J t:Sl· l QTH , I ')Ot) ,

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publtsbet, in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? propellet > roat > carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 713. VoL. XXII.]

ATURDAY, J UNE 19TH, 1909 .

[PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

(P . blished W ee\,;Jy. )

Registered as a Ne.,,,spaper br transmission in the United Kingdom. Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Offi ce.

Three Edition• every Friday.

The THREEPENNY EDITION, printed on Art Paper, The PEN.~Y EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d.1 printed on thin paper fo r trnnsrr. issicn abroad.

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR SJ REET, LONDON, E C., England.

CO:\JTENTS.

USEFUL 111 NTS AND T1 PS

PAGF 055-856

,ll 57

THE 24-W II .I'. ALBION CAR

858-S61

T HE FI RST ROYAL .·\ l'TOCAR l'ROGRES.._ ( ILLL"S"!RAl LU) . . . . b6.?• 8 b3

ON TIii ROAU

Tt-1 E F u , URI:.. O!• Tt-1 1:.. Fi.:t.NCH S A;.oN . .

. . ~64-'-65

f..65

T H E !)COl llSII A UTOCAR T RIAL..

)IOTOR UNION ~ OTES

Tm; h1PERIAL P RESS D ELEGATES ( l LLt:STRAn~o) . .

A FI ELD DAY AT ALDERSIIOT . .

T111:: l RISII R l:. L JA BILI JY TRIAL . .

.-\ :-; ENGINE WIT IJ R o,·AT I ON Su:.1~,·,~ \ "ALVES ( 11. LUS JRAlLU

R.A.C. T ESTS OF' i-l EADLIGII TS . .

b66

867

. . b68- '69

8 70

S71-8iJ

8 7 3

74-675

Exn~AQl(l) I NAR\' TI M ING COINCI DENCE

T1-11: \ "01 r RLTTE Cui• RACE ( lLLUSTRATt::D).

CoRRl::Sl'OS oe:-.cE . .

8 7 .5

876

. • 8 1- b5

.\ SLtDL \'AL\' I:. ESGJ:-;E WJ T II E XTEKXAL S Ll:.l'.V L ~ ( ILLt:STRATLD)

886

T 11 E t ; - .zo 11.1 • . ;\I ERCE 0 1:..s CAR ( I LL U!.- TRA !'Eu)

FLASII L~ . .

CLUB IJ01sv-:

. . ~ih7-8 8

. . 889-890 . . 891-~92

Sub•cription Ratn :

unush lsle::,-Home Edition, 16s. ; penny (thin paper edi tio11 )1 6s. 6d.

Abroad (thin paper edition), 2 2 s . Sd. per aonum. lnJ•x to .AduertiHment• appear• on paw• 42.

'b.uick Picking ~ otes. -

It is e ,·ident from c riti ('isms 1\"l~i cb we ha1·e r{ei,·eJ th at o n-e of the tests made in the ne1,· s 0 r ies of H.m·a l .\ .C . monthh- t ri a ls i. not understood. \\'e re fer' to tlw a(·celera t1on test. a bout 1rhi('h ath·erse and entire h 111ista kt·n niticisms ha,·e ueen uttereJ. T he. e a re to the , ffect that qui ck a<'ce leration means- stra'i-n of the m ,·hanism an<I unduv ,rea r of the t, 1-es. This. of coursc > . is pe rfectly true. Jf th-e throttle ·be opened ,,·ith bruta l .- uJJe nn ss it ,rill stra in the ca r and need lessh· shorten the life f the tyre: just as b ruta l use of tlie brakes \\'ill han: the same e ffect. T he reason why we belieYe i:1 the a<'ce lerat in11 te.;t is beca use it is u11q ucst io11abh· a pract ica l test of sati,;factory ca rburat io11 . T here are plenty of carburette rs ,rhich prn1·ide g< x. >d mixture at some pa rtic ul a r L0

