F &BRUAJtY Is r, 1908

THE AUTOCAR' B 3ournnl publisbcb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

VoL. XX. SATURDAY, FEBRlARY rsr, 1908.

[PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

(Published Weekly. )

Registered as a newspaper for transmission in thE' United Kingdom.

Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y. ) Post Office.

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E .C., England.

CONTE TS. l'\OTES USEFUL HI:S-TS AND TIPS: CARBURET1Lri A~jUST~IEST•-\VITI-IDRAW-

ISG BROKEX STUDS • •

THE IO•I4 11.P. GREGOIRE ( AR (ILLUSTRATED) , •

ONTJIE ROAD . 8YOWEN joHN . •

. . 14-7

148-,50

151

SPEED T RIALS IN 1:-.JDIA (lu.UsTnATED)

. . 152

-COMPETITION'S ON THE P UBLIC HIGHWAYS. .

T HE IQ 11. P. STEAM CAR (ILLUSTRATED) . .

. . 153

154-155

lMPORTS ANO EXPOlnS OF l\•IoTOR CARS . .

155

T HE \ VAGNER ELECTRIC H ORN ( l LLUSTRATED) . .

THE TALE OF A Doc . .

156-157

. . 157

T11E SCOTTISH T RIALS-A RMY l\ l o1·0R R ESERVE ANNUAL DINNER , • 158 THE SCOTTISH 1\I OTOR SHOW • • 159-162 THE 45 H.P. F oUl{-CYLINDER I1J08 ~l ERCEDES CAR ( lLLUSTRATED) 163-r6-1L ONDON TO EDINBURGH (lLLUSTRATED) 165-166 .l\ lQNACO MOTOR B OAT M EETING • • 166 CO:STINENTAL N OTES AND )JEWS 167-168 . M OTOR TECHNOI.OCV AT SHEFFllrLD UNIVERSITY 168 CORRESPONDENCE 169-173 FLASHES • • 174--175 C LUB D OINGS • • 176-177 SOME QUERIES AND R EPI. IES .. • • 178 SO;\IE FEATURES OF 190S ENGINES • • 179• 180 THE RESULT OF RACl:SG ON' D ESIGS. . 180-182

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Notes. A Good andicap. From time to time various methods of handicapping -cars have been discussed in these columns, and it has been almost uni,·ersally admitted that no really satisfactorv method has been e,·oh ·ed . ;\O one has recogriised this more fully than Mr. G. V. Scm·ell, the trials hon. secretary of the South India n :\Iotor nion. He came home last summer, and called upon us, tell ing us that his club had decided to hold some speed tria ls on the ~Iadras i\Iarina, and he askecl us whether we could suggest any simple and satisfactory form of handicapping which would be understandable of all men, and which would not require slide rules and minute calculations to work out. ~ either Mr. Scovell nor his Union had anv objection to the calculations. What they did object to, and we think quite reasonably, was the using of formulre which could only be und 'rstoocJ or appreciated by tho. e ,·ery closeh· 111 touch 11·ith motor matters. ·

\\'e suggested to :-Ir. Scm·ell a p lan ,1"1,ich ,ras simplicit,· itself, and ,rhich it will be seen from the report oi'1 page r 52 was carried out ,rith the• grl:'atest success. The idea \\":J S simply this, that :i ll the cars entered shou ld first be run in classes O\·er the rourse, a ll st:irting from scratch, the priz to go to the fastl:'st car in each class. Then, to gi,·e the s lower ca rs a fair rhance of di stinguishing themseh·es. ''"e suggested that a handicap should be formed upon the performan,t"s in the sc ratch race. That is to saY, in the handicap the fastest ca r \\'Ould Le on sc rat, f1. and a ll the other cars ,rould be gi ,·en as many seconds start from the scratch car as the,· 11·ere slo11·er than it in the srra tc-h race . To pre,·ent "roping ,. or tlw suspicion of it, \\'e suggested that some tria I. should I >,• made on the trac]s to see what ,ras the an·rage lim:r of rnriation 1rhich 11·;is likeh' to occur with fair clri,·i,w. The experiments 11·ere made, and it was settled th~t five seconds was th e limit. That is to saY. if a competitor impr01·ed upon his sc ratch race time in the h:in,Jicap by more tha11 fi,·e seronds his faster time did not f'.0unt so far as the handicap was conce rn ec l. He 11·as not disciualifiecl or in any way blamed, but imply credited 1Yith his sl01H·r tir;1e . ·

The arrangement ,rnrked 11·ith perfect satisfaction . and ,n, should think, it might ,Ye ll be adopted both fo r handica p racing on Brook lands and for hill-climbs . Tn fa ct , for :1 m· e ,·ents in ll"hich the entries are not o numerous that there is insufficient t ime to run tlYo races o,·cr the same course. As the event showed nt Madras. the scratch races results, 11·hich 11·ere, of course, ,ron bY the fastest c:i rs, \\'e re entireh· re ,·er. ed in the handi cap, and one of the lo,Yest po11·ered cars in the rncl:' ,rnn i_t . O,·er and ahm·e :il l this , tlw system adopted 11·as rnstantly grasped by all the spectators of th e racmg. The s,·stem has alreach- been tried on a small sca le in the B.rifoh I sles, but· to the South lndian ~7or -Union must be gi,·en the credit for taking it t;rnd proving it successful on a la rge scal e.

Competitions for Amateurs. From 1Yh:it 11·e have heard :rnd read the 1::1.st hrn or three ,reeks it lwcomes olJ1·ious th at one of the chief reasons why so many people rega rd the \lotor Union as an amateur organisation and th Royal /\.C. as one influenced b,· the inclustrv is the fact that the Club in it. \\'oik as a society of encouragement has encouraged mainly such rompetitions as appeal only to the manufacturer or agent. . \ s ,Ye ha,·e said before, it is quite an erroneous idea to imagine that the Union and the Club a re anything but amateur organisationsthat is, the majority of the mernl ers of both are amateurs. Ho,Ye,·er, rlespite this fact. the Club attitude in the matter of competitions really would appear at fir. t sight to support the ,rrong view. It has clone almost nothing lor competitions re. crverl entirely for users and O\rners of motor ca rs, anrl this is a point