THE BONGKONG DAILY PRESS. WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 22ND. 1926
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Motoring Notes:
A Weekly
Review dealing with matters of interest to
all local motorists.- Gear" Changing-Super-chargers-Steam
(BY AN OWNER-DRIVER.]
GEAR CHANGING. There are so many steep gradients in Hongkong that unless a car is of a fairly high power it is impossible to go very far without changing gears.
Most of the modern cars are fitted with three gears forward and a reverse. . Soma have four forward gears.
It is noticeable that, in several local cars, the second gear becomes noisy after, say, about ten thousand miles,'
Considering that it is fully recognised by designers that, as a piece of mechan ism, gears are unsatisfactory as a means of varying the speed and driving force on the rear wheels, it is surprising that more trouble is not experienced with them.
*
In actual fact very few drivers use the geare with real skill As for the learner, he or she quickly begins to dread the operation of gear changing.
It is not too much to say that the majority of drivers regard the gears as a necessary evil. They would gladly welcome any other mechanism which saved them the anxiety they feel about the geurs.
SWITCHING.ON.
A Frenchman has invented a system of change-speed mechanism which may have a good future before it.
All that the driver has to do is to switch on, just as he switches" on the ignition. The current needed is sup- plied by the same battery, that gives the electrical energy needed for the self- starter and the lighting equipment.
these days, to expect We are apt;, rather too much of new inventions. Time ie the great tester. At present it can be said that experts who have used the new gear changing arrangement speak and write favourably of it.
There is a great tendency for all drivers to hang onto top gear too long. Any simple and silent method of obtain ing an easy change is sure to have the effect of making "drivers change gears
nore often.
STRAINING THE ENGINE. That will be all to the benefit of the engine. It will also mean a higher aver age speed for the car
It has been suggested that if the magnetic type of gear changing, appara tus-is improved, the day will come when the clutch will be entirely eliminated.
In the tests that have been run it was found that there was no need to use the clutch when once the car was in motion. The magnetic gear change made the clutch unnecessary for changing up or down.
Without studying the details of the mechanism it is difficult to say whether the engine could be started up with the gear lever in neutral position and then, when the engine had really "picked up the magnetic system could be used that is possible there seems to be no reason for the clutch.
Without wishing to raise false hopes it may be said that if this invention does all that is claimed for it there will soon be an end to the common anxieties, about gear changing.
Cars-The Driver's Worries.
0
Incidentally it may be mentioned that the trees planted along the road between Castle Peak and Fanling have grown and now furnish a delightful shade. It adems It is noticeable that the sleeve-valye | a pity that when tas Road is widened, as widened it must be at some that, some type of engine has stood the test of time. The overhead valve is a great improve."
of the trees will have to be sacrisiceu.
The road from Faaling to Kowloon rid ment on the old type, but the opinion Castle reak is now in good condition may be expressed that, as a piece of though parts of it still demand caution The great rain-storm seems to have nfected the road round about Castle Peak Buch more than it did the Taipo Road.
mechanism, any such valve is unsatisfac-
tory.
The cam and the spring have been used on millions of cars, but they are mechanically imperfect. That has been apparent to engineers from the day when Arst they were used.
NOT PERFECTION. The trouble is to provide something better. It is very much like the system of selecting suitable people for appoint meats by means of written examinations. alost people agree that all examinations are unsatisfactory. The dificuity is to provide anything better. So it is with
the details of the mechanism of a car.
The clutch. the change-speed gear, the tappet-valves, even the reciprocating engine are all rather imperfect from the point of view of the mechanical expert. But up to the present no universal süb. stitates have been found. They will come in time and future generation will feel quite sorry for us,
THE STEAM CAR.
A correspondent enquires why it is that steam cars are not used nowadays. He reminds us that in the early days of notoring a bright future was prophecied for automobiles using steam.
The great advantage of the steam car is the absence of gear-changing. Unlike the petrol engine, the steam engine will run on load at almost any number of revolutions per minute, from, say ten up to the maximum for which the engine is designed.
|
STEAM COOLING.
It is now a fairly common practice to fit ex to the raditor a device that warns the driver when the cooling system in becoming too hot. In Hongkong there are so many hills and the air tempera. ture in the summer is so high that all of us who drive motors are advised to watch the cooling water carefully.
It is therefore of interest to relate an experiment carried out at a meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers. An. ordinary water-cooled engine, with no special provision for steam-cooling, was run under a simple steam cooling system.
There were none of the usual cooling. accessories, such as fan, circulating pump or radiator. All that was relied upon for cooling was the evaporation of the water. There was an automatic arrangement for maintaining water at a certain level in the cylinder heads, so as to make up for loss lue to evaporation. ADVANTAGES.
A system of steam cooling has been tried commercially in a work's labora tory in America. The system is sul in the experimental stage but the following advantages are claimed by its advocates. There is better vaporisation, reduced thermal loss and higher working effici- eney, Internal friction is also reduced. The working temperature of the cooling system is at 18 degrees F., instead of from 140 to iso.
The running of those carly steam cars In cold climates the steam cooling was very quiet. They were expensive to system can be used for the provision of manufacture and it took a few minutes, heating apparatus for the passengers. after lighting up the burner, to get the
In many small stationary plants using niant running. Probably it was a matter internal combustion engines the crudest of cost that decided the problem. There cooling arrangements work well There are. however, motor-car designers who is no water circulation. The water jacket still believe that the day of the steam is really an open vessel and as the water car is not over.
