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:\1A WC lf 2ND, J9Qj. THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicallr propelleb roab carriage, EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER. No. 593 . VoL. XVIII. SATURDAY, MARCH 2ND , 1907. lPRICE 3 D . THE AUTOCAR. (P ublished W eekly. ) Registered as a newspa pe r for t ransmission in the United K ingdom. Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office. EDITORIAL OFFICE: COVENTRY. PUBLISHING OFFICES : 20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND. CONTENTS. PAGE OTES • • • • • • • . • . • . . • • • 287-288 USEFUL HI NTS AND TtPs: MORE Arn-How TO CvT A CLUTCH LEATHER (ILLUSTRATED) . . , . • • • , , . 289 A SPEED, DISTANCE, AND Tn!E R ECORDER (ILL'lJSTflATED) TH E 1907 SCOTTISH RELIABILITY TRIALS ( ILL USTRATED) A SHORT RUN ON A 20-24 H.P. CLEMENT-TALBOT THE 18•22 H . P . R OYDALE CAR (ILLUSTRATED ) . , . . 290-291 THE NON-SKIDDING QUALITIES OF PALM ER TYRES . . . . CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS: A NOVEL HYDROPLANE- 291 291 292•2 95 2 95 THE AMER ICAN I NVASIO~ - AN I NVENTORS' SHOW-THE R OADS ON THE GRAN D PRIX COURSE-THE PEKIN TO PARIS DRIVE-THE KAISER CuP RAcE-TH E H oTCHKtS~ TouRWo MEN" ME CH ANI CS .. . . . . . . . • . . . . 296-297 AN 8 H .P. DE DI ON CAR IX :'\TEW ZEALAND (ILLUSTRATED} . . 298 -299 THE MOTOR UN ION . . . . . • . . • . . . 298 SIMJ\IS·BOSCH HIGH-TENSION MAGNETOS ( ILL USTRATED} , . • • 300-301 CHRIST1E's GRAKD P RIX RAcER • . 301 TH E LACRE LAMPS ( ILLUSTRATED) . . . . 302 SEVEN STAGES 1:-.' STEA.ll ( ILLUSTRATIONS) . • . . . • 303 IN THE H OUSE OF Cm,IMO :-.'S, NEW L ANCASH IR E \YORKS . CARS FOR lTALY. THE HlLL:\IA~·COATALEN CAR • . 104 STEAM V. P ETROL CORRESPONDENCE . . 305-306 . . . . . . IGNITIO N AND POWER ( ILL L"STRATED) FLASHES . . . . . • . . . . • . . . . • . . MANCHESTER'S SECOND SH OW. PETROL FILTER PATENTS APPEAL A DUPLEX TYRE (I LLUSTRATED). TH E LATEST NON·SKID 307-313 314-31 8 319-320 32 1 (ILLUSTRATED). THE BROOK E l\I ET HOO OF FIXI NG FRONT WJNGS ( ILL USTRATED) SOME QUERIES ANO REPLIES.. . . . . CLUB D OINGS. T OLLS OK HAYLING I SLASO 322 323 324 " THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES : Bri t ish Isles, 16s. ,,,,. Abroa d (thin paper edition ), 22s. Sd. per an num. .I Notes. The l at Spark. The fat spark, like its Yenerable predecessor, the long ming ling spark, appea rs likely t o fall into dis­ favoor. we might a.imost ·ay di grace. Professor Watson's most interesting paper at the Automobile Club last week on " The Effect of the Character of the Spark on the Power deYeloped by a Petrol l\fotor " undoubted ly came as a surprise to many of his audience who themselves had be li eYed in , and so long taught, the virtues of a good fat spark. T o some ex tent Professor Watson disarmed criticism by making it c lear that his conclusions 1Y ere based entire ly upon the p erformance of one engin e, and as Mr. Critchley pointed out in the discussion , the compression of that engin e was dis ­ tinctly on the l ow side. H owever, conlining ourselves to the particu lar engine used by Professor WatsO'll, we may say th at it was pro1·ed conclusive ly th at it ran as well and developed as much power 1Yith a weak current as with a strong current. In oth er words, it showed that it did not matter whether high voltage or low voltage we re used so long as a spark passed at all. We believe that if Profe sor Watson is abl e to pmsue b.is experiments he will find with higher compressions stronger currents are necessary, b ut we a lso think that he 11·ill find the same sequence will occur. That is to say, a higher voltage may be required for a higher compression, lrnt th e re will be no Yirtue in making it higher than is absolutely necessary to e nsure regular sparking . Th.is, we had better say at once, is mainly undil uted rule of thumb. We have found , and ma11y others have found, too, that high compression engines are e xtre mely sensitive to what for want of a bette r name has hitherto been known as a weak spark. Perhaps one of the most interesting featur es of Dr. Watson·s expe rim ents is the 1ray in which they confirm th e be li ef which is so strong with many old motorists that a plain coil with a mechanical make and break is superior to the trembl er coi l and wipe contact ; superior inasmuch as greater po.rer is obtained whe n it is u eel throogh a wider range of engin e speed. As it happens, two of th e most famoos makers of French cars have stuck to the plain coil through thick and thin , but they ha1·e been practically alone in this. Strangely enough, while so few make of motor cars are fitted with the pl a in coil. thP exact opp o ite is the case with motor bicycles. \ fotor bi cyclists long sin ce found out that the plai n I oi l gave them better results on the road; that they got more power from it than with th e trembler coil. especially at high sp eds . In fact, th e motor cycling branch of automobilism kn ows a great deal more than it ahrnys receives credit for. F or instance, there is not only the matter of th e plain co il, but th e magneto . The magneto ce rtainly came into wide us e am ong motor cyclists eighteen months befo re the maj ority of motorists had begun to recog nise its Yirtues . T o return to Dr. Watson 's paper , it was particularly \'aluable, because it explained the why a nd the wherefore of certain habits of the engi ne so far as they are in fl uenced by the ignit ion. Many of these thin gs motorists have found out for the msel ves, but only a fe1,· of them have hitherto been scientilically accounted for and expl a ined, so th at the paper is of value to all 1rh o wish t o tharoughly und erstand th eir engines and to treat th em in the most intelligent way, a.nd there is no doubt th at a careful study oif th e paper will enable the m to cl this . We congratulate Dr. Watson on his paper a, the Club on securing the co-operation of a scienti im·estigator so interesting a nrl painstak ing. The Irish Reliability Trials . The rules for these tria ls ha ,·e been sent us, and we mu st congratul ate those responsibl e for them. There a re t1ro parti cularly praise1rnrthr characteristics of these rul es . In the first place, as was the case las1 Year, special proYision is made for private or amateur owners who have no direct interest in the industrv. A separate class is provided for them, and as they are not allmYerl to delegate the driYing to a professir)ll al.

