Evening Star Newspaper, October 18, 1925, Page 69

EXPERTS SEEK TO SOLVE PROBLEM IN MOTORING Chemistry and Engineering in Race After Secret of Speeding Gasoline Combustion and BY WILLIAM ULLMAN. Chemistry and engineering are run- ning a heated race to discover the secret of speeding up gasoline com- bustion without knocking when com- pressed in the cylinders of the modern | automobile. The odds appear to be In favor of engineering despite the claim that sales of chemically treated gasoline are increasing. Automobile manufac- turers, generally, are attempting to speed up the burning of gasoline by better engine design, but the motoring public cannot be expected to be able to decide for itself until it has had and opportunity to test out the newer gas “dopes” and the newer features in engine design. A declded gain for engineering wus scored by the recent announcement of one prominent car manufacturer that his engineers had developed a double-fire type of ignition rouncement, however, followed close upon the heels of the heralding of a new no-knock fuel by a leading refiner. Race Puzzles Motorists. The majority of motorists are won- dering just what the race is all about. Some seem to think the automotive laboratories are seeking a more power- ful fuel, something that will drive a piston downward with such force that a little carbon or a pair of poor seat- ing valves will make little difference. is best explained by the engineers chemists themselv One chemist “Wa are entirely satisfled with gasoline as a fuel for modern automobile engines, provided we can make it perform more effec 1y once it {s under compression. Gi line is a comparatively safe form of energy in the lighid state in which it is transported. Its main fault seems 10 be that it is a little sluggish when in the engine or inclined to burn srratically with a characteristic knock. Rather than seek a higher type of ex. plosive it would seem more logical to adopt a successful adulterant which will be effective only when the gas s under compression in the cylindes An automotive engineer says: can compensate for gasoline’s sl comings, not by complicating the sftuation with adulterants, but by making the automobile engine more efficlent. We are doing this when we succeed in making a charge of compressed gasoline vapor burn quicker.” Gas vapor, it might be stated, re- quires a certain period of time to burn even when an engine is running rapidly, the interval between the be. ginning and end of combustion playing & very important role in the motor's functioning. The automobile engine, for that reason, is timed so that the ,as vapor starts to burn before pis ons reach the top of their compres- sfon stroke. Both chemists and en gineers concede that this plan of ad vancing the spark, while remarkabl satisfactory for practical purpose is far from the ideal. They say that the process of burning some of the gas vapor too early in order to be This an-| Avoid Knocking. stroke is completed, results in a cer- tain amount of reverse action as in- { dicated by the way an engine will hammer when the spark is too far advanced for the particular driving conditions. What both engineers and chemists are endeavoring to do is to make gas | vapor “do its stuff” noiselessly in the shortest possible time, for the quicker each power stroke Is accom- plished the sooner each cycle of the engine will be completed, and the smoother the engine will run. The difference of opinion lies in the meth- od of accomplishing these results. Explosive Held ‘Relative Term” An explosion, scientists tell us, is merely a relative term. It is pres- | umed to be Instantaneous combustion, | but when combustible gases are touched off while held in check, the time element is important. What the | chemists are atming for is a “doped” | gasoline that will burn more quickly yet more nofselessly when vaporized or compressed, without presenting a greater fire hazard while in its liquid form. The goal for the automotive engl- neers is to handle the gas vapor so that it will be forced to burn more rapldly. They contend this can be | done without entailing any additional expense in the manufacture of en- gines and without increasing the cost of fuel, which is the case where adul- terants are added. | The Ricardo head used on several | popular makes is an example of what | the engineers are dcing. It is ex- | plained that while this patent involves the payment of royalties, there is nothing added to the cost of an en- | gine that carries this improvement. | This typifies the sort of changes that