen t'he “U” bolts, slip a packing of thin tin between the two pipes, and tighten the whole together. BPARKB. Constable: “I asked the lady who was driving for her name, and she said, 4 Oh, this Is so sudden.’ ” Advance publioity so boosted a new I bus on the Nanking-Yunan run, China, that when it arrived at one town [ 60,000 people were waiting for it. 1 A Lancashire motorist got away with ‘ driving the wrong way up a one-way , street by announcing that he could , neither read ncvr write. He couldn’t read the notice board > and couldn’t write his excuse to court. | “ How did he sign his driving licence?” ) ask the Motor. ’ An aggressive road inspector in Can- , ada, notorious for his grumbling and ' bullying, recently Inspected a new <road. Nothing was right with it. . “ The crown isn’t high enough,” he barked, “the camber is too low, and , the draining ditches are mere oracks.” The foreman looked him in the eye * and replied, “And 'how is she for * length?”

Many fuel pumps driven off the engine are fitted with hand trigger. When a car has been left standing for a week, give the pump hand-trigger a few jerks to pump the fuel through. It saves the battery and will give a quick start. Do not forget that heavy fuels, while adequate for some types of car, do not assist quick starting.

A conference is being held In Moscow to discuss ways and means of making motoring into a sport for the Soviet masses. The All-Union Physical Culture Committee award a badge to those passing the sporto motoring tests. 44 Perhaps,” says the Motor, “we shall yet see the hammer and sickle replaced by the wheel, hammer, and starting handle.”

A Glasgow motorist complained that a summons for a motoring offence had been delivered at his business address. The Magistrate said that many people objected when summonses were delivered at their private addresses. “The trouble is,” he said, “that they don’t want a summons served anywhere,”

Recent advice from England states that it Is improbable that any of the cars which it was proposed should attack the world's land speed record this year will actually be ready until 1938. This is not surprising, because there are an incredible number of difficulties and obstacles to be overoome before a car of this type can be produced with a real hope of attaining the speed.

Artificial colours have been used for concrete roads overseas, but a new departure Is the colouring of the granite clippings used by roadmakers for non-skid roads. The colourings used are red, white, blue, green, yellow, brown and black. These coloured chipplngs -can be used In a number of ways, Including the replacement of road markings or for dlstinguising up and down tracks. It Is olaimed that the most severe weather, chemical action, and attrition will not remove the brilliant colours.

When the Leblin (Poland) tram and bus company was in low water because no one would ride on Its antique vehicles, the local theatre wasn’t doing too well either. The' chiefs of both concerns put their heads together. Then the theatre lent the tram company a cast of actors and actresses, for a consideration, and the tram company put one in each tram to tell stories, sing songs, and entertain the passengers. Result: tram oompany showing a profit.

Increasing numbers of cars are making their appearance on Melbourne streets with the tyres painted white. This fashion has been introduced from America, where it is an unusual thing to see a motor car with anything but white-walled tyres. The preparation used comprises a rubber-base solution in paint form, which, when applied, immediately becomes part of the rubber tyre wall and cannot be removed when once applied. This is an advantage, as it means the white tyres can be readily cleaned.