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:\1A WC lf 2ND, J9Qj.

THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicallr propelleb roab carriage,

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 593 . VoL. XVIII. SATURDAY, MARCH 2ND , 1907.

lPRICE 3 D .

THE AUTOCAR.

(P ublished W eekly. )

Registered as a newspa pe r for t ransmission in the United K ingdom.

Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.

EDITORIAL OFFICE:

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

OTES • • • • • • • . • .

• . . • • • 287-288

USEFUL HI NTS AND TtPs: MORE Arn-How TO CvT A CLUTCH

LEATHER (ILLUSTRATED) . . , . • • • , , .

289

A SPEED, DISTANCE, AND Tn!E R ECORDER (ILL'lJSTflATED) TH E 1907 SCOTTISH RELIABILITY TRIALS ( ILL USTRATED) A SHORT RUN ON A 20-24 H.P. CLEMENT-TALBOT THE 18•22 H . P . R OYDALE CAR (ILLUSTRATED ) . ,

. . 290-291

THE NON-SKIDDING QUALITIES OF PALM ER TYRES . . . . CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS: A NOVEL HYDROPLANE-

291 291 292•2 95

2 95

THE AMER ICAN I NVASIO~ - AN I NVENTORS' SHOW-THE R OADS ON THE GRAN D PRIX COURSE-THE PEKIN TO PARIS DRIVE-THE KAISER CuP RAcE-TH E H oTCHKtS~ TouRWo MEN" ME CH ANI CS .. . . . . . . . • . . . . 296-297 AN 8 H .P. DE DI ON CAR IX :'\TEW ZEALAND (ILLUSTRATED} . . 298 -299 THE MOTOR UN ION . . . . . • . . • . . . 298 SIMJ\IS·BOSCH HIGH-TENSION MAGNETOS ( ILL USTRATED} , . • • 300-301 CHRIST1E's GRAKD P RIX RAcER • . 301 TH E LACRE LAMPS ( ILLUSTRATED) . . . . 302 SEVEN STAGES 1:-.' STEA.ll ( ILLUSTRATIONS) . • . . . • 303 IN THE H OUSE OF Cm,IMO :-.'S, NEW L ANCASH IR E \YORKS . CARS

FOR lTALY. THE HlLL:\IA~·COATALEN CAR • .

