¥EN UAKV 9TH, 1907.
THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publtsbet, in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roat, carriage.
EDI T ED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 590. VoL. XVIIL] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, 1907. [PRICE 30.
THE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly. )
Recistere4 as a newspaper for transmisaion ia the Unitetl Kiagdom,
Entered as second-claa matter in the Mew York (N.Y.) Poot Office.
lr:DITORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
PUBLI SHING OFFICES :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E. C. , ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
NOTXS • •
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USEFUL HINTS AND TIPS {ILLUSTRATED) • • THE 30-40 HP. RAPID CHASSIS (ILLUSTRATED) • . THE l >E DION BOUTON BACK AXLE ( ILLUSTRATED) OUR VILE BODIES (ILLUSTRATED) • • • • • • THE SOUTH INDIAN MOTOR TRIALS {ILLUSTRATED) THE $1X•C YLINDER 75 H.P. MERCEDES (fLLtlSTRATED) THE WJCKSTEED CHANGE SPEED GEAR (ILLUSTRATED) .. CAPTAI N STANLEY'S AUTOMATIC GEAR CHANGE .. SJMMS-80SCH HIGH-TENSION MAGNETOS (ILLUSTRATED) .. No AMATEUR JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND.. • • • , • • StDE-SLIP AND St<tD PREVENTION CO?,(PETITION ( ILLUSTRATED) MOTC'R MATTERS IN AMERICA • • MOTORING OF'PENCES IN SCOTLAND • • • • • , • • A TEST OP HEAVY PETROL-THE 35-45 H .P. MAUDSLAY • • CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS • • CORRESPONDENCE • , , • • • , • • • Acct:SSJBILITY AND CLEANLINESS (CONCLUDED) • • A POSITIVE LOCKING CLUTCH (ILLUSTRATED) FLASHES • • • • • • GLASGOW MOTOR SHOW THE TYRE TRIALS • • • • • • • • • • THE CRYSTAL PALACE MOTOR SHOW (ILLUSTRATED) SOME QUERIES AND REPLIES • • CLl 1 B DOINGS • • • • • . • • • . DANGEROUS RAILWAY LEVEL (ROSSING! • • C OMPE"flTlON FOR THE BEST TAR FOR ROADS
PAGE.
177-178 , , 179 IBo-1 81 .. 181 182-184 185-186 . . 187 188-1 89 . . 189 190-192
192 193 · · 194 . • 195 . , 196 197-198 199·204 205-206 . . 206 207-209
• • 210 . , 210 . . 2II . . 212 ZIJ·2I4 . • 2I4 . . 214
"THE AUTO CAR " SUBSCRIPTION RA TES : British Isles, 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per annum.
Notes. The umber of Cylinders. / By the time these lines are read, the.£~,i,:cussion at the Club on the respective merits of four and sixcylinder engines will have taken place, but we are, of course, writing prior to its occurrence. There are some points which appear to us to be almost invariably missed both by the advocates and opponents of six cylinders. In the first place, it is necessary to bear in mind that the six-cylinder engine, like the four, is an attempt to build an internal combustion engine which shall have the same smoothness of action as a steam engine. . Although it is lost sight of nowadays, it is well to remember that the refinement of runnin g of the petrol car to-day has been brought about, or, perhaps we should sa y, i;featly accelerated, by the flexibility of the steam engine.
When one considers the internal combustion engine, or, as motorists usually call it, the petrol engine, as it is to-day and as it was only five or six years ago, one is bound to admit that a marvellous advance has been made. From a coarse running engine which ·had a very · small range of power and speed, it has been developed into a marvellously .flexible motor, which will pull smoothly and well at comparatively low speeds, and which is capable of running at high speeds with smoothness and something very nearly approaching t o quietness. Where the internal combustion engine still fails as compared with the steam engine is in throttle control. It is equally easy w1th either to manipulate the throttle, but the difference is this. When a steam engine throttle is opened gradually, the steam is admitted in very small quantities at first, but directly it is admitted it begins to drive the engine, and consequently the transition from no power at all to some power, however small, is extremely gradual, and unaccompanied by the smallest shock.
On the ot her hand, with an internal combustion engine, the transition fr om no drive to driving is comparatively coarse, because the mixture is either exploding or not exploding, and as soon as the throttle is opened sufficiently to admit enough mixture for an explosion, that explosion takes place, and while it is true it may be a ,Yeak one, owing t o the small opening of the throttle, there is no gettin g away from the fact that , compared with the take-up of a steam engine, the transition from retardation to propulsion is necessarily coa rser than with a steam engine. We know that we shall be told that with a good engine and moderately sympathetic drivin g this transition from no power to power is not much of a je rk after all, especially if the driver really knows his car and is possessed of a clutch which can be slipped slightly at the moment of opening the throttle, so that the engine recommences its work with gentleness.
Again, it may be fairly urged that there is no need to entirely close the throttle. The clutch may be taken out and the engine left running on the governor. All this is quite trne, but when everything has been said the difference remains, and it is likelv to remain till some device is invented which will give that gradual start up peculiar to the steam engine. Whether the complications which would be introduced to effect this would be worth carrying is another point; personally. we do not think they would be. At the same time, the matter is worth consideration, the more perhaps because it is an issue which seems to have been . very much neglected. Some of ,the atmospheric and other selfstarting arrangements have possibilities in this direction which should not be altogether ignored. However, we are opposed to complications unless they can be shown to b e well worth having. We consider that the best line of investigation is the carburetter, as that has more to do with a smooth start and generally satisfactory runnin g at all eng ine speeds than is always recognised . In other worrls, perfection of running is very much a matter of perfection of carburation at all speeds, and particularly at very low speeds. when the petrol engine at present compares least favourably with the steam e ngine.
