1934-08-21 — Page 2

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MOTORING AND MOTORS

A Sound Family Ten

The new Austin Ten 19 A sturdy Mttle car, and in using that particular word I mean that 1 is not only stoutly built, but that its performance, is very good for its power and that its four- cylinder engine will probably con- tinue to give its best for a very long time, writes a correspondent. That is the main impression I received from my trial of the latest example. I have tried at least three Ten Austins since the model was first brought out, and have been attracted by them all as admirable" specimens of the "family" Tens, but the new one is distinctly better than any of its predecessors.

To begin with what is perhaps the most important feature, it is. a little roomler.

It is never easy to get enough bodywork on to a wheelbase of legs

than feet or mare (the Austin's is 7 ft. 8 in.), and when a point is made of keeping the seats as far as possible within the axles the problem probably be- comes acute. The Austin-body- builders have succeeded in pro- ducing a small salaon that, with- out being absolutely spacious, is certainly roomy for its size and that without everhang. The back seat of the de luxe saloon " is just forward of the rear axle, which is the proper place for it and the back panel comes well within the outer edge of the rear wheels.

in

This is almost unknown these days of the least pieces of American coachwork, particularly of the ultra streamlined type in which air-friction is said to be so surprisingly reduced, you wil see How very compact the little Austin is in comparison:

Plenty Of Elbow-Room

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I believe the length of the body has not been altered since the last one I tried, but there is cer- tainly more width in the back seat. For people of my dimen- stons very few small four-seaters are conceivable as more than three-seaters unless I am to sit in the back seat) in the rigidly Egyptain position, knees up, and shing at right angies to thighs. With the front seats in about the normal position I found I could sit in fair ease, allowing room for somebody else beside me to do the same. There is plenty of elbow-room both in front and. behind. The doors are unusually wide and there are no footwells thore abominable confessions of failure.

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Austin engines are very rarely modified, and the Ten is much the same as it was when it was Arst built. The dynamo is now better mounted on top of the cylinder-block and driven by the fan-belt, but I believe that is the enly change. The upper water- lead to the radiator is in the middle of the cylinder-head, pet- rol is supplied from the 6-gallon rear-slung tank by pump, a dash-. board gauge being fitted, and the 12-volt battery is carried in a container on the forward side of the dash. The other half of the container houses the tool-kit. Both carburettor and distributor are accessibly placed, and the unit as a whole is really · well planned. The cuble content of the engine is 1,125 c.c.. the bore and stroke beldg 83.5 by 89 mm. The Treasury rating is just under 10, and 20 h.p. is claimed 2,600 revolutiona

The Gears

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The chassis is cross-braced, the engine being flexibly mounted on rubber. The new gear-box has constant mesh to second as well as third and top speed, and these gears are. If not silent," "at least unusually quiet. Gear-changing, with the synchromesh, is pleas- antly easy, and swift changes up and down can be made without risk of delay or scrape. There is no freewheel but so far as easy gear-changing goes, it is not wanted. The 'ratios are fairly low, top being 5.26 to 1, third- 8 to 1, second 128 to 1 and bottom 20.7 to 1, yet I did not notice that the engine was running particu- "larly fast at full throttle.

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Other commendable poluts are singlepoint brake adjustment and oil-less spring shackles. wish somebody “Who ***EMOWE would tell me why the latter are not universally used in ordinary touring cars. Is there a serious drawback to them, or is it just indifference to the peace of mind of the unfortunate owner-driver who has to use the hated grease- gun? I am very willing to' be

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convinced either way. Having painfully Inquisitive mind, mechanically speaking. I always want to know the why of every- thing, and I am very seldom told. Ou-Alters you can take out and clean as you take out and clean e sparking-plug, ofl-less and bat- terfes that you can attend to without having to tear up ficor- boards and use artificial light, are, to my mind, primitive essentials in any motor-car. The three to- gether in one chassis are still strangely rare.

Speed And Hill-Climbing

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1934.

MOTOR JOTTINGS

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"THE AUTOCAR" ROAD TESTS

A.C. Ace Sports Four-Seater

In the latest model open four-

seater A. C. Ace the various im- provements made to the chassis this year are most clearly appa- rent. These include, as one of the principal' points, a new type of longer wheelbase frame with cruciform cross-bracing, which is very much better as regards rig.-. dity-always an important point where a high-performance car is concerned.

