MARCH 6TH, I()Og.
THE AUTOCAR tl Journal publtsbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H . WALT ER STANER.
No. 698. VoL. XXII .]
SATURDAY, 1ARCH 6TH, 1909.
lPRI CE 3D.
The Autocar.
(Published W eekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom. Entered as second.class mattu in the New Yo rk (N.Y.) Post Office.
Three Editions every Friday .
The THREEPENNY EDITION, printed on Art Paper. The PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREJGN EDlTION, price 3d.1 printed on specially light bank paper for transmission abroad.
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COVENTRY.
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20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., England.
CONTENTS. NOTES USEFU L HINTS AND TIPS NEW ZEALAND R E LJABII. ITY TRIALS ( l LLUSTRATION) THREE LAUR I N AND l{LEME~T r 909 1\l QDELS (ILLUSTRATED) SMALL C AR TALK. Bv R UNABOUT • . TH E I NSTITUTION OF A UTO:\IOBIL E ENGINEERS .. THE 1909 15 H.P \\"H ITE STEAM CAR MOTOR UNION NOTES .. TH E GATE C HANGE P ATENT (ILLUSTRATED) SO)IE DETAILS OF THE 8 H . P. ROVER (ILLUSTRATED) NON• SKJDOTNG T EST:=. 01-' KEMPSHALL TYR ES ( JLJ. USTRATED) TH E F ROST \VHEEL BRAKE TESTS • • M OTORPHOBIA CORRESPONDENCE • • TH E N EW ZEALAND R ELIABILITY TRIALS ( I LLUSTRATED) .. ON 11-IE TRACK . • ALLEGED D RI VING TO H I E COMMON DANGER TH E A UTOCAR5 OF 1 909 · ADDENDA- TU E I 8 -22 H .P ARMSTRONG•
P AGE
, 13-314 3 I4·3 1 5
3 1 5 316-318
318 3 1 9 320 32 1 322 -323
324 325 326 326 33 1-335
336 337 338
WHITWORTH CAR ..
FLA '5H ES (ILLUSTRATED). , C LUB DOINGS
339
340 . . 341- 342
THE S PENCER•M OULTON T\'RES-\VA R~I HANDS WHE:-1' DRIVING
(ILLUSTR ATED)
342
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~ on-,lipping Tri~~les. T he tll"O tr ia ls conducted by th e R.A.C. , ll"hich a re dealt with on pages 325 and , 326, pos e an interest of th eir 01m in view of the agitation 11·hi ch has been made aga in st the use of meta l-studded tyr es . A s we have sa id before, ,re a re of the opi nion th a t the damage done by meta l-studd ed tyres to the roads is g rea tly exagge rated, and we think that th e road and other authorities who rega rd it as se riou s are mi. taken. At th e same time, it is generally admitted, e, ·en IJY tho e ll"ho be li e, ·e most implicit ly in the damag in g e ffec t of the meta l stud , th a t it 11·ould do littl e o r no harm o n the stee ri ng wheels, a. it is th e driving \\"h ee ls, or rath e r the studs of th e d riving 11·heels, ,rhich do the a ll eged da mage. :\fow, it so happened th a t the trials under Club obse rrntion on th e 1 8th ult. dow• ta i led int each other in an extraordinan· manner. T he front 11·heel braking tests sh01H·d that if front 11·hee l brakes 11·ere fitted a car could be pulled up 1rith 1·ery littl e > . lip, although it had plain back tyr es . The othe r and enti re ly separate test sho 1red that 11·ith rubbe r non skids back brakes could be used , ·io lentlr on a most t reacherous su rface ll"ith a n a ll rubl e r ty;·e, 1·ery littl e icle- l ip taking place.
It is easy to 01·er-e timate the importance of trials of this kin d . because the conditio ns 11·ith 1rhi ch th e,· deal a re l'ery diffe rent from th e side-s li ps ,rhi ch o n~ expe rien ce.- in o rd inary cl ri ,·in g- slip s ,rhi cb ;m• ra re ly da ngerous unless th ey occur at speeds consid erably in excess of those poss ible in th e tests . .Admitt in g all this, one mu t still rega rd th e tests a· xcLecling ly encouraging, as if th ey sh oll" nothing e lse th ey at least sho 11· that g reat progress ha. been made in two cntireh · diffe rent direct ions towards the abo litio n of th e metal-studded tne on the d ri1·in g 1rhc >e ls. .As ll" e ha,·e pointed out, the most a rdent bel icH'r in th e dcst ru cti, ·e effect of st udd ed tyr es on dr i,· in g 11·hcc ls 11·ould ne ,·e r object to one on a stee rin g 11·hee l if such 11·ere found desirable 1rith front 11·hc >e l braking, whil e the a ll rub! e r tne showed that ,rith o rd inan· back 11·h el brakin rr a ·, ·en · stab le form of c01·er 11·Jth no meta l stud s had bee n· del'i ed . Th is cove r has a lreadY pro1·ed itself in long per iods of e1·ery da~· us e. ] n fact, both the b rake and th e tne te. t. 11·ere orficial con firma t ions rathe r thar~:.'."lemon." trations~ls the demonstration p riods in aclvcase 11·ere lo ng ya st.
Prolonged Horse-power Tests. \[o re than once las t ,·ear we referred to 1rhat for ,rant of a bette r te rm ire, ea ] led o , ·er-effic ient nginesthat is to say , engin es 11·hic h would deYelop rema rkab le po11·er for thei r size a t ,·e ry high engine . peeds, but 11·hi ch 11·ould not run nic ely or pull we ll at low o r moderate speeds . \\" e made it clear that ,re had no o bj ec tion 1rhate1·er t o a n eng in e whi ch would run fast and pul l ha rd, hut 1rhat l \"c' did objec t to 11·as th e engin e 1rhic-h 1rnuld do this and nothi ng e lse . \Ye ha1·e brought this matter up aga in because th ere > is e1·e ry in d ica tion that in futur e engin e t esting 11·ill be mu c h mo re ge nerall y und e1ta ken th an in th e past . In th e fir st place , s in cE > the 15 ,000 mil es road t ests o f r9oi the Royal A.C . ha d ecl in ed to take :inything longer, and, in th e second place , the re is th gro1ring feeling that e1·en in these lo ng dra 1rn out road t ests th e condit ions are not s uffi cienth· se1·c > re unl ess th e eng in e und e r test be a small one.- Th e Club cannot acknmd e rlge tes ts in 11·hi ch the lega l limit is e xc eeded, and it th e refo re m•?a ns that an e ngin e ca n run righ t thro ugh a 1·ery lengthy road t ri a l 11·itho ut being e xte nded any time except 1rh en h ill -climbing. It may be urged th a t 11·e have Brookl ancls, and this is quite ri ght, but o n Brookl a ncls the prol onged test is a lso a thing o f th e past, as t11·entY -four hours , not to mention longe r perfo rm ances, a re no lo nge r permi tted thne . Th e refo re 11·e a re, as it 11·ere, forced upon th e bench t est , and it is for th is reason that 11·e bring up the