Boils away this is filled up from a pail.
There would need to be some very eliable automatic arrangement so as to regitiate the supply of steam to the de- mand.
The great hope for the steam car is that a form of fuel of a lower grade than petrol, such as kerosine, can be used. There is, perhaps, a chance that the fuel would be less costly. There are enthu- siasts, However, who think that mater. car engines using crude oil will appear in time.
PARKING PLACES.
The suggestion has been made that' there should be some special parking place, such as in Pedder Street, outside the Hoogkong Hotel, reserved entirely for members of the local Automobile Association.
That does not seem to be practicable. It does, however, appear unfair that püblic vebicies should park in the centre districts in other places than Statue Square and in front of the City Hall.
Probably the best plan would be for the Automobile Association to persuade the local traffic authorities to keep a portion of Pedder Street for drivers orily.
owner-
For many years, we longed for a reliable self-starter When we had that we longed for four wheel brakes. The tale could be made to go on seas to include many other examples. The inventors' have so cleverly responded to our long- ings that we have every reason to be" Scout in attendance. That would sanguibé about this latest effort to im- prove the mechanism of the car.
THE SUPER-CHARGER. This is one of the latest car improve ments. It is noticeable that super- chargers are now practically a standard fiting for racing cars. All the Grand Prix entrants used them.
They must, of course, add something to the initial cost of the car. They arem, at present, to increase the petro con sumption, although the increase is not great.
a
1
The Hongkong A. A might even go to the expense of having uniformed
reduce the risk of thefts. Of late there bure been many complaints about missing urticles from cars and many of these complaints have come from owner-drivers, who leave a car unattended.
Motor-cychsts also suffer
For that reason it is good to know that the local Automobile Association may decide to have a Scout" on guard at the Kow- loon ferry parking space.
14
There does not seem to be much chance of having A.A. patrols around the island or in the new territory. It would be very expensive.
+
THE DRIVER'S WORRIES.
The great advantage of the super- charger is that more power is developed by he engine fitted with one. That may easily lead to the adoption of the super. charger as means of successfully
hanging on to top gear. The whole tendency of design is to proof worries. dace a car that is reliable, not expensive ig initial cost, and not expensive in run ning costs.
IN HONGKONG.
In this Colony a car that is to nego tiate all of the gradients except, perhaps, the top of Garden Road near to McDon
In Hongkong-especially in the City of Victoria-the driver of a car has plenty Pedestrians behave in the most unexpected manner. They will walk along on the left hand side of the road until a car is near to them. They then dash across the front of the radiator. After a short interval, they run back again.
Another source of anxiety is the cyclist.. There seem to be
many learners.
50
nel Road, and a small partion of the They wobble about in a most alarming Dairy Farm Hill near to Pokiniam, must manner. No doubt the police would pre he rather over fifteen horse power, Eng-vent one using a continuous hooter but lish tax rating,
If the same car, with smaller (and therefore lighter) engine giving normally maximum of thirteen borse-power rate ing could be atted with a super-charger that could be switched in "as required and so enable the driver to obtain fifteen borse-power, it would be of great advan- tage. These are the improvements we are likely to see developed during, the next few yeRTH,
anyone who drives through Wanchai must. keep one hand on the horn all the time.
It has been suggested that some effort be made by the traffic authorities to keep pedestrians on to the side-walks, but it would require a large number of police in Wanchai to do that.
OVERHANGING TREES. Another great source of danger is the overhanging branches of trees. Along The competition to sell cars is now so Garden Road the trees might be sacri- keen that the directors of motor-car fac- ficed for the sake of “ Safety First." tories in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Between Caine Bond and · Pokfulam and the U.S.A are willing to offer big there are many trees that have overhang- rewards to those who will give them some ing branches. They obstruct the view. new invention which will enable agents | Suraly the lower branches might be re- to increase sales
moved.
Until we have ateam cooling, motorists in Hongkong are advised to see that there is nothing wrong with the cooling system cow in use. A cracked eylinder may be caused by a failure of the cir culating system.
A GALLANT SHIP'S ENGINEER. MR. ANDREW DUNCAN'S PLUCK. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO SAVE",
MR. JOHN GRIFFITHS.
H.AL. Coroner, Mr. G. W. King, during an inquest at Shanghai on September 15th on the body of Mr. John Griffiths, Second Officer of the China Navigation Co.'s str, Changchie, moored up-river off Lunghua, who was drowned on the previous Saturday, warmly congratulat- ed the Third Engineer, Mr. Andrew Duncan, on his gallant attempt to save his shipmate.
•
Mr. Robert Wherry, Chief Officer of the str. Changchour, said that he heard an alarmi that the Second Officer had faljen everboard from a boat, but he could net ree anyone in the water. The. Third Engineer dived in. There was a strong tide running. The bons reached around for a while, but without success. Information was sent to the str. Wuhu, lying astern, which kept a look-out for Ir. Grinths.
Mr. Andrew Duncan, Third Engineer, said he did not see the nccident, but he dived in as soon as he was called and swam about, but without seeing any signs of Mr. Griffiths. There was a very strong
you very much on your very brave deed. The Coroner I wish to congratulate It was a dark night and there was a very strong tide runnlag in a very treacherous. river, but without a moment's hesitation regret must be that you did not save your you lived in. It seems to me your only shipmate's life. I think you are very brave man, Mr. Duncan.
The Coroner' returned accidentally drowned.
a verdict of
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