This is a particularly pleasing car, one which is more than a sports type of open body oò, a standard from of chassis, though one also which can be driven just as one handles the ordinary type of car, without need for any special method of driving yet it is thoroughly satisfactory to the keener type of driver, who finds that it will answer well to the mode of handling which he pre- fers on occasion.

The Austin has a good turn of speed. It will do, according to its speedometer, about fifty-three- miles an hour. flat out, and I make out that this is just about its real Agure. It climbs hils with characteristic sturdiness. maintaining its spead when you would expect, it to drop, and gaining on every encouragement. It took 18 seconds to climb the test section of Westerham Hill, from a standstill at the cress- roads, and the speed shown was between twenty-two and twenty- six miles an Hour. It has good acceleration on third and top, und its performance in trafic and on winding roads is lovely. The rubber mounting does not wholly damp out engine-tremor, but what is left is slight. I was interested to see that at about

most useful. 80 m.p.h. Is Afty miles an hour the running

obtainable as a maximum on top gear, and certainly by no means. became perfectly smooth. The springing is good, and the steer- least, the car is very steady on ing light and steady. The in-

corners and has steering which, struments all worked. and they though Eght, is also most satis-

neatly grouped on

factorily accurate. the driver's side, of the dash, the other half forming a useful cub- by-hole. (One of these days I am going to design my own dash but I dareasy that will be the end of it.)

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I think this useful ttic car Is very good value at £158 for the fixed head salcon, and £172 10s. for the de luxe saloon with slid- ng root.

I also still think it is the most successful Austin yet made,

Besides being comfortable, and having a very pleasing appear- has just those ance,

the car qualities about it which give it the sports machine flavour, for the engine power is very good Indeed, the maxima on the gears

are

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feels so inclined, that gives the ear great deal of the appeal It'

possesses.

This was

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car which took part in the R.A.C. Rally in March. and it has the three-carburetter spots engine and a higher com- pression ratio than is used for the ordinary models. A higher ratio back axle-4.33 to 1-can be supplied if required. -.

Latest Stuering

Most definitely the latest steer- "Ing a greüät "advance; some- times it seems that the impor- tance of the steering in passing judment on a car immediately in touch with it as the driver is the whole time, is not sufficiently recognised even to-day. The brakes, too, are excellent, having all the power that can be desired for. ordinary deceleration emergency stops. at the time remaining smooth in their action and not, causing swerves of reaction on the steering..

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same.

The question, of the stability of the car is, of course, linked up with the setting of the friction shock absorbers that are used, but the adjustment at the time of test on the road gave the im- pression of being a good com- promise between stability at speed and very reasonably soft suspen- sion for ordinary running: for the maximum speed test they were tightened and the car rode very well indeed on Brooklands, feeling safe and steady.

At the same time the engine is quiet, with just a suggestion of exhaust note, but there is conpicuous noise or fuss to at-

attention. tract undesirable

It is a combination of the points that the car can be driven softly and quite lazily, mostly on top gear. in the manner of an ordi- nary touring machine, and alter- natively can be opened up to accelerate verr well past other vehicles or up a gradient one plenty in hand, depression of the

It is a car on which an excel- lent average can be put up, for it will hold an easy 60 m.p.h. as a cruising speed on a suitable road, and at 50 or so it is especially pleasant, running quietly, smoo- thly, and with the always satis- factory feeling that there

HOW IT WORKS AND WHY

On many cars "quarter-elliptle" springs are used. These may be considered as half-elliptic springs cut through the thick centre por- tion and are attached to the frame by clamping the thick ends.. to suitable brackets, and the pro- fecting thin ends are then bolted

to the axles, the springs being' upside down as compared with the half-elliptics. When suck springs are used there is no need 'for dumb irons, and so the frame

design 18 mod:fled.

Whatever the shape of the frame may be, it is essential that it shall be rigid, and cross-mem bers will be introduced as requir- ed. In particular, there will be a strong cross-raembers at about the middle and cross-members may be added between the ends of the dumb irons. As a rule the. main frame members are of "channel section," that is, if que were cut through the end would appear to be like a U with a flat base laid on its side. Bolted to the main frame members are brackets which support the run- ning boards and stays which carry the wings

The Front Axle Some description of the front axle is now necessary, and this involves the steering mechanism. The axle itself is a steel beam, which, if cut through the mid- dle, would present an end like an L. As a rule, the ends of the axle beam are upswept from the points where the springs are at- tached, and the section is chang- ed, to give greater strength at the ends. It can easily be im- agined that if the axle were per- fectly straight from end to end the car would be higher off the ground, and a low build is always aimed at in the interests of steadiness on the road.

have

The ends of the axle pivoted to them the ""steer- ing knuckles," which

carry the front wheels. on short

projecting. axles, or

"stub axles." The, steering knuckles have projecting from them short ****STEEZING" "EIS. « connected" "by":"a rod, known as the "terod," so that when one wheel moves the other must move with it. The steering. knuckle on the right-hand side also has another projecting arm connected by a rod; known as the "drag link," to the lever known as the "drop arm" of the

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steering gear, of which various types are in use.