ngi11 t' speed. hut t lwre- a re rorn pa rati,·ely f<·,,- ,,·hi ch pro,·ide an approximate ly ('Orre ct mixtu re at an~ engi1w speed. .-\ clmitte-dl~ . onc > ('a11not ha1·e quick accelera tio n if t lw lio d~ a nd its load be too mu h fo r the pO\n·r o f the e ng ine . but, assumi ng that the load is we ll ,r ith i11 th ' e-ng i1w po \\'e r and the "ea r rati o correct. 1t is asto11i shi11g ,, hat :1n enormou., ~liffe re11ce to the running the ('arburette r al one ,,·i ll make. \\" ith a good c'arhu n--tt,• r thv rnr is respo11si\'e and li,·e h·, and, q uih' apart from tlw e ffect of th,-, C'arhurette r upon tht' ~peeds along lt'\'PI roads. a g rc > ill impron·ment is found in hill -('limhing. \\"ith a goo.I < 'arhurette r 11·he11 the gea r is ('hanged do,,·n a JHI 11w c·lu tch le t in aga in t lll'rt" is 110 hesitation. The eng i1~ ~ rt"sponu. instantly to th l' th rottl e , ancl r >i 'ks up its loa rl ,rith a lac rit,·. On th e o tlw r h:111cl. \\'ith a < 'arhurett-~·r ,rhi < 'h is not properly adjuslt'd o r 11·hich is oth c >nri s\· unsu ita lJI the-:c is a good deal of ht"sitati :; n and. if 11ot actua l mi ss ing. ,·ery poor, 11·pak ru1111 i11_L( for ;1 second or t\\'o :1fk r reopening the throttle . The car loses ,,·a ,·, it makes 110 sort of ffo1t lo < " lim h the hil1 0 :1 s,·c·o1ic l g\·a r. though it ought fO l l\' 1 lil e l'l clo it. ancl tlw ,·0 11 Sl"<Jll t'lll't' is that qu itt' mocl1·rak hills ,·;rn only be negotiatt'cl 0n t he low st gc >a r. This i,~ onP of the reasons why ,, e helit'n' in an < ·ngi ne that ,,·i ll gi n-- g ui r k accele ra tio n ,rlw n required. It i~ equalh· nc >c-e3sa ry in t ra Ai C' clri ,·ing: inrlN• d . it makrs c·cnsiclt'ratt' d ri ,·ing much more t• asy if one knows that ;i ft t > r ar y'.wk one can pi ('k up aga in nirel~-- po. itin• I~ . . 1nd . i~~t'c·essa r~-- qui, ·kl~ ,rithout a ch;1ngt· of ge:i r .

Carburetter Improvement. As 1ras r cognised from the moment the .petrol tax ,ras a11 11 ou11ceu. the ,·onseque11('( .. has he n to suggest furthe r impro,·ements in ra rhmt'tters. . \ ny innease in t he price of fue l ahrays results in i;t~mulating inventors and i11.1·esti((a to rs lo mah · still further endea,·ours to economise ,,·ithout sanili!·i11g po,,·e r o, any othe r rarrlinal ,·irtue: but there is unquestionahh· a t c >ndenry to m·er-ralt' tlw se riousness of th c > petrol tax in the minds of mam· p ri 1·ate O\\'n rs . Som~ of them speak as though it ,ro ul d a bsolute ly ruin them . !Jut they cannot ha ,·e looked into fi gure . F or instance, ta ke a car ,r hir h a1·erages fiftft'n mile to th r gal Ion . The incrt'ase in tht' cost of fue l at 4d. a ga llon wo rks out at :i s nea rly as po. sibl c £1 2s. pe r thousand mil c >s . o r just 01·er '.id. per mile . \ 1/c > ,,·m tl rl 1)(:-' t lw last to under-r:1 te the un fa irness of thctax. heC'all. E' it is a t:1x upon tra ffi c and industry : but it \rould be e '7u:1 lh· foolish to t'X::lfmt >ratt' its importanct >.

T hosc > ,,·ho < 'annot a fford tlw ;i drlitio na l ro l of fuel or who feel it. unfairnc >ss so st ro ng-I\' that they will not use more fuel than they C'an help sho ul d hear in mind that it is no t >xaggc > ra t io n to sa.y th at two-thirds of the cars on t he road to-da ,- rould he made much mon· economical than the,· a re if the'" had suitabl t' carburette rs or if their p resent carbui·etters \\'e re prope rh adj usted. .\ nt-',,. c·;irlimc'tte r ,ro ul rl in ma11Y c·:i:.c~ p:i) fo r itse lf in a few month. ' runnin((. .\ t tl1 (' ~:Jill( '