can be made without actually adding to the cost of manufacture. The Ricardo head is a principle rather than a device. Its purpose is to give the incoming gases a swirling action when they enter the combustion chamber, thus preparing them for a | speedier combustion when the spark Double-fire Ignition Explained. | Somewhat the same results are ac- | complishel by the use of doublefire | tgnition. It is explained by the man- ufacturer that, by igniting gas vapor | at both ends, so to speak, the com- bustion is complete and accomplished in far quicker time. The analogy is that of burning a strip of paper by lighting it at one end, as compared with lighting it at both ends simul- taneously. The manufacturers, therefore, are not merely giving attention to the matter of preparing the gases for combustion and starting them in mo- | tion so that each unit of a charge of gas will rush to the spark plug with- | out waiting for the fire to reach it, | but are making sure that the gas is touched off at both ends. The re- sults are immediately appreciated by any one who takes the wheel of a car embodying these principles. - The chemists are by no means dis- NEW DETOURS ANNOUNCED ON ROADS IN MARYLAND Colesville-Ashton Route Changed. Part of Highway to Brownings- ville Under Repair. A detour has been established by the Maryland State Roads Commission from Colesville to Ashton, in Mont- gomery County. Traffic is turned left at Holland Corner and again left to Ednor. The temporary stretch of 3.6 miles is in good condition. ‘The Damascus-Browningsville road now has a detour starting 1.4 miles south of the intersection of the Wash- ington and Browningsville road, where traffic is diverted to the right to King Valley, then left into the Damacus- Browningsville road. The detour is 8.7 miles long on a fair dirt road. “DIMMING” PRACTICE DECLARED A MENACE Not Now Required by Maryland Law—Held Danger to Both Drivers. The practice of dimming headlights | at the approach of another car creates |a dangerous situation for both motor- ists and is the reason why it is not required in Maryland, according to an officlal of the Automobile Club of Maryland, who says he was asked that question recently by a visiting motor- ist. “The driver becomes accustomed to his bright beam of light on the road and when he dims his own lamps the beam ahead seems hardly more than darkness,” sald this offical. *The effect is the same as if his lights were extingulshed suddenly and he found himself driving in the dark. He is not only placing himself in danger but he endangers pedestrians as well. directly into the glare of an approach ing car. He can watch the light from the lamps on his side of the road and be able to see clearly the road ahead.” chemists stand a good chance to win, and that the automobile manufacturers and engineers are not making allow- ances for what is known as detonation. This is the term applied to the habit which burning gases have of going off suddenly when they are intensely heated and unable to expand as quick- ly as needed. If a gas is heated and prevented from expanding, its pres- sure rises until it explodes suddenly. | This 1s what happens to the layers ed when @ cylinder is packed with carbon and its compression raised accordingly. This type of knock is not tu be confused” with a preignition or car bon knock which results from red- hot particles of carbon acting as premature spark plugs. Detonation can occur in a perfectly clean cylinder if compression is too high. Chemists have found “dopes™ that will stop this detonation, but safer and cheaper “dopes” are needed. En- gineers maintain that swirling the gas and lighting it at more than one paint produces such perfect combustion that carbon is kept out and the need for “dopes” eliminated. This is the situation as the race goes on. And the happy feature of it is that the car owner stands to essured of complete combustion of | couraged, despite the stormy career | win regardless of the outcome. all of the vapor before the power of ethyl gas. Some belleve that the (Copyright. 