APRIi. 14T.t, 1906
THE AUTOCAR B Journal publtsbe~ in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelle~ roa~ carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALT ER STANER.
No. 547. VoL. XVI.
SATURDA y, APRIL 14TH, 1906.
LPRICR 3D.
THE A UTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
Entered as second-class matter at the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE:
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES:
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
NOTES,; THE APPEARANCE lssuE-VARIABLP. COMPRESSION- HISTORY
REP >A1S ITSELF ... ... .. .
..
. • . 459-460
U SEFUL HINTS AND TIPS: O N CorLS AND THEIN TREATMENT, AND
OTHfiR \llATTER~ .. . ...
.• •
THE 25-30 AND 35-40 H.P. IKIS CARS (illustrated) ...
CASUAL COMM~NTS. By A. J. Wilson .. . ...
T HE AUTOCLIPSE ACETYLENE LAMP (illustrated)...
.• •
46 1
. .. 462-466
467
. .. 468-469
ABOUT THE VULCAN CARS
EXAMINATION EXPERIENCKS .•. . • • •
W 1NDHAM1s DETACHABLE BoDY (illustrated) . • . .• • •
469
• .• 470•472
• . ... 472
FOUR THOUSAND MILE~ WITHOUT AN INVOLUNTARY STOP {illustrated) 473 MORE ABOUT SCREENS (illustrated) ... ... • .. • . . ... 474 C ONTINENTAL NOTl!.S AND NEWS: MOTOR BOAT RACES AT MONACO
(iillustratedJ • ..
• • . 475-476
H o Rsg AND TRAM ACClDENTS .. • • • •
.•. • • •
LONDON TO MONTE CARLO IN 37~ HouRs (illustrated)
476
477
A UTOMOBILISM IN PARLIAMENT
478
T HE NEW AUSTIN C ARS...
478
T HE R ENAULT PATENT • . . .. . .. . ... . . . ... ..• ... 470 C ORRESPONDENCE : R OAD SIGNALS FOR MOTORISTS-THE A.C.G.B.I.
EXAMINATIONS AND CERTIFICATES- TMK BALANCING OF Pt1.TROL ENGINES-GLARING HEADLIGHTS -- THE SABARJN( Two-STROKE MoTOR-PALMhR CORD TYRES- AERIAL NAVIGATION (illustrated)- A PROMPT Rt.PAIR- THE FLEXIBILITY OP' STEAM-DUST -THE TENDE:-ICV OF SCREEN DESIGN- TOLERANCE-SUMMARY OP CORRESPONDENCE .. . • . . . .. 479-482 AN IMPROVED ExTRA A1R VALVE (illustrated) .. ... 483 M ODERNISING THE CONTROL OF ANCIENT CARS (illustrated) 483 JUGGER'IAUT STORIES ... .• . .• . • . . ... . • . .. 484-485 T H R 9-10 H.P. SrNGLE·CYLINDER CADILLAC (illustrated) . . . 485 A DRY ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR (illustra t ed) .. . 486 W ARNING MOTORIST~ OF P('iLJCK Tfl'APS. A T&?,T CASE 487 M OTOR CAR IMPORTS FROM FRANCK ... 487 FLASHES . .. . ... ... ... ... ... . .. 488-489 AERONAUTICAL NOTFS- A G IGANTIC MOTOR FACTORY... 490 SOME QUERIES AND REPLIES ... .. . • • . ..• • • • 491 C LUB DorttGS: CLUB FIXTURRS-COYE?liTRY M.C.-ESSEX COUNTY 2n~·· j
A.C.-MANCHEST,. R A.C.-NORTH-RASTEHN AUTOMOBILK AssoCIATlON-SOUTH WALES AND MON. A.C.-WOLVERHAMPTON ANO . lst' DISTRICT A.C.-SHt'FFlt.LD AND DISTRICT A .C .-M )TOK CYCLt: UNION OP lRl!LAN D • ULSTER CE~Tfl'R} ... ~92 RATING MOTORS BY CYLlNf'lt R Dn.1&1'?,IU l'\ S . .. 493 494
"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
Hritisb I sles, I 6~ . Abroad fth in paper edition}, 22s. 8d. per annum .
/ Notes. The Appearance Issue. In the ordinary 1Yay the ed itorial and ach ert is,~me111 columns in The Aiitncar are as separately conducted as though they belonged to separate papers, l >ut on this particular occasion 11·e mu t depart from our usual practice of not referring editorially to any manufar tu rer's announcement ,rhich ma,· be made in the advertisement columns. Our reference. ho11·ever. is not to any individual manufacturer, but to the ms! majority of makers who have ta.ken up a suggestion recently thrown out in these pages. and ha,·e almost wi thout exceptio·1 de,·o•e d their announcements fo.1 the current week to pict-,rin 1 representations of those features of their ca rs , 1rhich give them individuality. In some cases the possibilities of the idea have not been fully grasped, but in most there is an individuality about the photographs which IYill enable anyone to easily identify the majority of the leading makes of cars. Every make has its individual features, and -it is most interesting for motorists to have those of so many different types presented in one number, as wr;·t ts aid they can identify almo-st any make they may m t in the cour of their journeyings. Not only so, b now is the time when such a. compilation is most ~ceptable, there are so many new cars on the road.
Variable Compn:ssion. We recently published an article by Mr. Gordon Ede, the main conclusions of which were based on very careful reasoning and on the results of experiments on the road . This article may be summed up by tne statement that the writer was brought to the conclusion that as low compression enables the best results to be attained when the engine is running at slow speeds and as high compression is most favourable for high engine speeds the ideal was to provide means for making the compression instantly variable to suit the conditions of the moment, high for the level and low for hill -climbing. In short, that the engine should be driven by varying its compression rather than by the throttle. It is very easy to be misled by1 experiments 1Yith a single engine . but it must be admitted that Mr. Gordon Ede has made out a very good case for his beliefs, and the behaviour of the engine with which he experime nted con fi rms them. At the present time there is no really useful data available on the effect in working of widely different compression pressures. So far as we know there has been no series of experiments made of a thoroughly scientific nature in which every condition is carefully arranged and the results recorded. What is wanted in the first place is a series of trials 11·ith a good engine at vaTious rates of revolution and at Yarious compression pressures. The brake horse-power developed at each test should be recorded.
Since Mr. Ede's article appea,red we have already heard of one talenbed designer who has been reasoning on Yen· si milar lines, and who has patented more than one method for providing variable compression. Quite apart from the fact that this method of driving would he more economical so far a.s fuel consumption is con< 'erned . it i also necessary to remember that it should result in a still greater range o.f power being given to the pe• trol engine. It may not be necessary in most cases to provide for engines to nm faster than they oo now. but everyone will be glad to have a lengthen- _ ing of tJ1e scale do,rnward. so that the engine WTJi- = oeYelop a good power at slower speeds than is now possible. I t ,rnuld also appear that in addition to an increase in the effective range of an engine there should be an even greater elasticity in the sense of quick response to the a.cti on of the driver. ·
After all the ideal of the petrol engine designer is 1
to ma.ke his engine as elastic as a steam engine. He ,crnts t0 m~ke it pull as 11·ell at low speeds ano run ai
