AUGUST 26TH, 1905,
THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 514. VoL. XV.J SATURDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 1905.
lPRICE 3D.
THE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the U11ited Kingdom. Entered as second-class matter at the New York (N.Y.) Po~t Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE:
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES:
20, TUDOR STREET. LONDON. E.C., ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
NOTES : THE TOURIST TROPHY-THE NECESSITY FOR A PAID
MAGISTRACY U SEFUL HINTS AND T 1Ps. By Lieut. Windham, R.I\", THE HERKOMER COMPETITION tillustrated) .• • THE MOTOR BOAT TRI ... LS : TABLE OF MAW KS THE BEAUFORT CARS (illuc;t1ated)
ON T HE ROAD. By Owe11 John . . . SOME T ouw1sT TROPH\' CARS tillustralcd) THE PRINCESS OF WALt!S' New CAR (ill ustrated! POSTPONEMENT OF THE LIGHT VAN TRIALS .•. SOME QUERIES AND R!i'.:PLIES AN OJL SEPARATOR FOR STI::A:O.I c.~RC, tillustrated) THE EDGE HILL AFFAIR ...
239-240 ... 24! 242-2-14 244-245 2-16-2-18
249 250-252 ... 252 ... 252
253 . .. 254
254
CORRESPONDENCE: THE ROYAL (OM MISSION- POLICE EFFRONTERY
ANO VERACITY-T~OUBLE WITH FRENCH AGEN'IS-ENGLANO At,,:0 THE G.-B.-THJ! T OURIST TROPHY RULES-THE ADVANTAGES Of-PNEUMATIC TYREs-lVIAGISTRATES D rSCREOITED-Ur..REASONING PREJUDfCE-AND0VER MAGIGTRATES AND i\IoTORISTS-:\ SUGGESTED VENUE FOR RELIABILITY TRIAL~ (illustrated)-St:MMARY OF OTHER CORRfo:SPONDF.XCE .. New TvRt: ATTACHING AND DETACHING IRONS (illustrated) A COMBINATION SOLID-PNEUMATIC TYRE , illustrated)
255-257 258-259 .. . 259
FLASHES...
260-262
CLUB DOINGS (illustrated) : CLUB F1xTUREs-NoRFOLK A UTOMOBILE
ANO LAUNCH CLUB-SALTBURN :\10TOR C ARNIVAL - NORTH-EASTERN AuToMontLE Assoc1ATHJN-THE MoToR Y ACHT CLus- KENT A.C. -MABLETHORPE RACES-CLUBS AND THE LEGISLATIVE FUND 263-264
"THE "AUTOCAR" SUBSCRIPTION RATES. British I sles, 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s 8d. per annum.
j Notes. The Tourist Trophy. Interest in the Tourist Trophy gro1Ys steadily. It is now less than three 1\'eeks ti II the el'ent. and the greatest secrecy has been obsen·ed b,· many of the competitors as to the cars 11·hich 11·ill actually take part in the race. Some very interesting machines 11·ill be used. To-day we mention that some of the cars ha ,·e their direct drive upon the third speed. the fourth being a ,·ery high gear only for use clo1rn hills or 1\"hen the conditions are fayourable. We shall not ce at all surprised if some arrangement of this sort shortly comes into general use for cars of medium weight and power- not with the idea of increasing speed, but rather to permit the e·ngine to be run comparati,·elv siOll'h·.
though the car itself be tra1·elling at a decent speed. It should be particularly useful for cars 1rith fast-running engines, as the po11·er required to dri,·e a car ll'hen it is once on the move upon a fa.yourable piece of road is comparatively small, and to obtain a good speed i,t 1s 1,,ecessary with a lOll'-geared car to run the engine at a 1·ery high rate of revolution. This ma.kes the car noisy. and gi1·es the engine (111necessary 1\'ear.
,ve gi1·e an instance of ll'hat 1\'e mean. .-\.ssume an engine of 10 h.p. driYing a car of 12 or 13 cwts. ,rith thrt:e speeds, the top speed b,eing, say, thirty miles an hour. To attain that speed the engine has to be run very fast, although the car is quite capable of tak111g all ordinary hills without changing down. Now 1f 1t had a fourth speed inrlirect like the first and the c.econd this could often be used 11·ith advantage, not to mcrease the speed of the car, but to decrease the rernlutions of the engine, so that the machine 1rnuld be 11101·e pleasant to drive besides being more econo m1,al 111 fuel, and there would be less needless 1rear and tear for the engine. Directly there is anv work w be done the third or direct speerl would be put into ;;ear. the fourth being ,·ery much like the first speed for use on exceptional occasions. That is to sar. the first is onh· used 11·hen the work is yen· hard. a11d the extra spe,e·cl 11·oulcl merely be requisiti.oned when the work 1ras exceedingly light.
This point has been borne in mind bi' more than one competitor, and it is stated that one of the cars )n the race will be fitted 11 ith an extra speed, which, 1f the engine 1rere accelerated and conditions permitted it. 11·ould driYe the car at seventy-two miles an hour. This reminds us of the fact that the officials should examine the cars before the\" start on the race and make a special point of notirig the ratio of th~ gea.rs, a.s they 1Yill be most interesting in comparing the results achieved by the different competing cars. .-\t the same time, no one should be hypercritical o-ver the fi_rst race for the Tourist Trophy ; it is admittedly expenmental. On the other hand. if advantage is not taken of the experience gained, and the rules are not modified accordingly for next year's race. the se,·erest criticism would be justified.
At the moment no one can Sa\' how the contest will turn out. It is the first serious attempt since the very earh- rla,·s of racing to organise a competition which shall tend only to the cleYelopment and impro,·ement of the touring car pure and simple. There is no doubt that the conditions laid down haYe made it quite impossible to run an exceedingly high-powered car, as no monstrous engine could possibly get through upon the fuel allowance of one gallon per twenty-five miles. This is a.pproximately eight and one-third gallons for the 208 miles-the distance over which the race will be run- the Isle of Ma.n circuit being fifty-two miles and a fraction in length. and four circuits ha.ving to be completed. On the other hand, in e-liminating the monster it is bv no means certain that the freak has been eliminated. and the experience gainec this year 1rill enable new rules to be drafted and existing ones
