MAY 30TH, 1908

THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal pubhsbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANEq,

No. 658. V01 .. XX .J SATURDAY, MAY 30TH, r go8.

[PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

=Published Weekly.)

Registered .:is a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.

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

Editorial Offic2 :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

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

CONTENTS.

NOTES

USEFUL HINTS ANL > TIPS • .

THE 110TOR U:-;ION MEET AT BOURNEMOUTII • .

MEASURING THE GRAND PRJX RACERS • •

THREE UNCOMMON BODIES

THE DUST TRIALS . .

THE SILVERTOWN ELECTRIC CAR .•

BROOKLAN'OS AUTOMOBILE RACING Ctun

!RISH RELIABILIT\' TRIALS

LANE Dru YING ON Tl-1 C CX X.

ON THE TRACK

CORRESPONDENCE • •

CLUB DOlNGS

Low PRESSURE TESTS

THE TARGA FLORIO RACE • •

A COMPOUND F1BRE \Vooo TREAD

NOTTINGHAM A.C. SPEED TRIALS

FLASHES

PAGE

.. 781-782

783 . . 784-786

787 .. 788-790 · · 790-791 .. 792-793

793 .. 794-80,

802 . . 803- 804 • • 805-808

809 8ro . . 8II-813

8r3 .. 8r4-815 - . 817-818

Subscription Rates :

British Isles !6s. Abroad (thin p;tper edition), 22s. Bd. per annum

/ / Notes. Low Pressure Tyre~.

linder this heading 1m deal el e\\"he re in to-da,··s issue with an important pronouncement bY one of the leading tyre manufacturers. 11·ho. from leading the Yan a3 advocates of excessive pressures. have no1r taken the lead in recommending lower pressures than am· other tyre makers ha 1·e ,·entured to recommend for carrying the same loads. We regard this announcement with no small personal satisfa tion. From the time ,ye first experienced the comfort of low pressures of inflation on a set of Moseley tyres 11·e ha"e steadily advocated the desirability of large tyres for their loads. so that low pressures could be safely used.

The mo,·ement towards the adoption of more reasonable pressures has been greatly helped by Mr. Edge. who has advocated them persistentlv since his tne pressure lirials last autumn; by Mr. Eastmead. ,i-ho has sub.;tantiated the speed tests by road experiences ; anJ last, but by no means least, by many of our corre_;ponJent3, ,rho ha,·e ,nitten to us from time to time gi,·ing their 01rn experiences ,rith various pressures of i11flatio:1. anJ Jetailing the effects upon durability which these pressures have brought about.

There is no question that, other things being equal, the best tyre in the long run will be that which can be used at the l01rest pressure of inflation, because the lm,·er the pressure the more comfortable is the tyre. pro1·ided ab·ays that the pressure is not so 1011· as to allow the rim to pinch the tyre between it and the road, thus not only damaging the tyre, but also setting up a state of discomfort for the occupants of the car. When a tyre "bumps" in this ,my, it is not mere I y a matter of damaging the tyre, but one of increased vibration, to the detriment of the more delicate pa1z of th;1,mechanism of the car. and a severe tria l /f the paJ.::nceff 1e passengers.

Against Furious Driv· g. up to the present the utomobile Association has been regarded by many motorists as an institution for the encouragement of scorchers. There is no doubt that to some extent it has, like the sun, dealt equally with the just and the unjust, but it should be remembered that it has never attempted to encourage the reckless dri,·er, and it has before now assisted the police in tracking a black sheep. In short, while it may ha,·e kept a scorcher out of a po;ice trap by warning him to moderate his speed. it has never encouraged recklessnes. . It has 11011· determined to suppress the scorcher, and in addition to ,rnrning motorists of exceeding the legal limit it 11·ill endeavour to stop reckless driving. It will be seen from the interview which we publish with the secretary that some reticence is displayed with regard to the details of the methods to be employed, but we are convinced that the suggestion we made recently is the only one which is really practical, and that is to patrol certain roads in cars, the dri,·er to devote his attention wholly to driving the car, and the other occupants of the car to de,·ote their attention solely to observing a ll instances of reckless or iriconsiderate driving, and, a)xn:e ,all, to take the numbers of all such cars as meet them or overtake them in an objectionable manner. If the scheme is carried out in this wav we have no doubt ,rhatever that the extremely p·ractical member of the A.A. generally an 1 of the ne11·ly in tituted Committee of Public Safety particularly 11·ill succeed in stopping a most objectionable pha. e of motoring which no police trap or any system of stationary observation would be able to do, unless, of course, the pol ice or other observers were posted so close together that they 11·ere within easy view of each other.

A Strictly Legal View . As champions of the rights and pri,·ileges of automobilists, those who are opposed to motoring h,we said that we were biased, and that therefore our argument'. f0r equal tren tment to al l d ri vers (1f