APRIL 24TH, 1909.

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall~ propellct > roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 705. VoL. XXII.]

SATURDAY, APRIL 24TH , 1909.

[PRICE 3D .

The Autocar.

(P ublished Weekly. )

Registered as a Newspaper fo r transmiss ion in the United Kingdom. E n t e red as second- class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office .

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CONTENTS. NOTES • • USEFUL HINTS AND TI PS (ILLUSTRATED) . . THE 12 - r5 H.F. HtLL:O.tA N -COATALEN CAR \ lLL U<;TRATED) A WARNING. Av o10 \VARWTCKSH!RE THE ROYAL A.C. ASSOCI ATES' BADGES ( ILL USTRATED} BONNETS ANO RADIATORS ( ILLUSTRATIONS) T H E S.M.M.T. ANNUAL MEETING . •

MOTOR UNION NOTES. ON THE ROAD • . A S uccESSFUL Tor GEAR CLIMB T1-1E ARMSTRONc -\i\1HnwoRTH CAR T ESTS CORRESPONDENCE My RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE'i .• AERONAUTICS .• FLASHES • • TH E fLYlNG l<ILD:',lET RE AT HYERES- PAS51 :-.'G TRAMCARS­

T H E CHALLENGE REl~FORCED I NNJ.: R TUB E

C L U B DOINGS .•

S0:-.4E QUERIES AND REPLIES .•

PAGE 565-566 . . 567 568-570 . . 570 . . 57 1 572-578 . . 578 · - 579 580-581 . . 581 . • 582 587-59 r 592-593 594-505 596- 597

. . 598 · · 599 . . tco

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; . Notes. Easy Startmg. E a sy sta rting is a ,·irtue for which ca rs do not get sufficient credit . Speaking generally, it is one of the many distinguishing featur es of a good a nd ca refully adju ted car as compared 1ri th the indifferent and poorly adjusted kind. At the same time, all good ca rs do not necessarily ha,·e engin es ,rhi ch ta1t eas ily, no r do a ll common cars hav e! engine~ which are difficult to start, though there is no doubt th a t bad starting is du e ithe r to bad des ign or ca re le. sness in adjustment on th e part of th e- makers. We have had engines which l':e re most difficult to start and those which alwavs ta rted easily, a nd yet at firs t sight it l\"aS most difficuit to say why this shoul d be. In t he main, th e matter depend. up0n three e ssentia ls-ca rbu ration, ig ni tion,

a n<l compression. So far as carburation i concerned, it 1rill generally be found that the di ffi culty can be overcome by fl ood ing the carburetter, though, as a matter o f fact, this should not be required uni ss the engine has stood for a long tim e and everything is quit-e co ld. There are plenty of carburetters \\"hi ch give exce ll ent ru nning 11·he n the eng ine is once started, though they rarely provide a good mixture for starting , a nd it is absol u te ly h avy labou r un less compression tap s be fitt ed o r some othe r means provided for introduc ing petrol into the cy li ncl ers. Then, again, there are great cliff rences in tlw 1ray in which engin es st art lt is impo ss ibl e 1rith many engin es to sta rt th em quietly. T he thrott le mu. t be opened so wide that directly the engine starts it races madly and with a n appalling noi e. whereas another and perhaps la rge r engin e will start with th throttl e only so far opened that the eng ine makes no undue commotion, a nd one does not have to rush bl indly from th e starting lever to the thrott le to stop the din. This noise does not matter in the motor ho use, but i ~s most annoy ing if one have to restart in a street or anywhere nea r ho r e .

The Influence of gnition. As to ig nition, there is very little to be said except that e veryth ing must be in order, and when a good magn eto i fitted there is very rare ly a ny need for anx ie ty about this . In any case, howeve r, the engine itself is a trange variant. Some engines are exceedingly ti ff after standing for a night, and it is imposs ible to do anything \\"ith them till the rings have been freed by th e inject ion of paraffin or petrol. On the othe r hand , the re are plenty of engines which neve r gum the ir r ing , and we must confess th at we ha1·e not altogether sa t is fi -2 d ourseh·es that any really good explanation of this di ffe rence has been offered. At first g lance it 1rnuld be put clown to OYer-lubrication, but 11·he n it is con iclerecl that both engines may be over-lubricated as grossly, and one may stick, while th e othe r is unaffected, it is evident that some other explanati on is re riuir ecl . A ll sorts ha, ·e been offered, but, as we ha1·e said, none o f the m h;we reall y seemed enti r l y at isfactory, as they have been more o r les~ opposed to practice or have not been of general appl ica ti o n. At the same time, th e matter shoul d ce1ta inl y be i1westigated, because if one engine win hold its comp re s io n, nncl at foe same tim e never gum its rings, it is ob1·ious th at other makers can find out wlw thi s is and make the ir engin es eq ua lly satisfactory if the y ca re to take the troubl e . Jn fact, in the main ,ye believe these differences a re larc;ely due t o lack of kno wledge on the pa1t of d esigners and makers as to 11·hat o ther m:i kes of ca rs 11·ill do. Thev know all about th e ,·irtu es and vices of thei r o wn cars, and have come to rega rd some o f the bad po ints ns thini;,-s which must be put up with . beca use th ey a re incurable, and thev do not rea l ise that p le ntv of ca rs are made which do not possess the de fects which the y regard as unavoidable. The whole question of e~sy sta1tirnr is one of interes t to e1·ery owner of a motor CJ.r. T he owner