Worm"

One of the most frequently steering gears is the worm and Wheel, the worm--a giant screw thread-being formed on the lo- wer end of the steering column and meshing with the wheel carried on a short hort- zontal shaft in a suitable casing. usually attached to, the right- hand main frame member. On the end of the worm wheel shaft is fixed the short lever or drop drm, to which the drag link is attached, and thus, when the steering wheel at the head of the steering column is rotated, it turns the worm wheel, through the agency of the worm and swings the drop arm backwards or forwards, thus pulling on the drag link and so inclining the front wheels towards the left, or pushing on the drag link and turning them towards the right.

Other steering gears sometimes used include the warm and sec- tor, which is really the same as the worm and wheel in action

(since the sector is part of worn wheel), worm and nut, and in a few cases epicyclic gears.

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links or alides to the ends of the swinging half axles, pr coll springs may be used.«

Modern Developments Independent suspension has been applied successfully to both front and rear wheels, but there

a tendency at present to utilise it in front only," the rear. axle following orthodox practice. Naturally, there are many differ- ent designa for independent springing systems, and one very interesting layout utilises the torstonal elasticity of a steel rod Instead of the more usual leaf or coil spring. Also, In some cases independent steering is adopted, there being a single steering gear box, but a separate connec-- tion to each front wheel.

Mention must also be made of a very useful auxiliary to the suspension system, the shock absorbers. These may be of frictional or hydraulic type, but their purpose is the same, to damp out the natural oscillations of a springing system when it has been set in motion.

NISSAN MOTORS

The Nissan Motors Company (formerly the Jidosha Seizo Kalsha) is to expand its work in Koyasu near Yokohama. It in- tends to bring up the yearly production of small runabout cars from 1,200 to 5,000. It will also

Recently, a few car have been introduced with "independent su- spension" systems, in which the axle beam is modified, or actu- ally eliminated, in such a man- ner that each wheel is free to move under the control of Its own spring or springs and with- out affecting its fellow. Thus, in the case of front wheels, there may be no axle beam as ordin-handle parts for Ford and Chev- arily used, and in its place, the wheel may be supported by the stub axle sembly carried by the ends of two transverse half-ellip- tic springs. Or two links giving a parallel motion may be usert, in conjunction with coll spring.

In the case of independent suspension applied to the rear wheels, the design is complicated by the necessity for taking the drive, and a popular method, is to mount the final drive assembly rigidly on the chassis frame and to carry the wheel-on- Half and axle casing pivoted to the final drive housing so that each rear wheel is free to awing up and down. A transverse half-elliptic, spring may conveniently be used for the suspension, this being bolted to the chassis at its "mid" point with the ends attached by

rolet cars.

In order to attain a control- ing interest in the General Motors Company (Japan) Ltd., the Company was once in hego- tiation with the G.M.C. Manage

ment for a transfer of shares. As already noted, however, ne- gotiations had to be discontinued, Owing to the Government policy of cohmalidating the motor car industry, as a purely Japanese undertaking.

In the event of its Works be- ing completed the Nissan Com pany will be placed in a position to produce car parts equivalent to 20,000 cars a year. The Maz- agement is pushing negotiationa with the General Motors Com pany and Ford Motor Company for the sale of these parts under term contracts.

acclerator producing an imme diate response. **

The engine power shows up. particularly well on hilis, most of be which on main roads can taken as fast as "one usually re- quires in the car's stride on top gear, whilst for more rapid climbs third gear is really useful, for it gives an extreme Kinlt of just over 80 m.þ.h."and a comfortable 50. It has to be an appreciably saveza gradient, even on by-ways. which will bring the car down to second. The car shines, too, on a really steep hill; it made a most satisfactory ascent of Brook- lands Test Hill from a standing start and restarted with resi snap on the 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 gradienta.