104

STEAM V. P ETROL CORRESPONDENCE

. . 305-306

. . . . . .

IGNITIO N AND POWER ( ILL L"STRATED)

FLASHES . . . . . • . . . . • . . . . • . . MANCHESTER'S SECOND SH OW. PETROL FILTER PATENTS APPEAL A DUPLEX TYRE (I LLUSTRATED). TH E LATEST NON·SKID

307-313 314-31 8 319-320

32 1

(ILLUSTRATED). THE BROOK E l\I ET HOO OF FIXI NG FRONT WJNGS ( ILL USTRATED) SOME QUERIES ANO REPLIES.. . . . . CLUB D OINGS. T OLLS OK HAYLING I SLASO

322 323 324

" THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES :

Bri t ish Isles, 16s. ,,,,. Abroa d (thin paper edition ), 22s. Sd. per an num.

.I Notes. The l at Spark. The fat spark, like its Yenerable predecessor, the long ming ling spark, appea rs likely t o fall into dis­ favoor. we might a.imost ·ay di grace. Professor Watson's most interesting paper at the Automobile Club last week on " The Effect of the Character of the Spark on the Power deYeloped by a Petrol l\fotor " undoubted ly came as a surprise to many of his audience who themselves had be li eYed in , and so long taught, the virtues of a good fat spark. T o some ex tent Professor Watson disarmed criticism by making it c lear that his conclusions 1Y ere based entire ly upon the p erformance of one engin e, and as Mr. Critchley pointed out in the discussion , the compression of that engin e was dis ­ tinctly on the l ow side. H owever, conlining ourselves to the particu lar engine used by Professor WatsO'll, we may say th at it was pro1·ed conclusive ly th at it ran as well and developed as much power 1Yith a weak current as with a strong current. In oth er words, it showed that it did not matter whether high voltage or low voltage we re used so long as a spark passed at all.

We believe that if Profe sor Watson is abl e to pmsue b.is experiments he will find with higher compressions stronger currents are necessary, b ut we a lso think that he 11·ill find the same sequence will occur. That is to say, a higher voltage may be required for a higher compression, lrnt th e re will be no Yirtue in making it higher than is absolutely necessary to e nsure regular sparking . Th.is, we had better say at once, is mainly undil uted rule of thumb. We have found , and ma11y others have found, too, that high compression engines are e xtre mely sensitive to what for want of a bette r name has hitherto been known as a weak spark. Perhaps one of the most interesting featur es of Dr. Watson·s expe rim ents is the 1ray in which they confirm th e be li ef which is so strong with many old motorists that a plain coil with a mechanical make and break is superior to the trembl er coi l and wipe contact ; superior inasmuch as greater po.rer is obtained whe n it is u eel throogh a wider range of engin e speed. As it happens, two of th e most famoos makers of French cars have stuck to the plain coil through thick and thin , but they ha1·e been practically alone in this. Strangely enough, while so few make of motor cars are fitted with the pl a in coil. thP exact opp o ite is the case with motor bicycles. \ fotor bi cyclists long sin ce found out that the plai n I oi l gave them better results on the road; that they got more power from it than with th e trembler coil. especially at high sp eds . In fact, th e motor cycling branch of automobilism kn ows a great deal more than it ahrnys receives credit for. F or instance, there is not only the matter of th e plain co il, but th e magneto . The magneto ce rtainly came into wide us e am ong motor cyclists eighteen months befo re the maj ority of motorists had begun to recog nise its Yirtues .

T o return to Dr. Watson 's paper , it was particularly \'aluable, because it explained the why a nd the wherefore of certain habits of the engi ne so far as they are in fl uenced by the ignit ion. Many of these thin gs motorists have found out for the msel ves, but only a fe1,· of them have hitherto been scientilically accounted for and expl a ined, so th at the paper is of value to all 1rh o wish t o tharoughly und erstand th eir engines and to treat th em in the most intelligent way, a.nd there is no doubt th at a careful study oif th e paper will enable the m to cl this . We congratulate Dr. Watson on his paper a, the Club on securing the co-operation of a scienti im·estigator so interesting a nrl painstak ing.

The Irish Reliability Trials . The rules for these tria ls ha ,·e been sent us, and we mu st congratul ate those responsibl e for them. There a re t1ro parti cularly praise1rnrthr characteristics of these rul es . In the first place, as was the case las1 Year, special proYision is made for private or amateur owners who have no direct interest in the industrv. A separate class is provided for them, and as they are not allmYerl to delegate the driYing to a professir)ll al.

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