102 105% Ahead/ The entire industry’s pro- duction of motor trucksine creased 23 per cent during tlhgezgirst eight months of Graham Brothers Trucks inthesame periodincreased 105 per cent! A magnificent tribute to Graham Brothers policy of maximum value at mini- mum cost, : 1-Ton Chasels, $1060; 13§.Ton Chassis, $1345; Delivered Semmes Motor Company 619-621 G St. N. Raphael Semmes, President SOLD BY DODGE BROTHERS DEALERS EVERYWHERE “A motorist does not have to look | President Thomas P. Henry (left (right), of the American Automobile 2 den Gate end of their notable motor car journey, which took them 11,000 mlles‘ | in record time without speeding, due to night and day traveling. and General Manager Ernest N. ssociation, are here shown at the 11,000-MILE AUTO Needed, Eleven thousand miles of intensive motoring _across the continent and that the run was made with a maxi- mum of comfort and ease in finding the way, was the experience recently of two _representative motorists, Thomas P. Henry, president, and U. S. REVEALS EXCELLENT ROADS A. A. A. Official Describes Many Remarkable Lessons in Touring Learned—Uniform Road Marking He Says. back, to find poor roads so negligible | TRIP ACROSS | West was 96 hours and 14 minutes from the time the transcontinental car left the zero milestone behind the White House in Washington until it reached Oakland, Calif. From the Capital, the route taken touched Wheeling, W. Va.; Columbus, the of gas just ahead of thet being burn- | Ohlo, and Indianapolis, Ind., on | National Highway; following the | White Way through Towa to Omaha, Nebr., then over the Lincoln Highway alt Lake City, Utah, and on the ctory Highway into San Francisco. “We experfenced no dificulty in | finding our way,” declared Mr. Smith, ! | discussing the features of the trip which would be of interest to mo- torists. “The roads, for the most | part, were well marked, and, as we | had” our route carefully planned at the start, we went through without a halt. “I had a splendid opportunity to observe the road markings along the way. The roads bearing the best Ernest N. Smith, general manager of the American Automobile Association, on a trip that took them as far as British Columbia. Many lessons can be learned on such a trip, it was pointed out by Mr. | | Smith, who has just returned Washington. It was evident, ing to the A. A. A. offictal. that there has been considerable progress made in the United States on a nation-wide road-building program. The tour als showed that any man without an inti- mate knowledge of the way can get into his car and travel to the far West, it he plans his trip well before he starts. Actual running time on the trip | markings ENGINEERS WILL STUDY RECORD-BREAKING AUTOS Tiny Racing Cars Used at Laurel to Be Discussed at Cos- mos Club. Attentlpn will be directed to the tiny race cars that set world speed records when the Washington section of the Soclety of Automotive Engl neers meets next Friday night at the | Cosmos Club. Construction of racing cars has been chosen as the subject of an address and discussion as appropriate for the meeting, to be held on the eve of the automobile races at the Baltimore- Washington Speedway. MEXICO TO AID WAR UPON AUTO THIEVES Border Conference Agrees to Full Co-Operation Between U. S. and Mexican Law Officers. Co-operation of the United States and Mexico to combat the activities | of automobile thieves was pledged recently at a conference at the gov ernor's pal at Mexicall. on California-Mexico boundary. Under the agreement reached, the Mexican civil and military authori tles will co-operate fully with Amer- fcan officials in heading off automobile thieves who attempt to dash across the international border line with their plunder. The conference resulted in the establishment for the first time of a definite program of action against motor thieves, although cordial rela- tions always have existed between officials of Lower California, Mexico and the State of California. Need for such a plan by the authorities s shown by the fact that nearly automobiles were stolen last year in Los Angeles alone, many of which were carried across the international boundary. Governor Abelardo D. Rodriguez. governor of Lower California, presided over the conference, which was at- tended by R. H. (olvin, of the United States Department of Justice; Capt. J. E. Erwin of the Los Angeles police department; and Walter E. ‘Wood, head of the theft bureau of the Automobile Club of Southern Cali- fornia. Mexlican offiefals included A.| Marua Martinez, secretary of state:| nd Francisco Peralta, inspector gen- | cral of police of Lower Califor: | the | | were met in the Pacific| orthwest. There there has been con- | | siderable progress in putting up road signs that gulde the motorist accu- rately and give him really helpful in- formation of the way ahead. “The absence of the word ‘danger’ on road signs was particularly no- ticeable along the Northwestern (Continued on Eleventh Page.) 8.000 | 1 ! not the logical race track. LAUREL SPEEDWAY SHOWS NEW DAY FOR MOTORDOM Safety in Speed Exemplified by Con- struction of Model Course for Race They're here! racing. 