"An Unusual Feature

An unusual feature was that the speedometer proved to be "markedly slow at readings of 30, 40 and 50, and still slow even at 60, whilst during the timed runs the needle did not go beyond a reading of 83, though the best" run-as, apart from the average of several such tests given in the table--was at 81.82 m.p.h. oyer the quarter-mile with the wind favourable. The windscreen was lowered for the speed tests, but not in the acceleration tests.

Taking No Risks

.. A sparrow perched on a golt ball just as the player was about to drive. Birds instinctively know the safest place in a moment of danger.

At Home Again

"Could you put me in the same cell?" begged the habitual drun. kard as he was carried below. "I could never sleep in a strange bed."

MOTORING ON THE WATER

Punt to Carry Car

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A remarkable craft that goes far to converting car into motor boat has been !n- vented and built by en ex- Naval engineer, Mr. Alfred Bur-

gess, of Putney. His boat is in the form of a 'punt on to which a car can be driven, and by pa- ing the engine of the car as the motive power the plint becomes a motor boat in about ten minutes. In order to control the boat the driver stays at the wheel of his car exactly as if he were on the road. The craft, which has been aptly named Precursor 1, is in regular use on the Thames.

The method of turning the car into a motor boat is interesting The front and back wheels are jacked up on special fack which are Atted to the bottom of the boat and are adjustable to suit different

wheelbases, but the front wheels are not raised to such a large extent as the rear wheels. In the case of a car that Dossesses its own jacking system. the boat's jack could be dispen- sed with.

Opposite each rear. wheel are arms to rest against the tyres and take up the drive, convey- ing it to two propellers situated on either side at the rear of the boat. These arms do not slip cwing to the special design of their spring-loading. neither have they been found to wear the tyre 'walls. Steering is controlled by the steering of the car, to at- tain which ingenious use is made of the differential. The front wheels are connected by two arms to independent brake drums on the propellerdrive mechanism, so that the action of turning the wheel automatically applies brake to the propeller situated on the side towards, which the front wheels

are turred. In other words, the boat is steered exactly. as if the car were on the road," and owing to the action of the differential the car's rear wheel, and therefore the propeller on one side, are not affected by the stoppage of the driving force.on the other.

A SAFETY SWITCH

A very ingenious "Safety from Fire Switch" has recently been introduced by the Graviner Manufacturing Co. Ltd., First Avenue House High Holborn, W.CL. This is contained in a -glass-fronted rectangular cass approximately 33in. square, the depth being slightly greater, which is mounted on the engine side of the dash and has elect- rical leads running from the in- strument to the battery and dynamo, to the magneto if fitted,. and to an earth connection, on the chassis.

The switch consists of a contact assembly of the type employed in telephone station equipment, having silver contact points, and these contacts are actuated by a comparatively powerful spring, so as to obtain instantaneous and certain operation. A pendulum. which is pivoted so that it is free to swing in two directions, has a CHI surface engaging with A triangular arc-shaped cam саг- ried on the end of a small pivot- ed lever which forms part of a trip mechanism, and without go- ing into greater detall of con- straction it may be said that a sudden shock, or a tilting of the Instrument causes the pedulum ta operate on the cam, so relea- sing the trip and allowing the contacts to open-under the action of the spring. Therefore, a vehl- clc fitted with this device is pro- tected from fire in the event of a collision or overturning to

greater angle than 45 degrees, since dynamo and battery are disconnected from the ignition and lighting aystems, At the same time, slight impacts violent braking, or fast cornering will not cause the switch to act.

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Driving is carried out in top gear, and in a sudden emergency

the driver can not only brake but can also soon change into. reverse gear, Up till now the car used has been an old 11.9 h.p. Morris-Cowley which has proved itself to possess ample po- wer for the river, and a speed of about 8 knots is obtained with the tide, or 2, knots against it, at which speed the wheels are turning at a corresponding road pace of 20 m.p.h.

TRIST A THORNYCROFT WITH YOUR TRANS.

DEAL DIRECT

THORNYCROFT

SIX-CYLINDERED"

Q

COACHES & OMNIBUSES

MOTOR VEHICLES

DIESEL MOR

PETROL

Plonder Manufacturern of Commercial Motor Vakialas

Full Range of Spares carried in Hong Kong and Shanghal

4 or 6 Wheels

4 or 6 Cylinders

80 Cwt. to 10 Ton Loads

20 to 70 Passenders

JOHN L THORNYCROFT & CO., LIMITED,

TRUST

soo Buliding, Nathan Road; Kowloon,

TEL. 50759.

Jorr With You! THAN