1 Eager motorists who are awalting | an opportunity to see automobile rac- ing in Its latest garb will welcome America’s heroes of the speedways when they appear with their pigmy cars at the Baltimore-Washington speedway next Saturday. to the speed demons themselves, no automobile race track is better fitted to display the new models in racing than is this gigantic bowl, midway between the Natlonal Capital and the Monumental City. Racing cars are the forerunners of automotive development. Every big race paves the way for greater im. provement, and one of the latest dis coverias of the speedways is the prac ticability and deslrability of midget cars. At the Laurel track no driver will The 1926 models 1n | be qualified to start until he has dem- | onstrated his ability to cling to the 48-degree banked curves at 118 miles per hour or better. No driver ca hope to win the big purse of the unless he finishes with an average speed for the 250-mile grind of at least | 125 miles an hour. De Paolo finished the Summer marathon at Laurel with an average speed of 123.33, but he is back with a faster car, determined to break his own record and set a new mark for speed and endurance. Call for Greater Speed. Specifications for the new 1dels call for greater speed, so that the 1926 rove that the k in the world is too slow est products of such ge: Dusenberg, Miller and_other specjalists in the manufacture of h priced, high-speed mounts, Along with mere mechanical im- provements, the new models in auto- moblle racing include such significant changes as public approval, greater emphasis on the human factor in driv- ing and safety, better trafic control, increased courtesy and safety through speed. A comparatively short time ago automobile racing was losing ground. Daring drivers were tearing up hills 1 hing treacherous mountains across the continent in v ng stunts vas the public highwa laws were apped tempo- to make way for some victory redevil who sought to prove that California had been moved near- ew Yo It was a very unsatisfactory race- course. Motorists commenced to com- plain about it. Safety advocates de- clared that the public highway was And at Dependability- that’s the Real Test of this beautiful car THAT’S what gets y. and back. That’s what gives Peerless owners such perfect confidence in their cars. Depen ability—notfor 500 miles or 5000 but for tens of thousands esand years of hardservice. mil of Beayty—youfil find it ou there d- in every New Low Peerless Six Prices 5-Pass. Phaeton -$1895 7-Pass.Phacton+ 1995 5.Pass. Two unusually wide doors provide easy entrance into the beantiful Peerless Siz 5-passenger Coupe. Note the perfect vision made pos- sible by the large windows. The Peeriess Motor Car Co. Cleveland, Ohio Sport Roadster -$2195 5.Pass. Sedan Coupe <+ 2295 7-Pass.Sedan R R ers i R s - 82395 . 2595 All Prices F.O.B. Factery R s { out According | Driver about cars ways. that that time America's racing became too fast for the high- America’s dri appreciated tomorrow’s cars must be tried on tomorrow's foadways. Those { roadways, they found, were the ne er and faster speedways being bu throughout the country. Human Factor Considered | The new models in racing acc | ingly are equipped with public a proval. Of equal importance is the new emphasis placed upon the hum: factor in driving. Those who w gape at the whizzing bits of fiyl steel as they round the Laurel speed way will marvel at the new skill of | the arivers and wiil think mot mere of the automo more and more control of the cpeed demons. There ething 1o the | new racing bestdes o 1 | anism, perfected as t 1s the hu n factor, i |refined to a point where the wh or a celerator put track into history ing speed | Much of the speed { possible thro Race driv er in the es b {1y of the handiwor tive engineers, b of the daring a s s cars hec the nother f at a record-break- < being made : ourses been safer ) s It is an axiom of racing as well as of dally driving at river can hope to run sur | cessfu hich exceeds in mind speedway A hard track or breaki fence into the 1 Elements of Safety. This is not the only | safety stressed tl There will he safet control of the elemer specificatior hrough bet s part of his role s dangero sport to give the driver suffictent warning. Many see in such ments in “big league” racing basis _ _similar_improvement _ (Continued on Eleventh Page.) Peerless. Comfort, finish,smooth- ness—vibrationless action— these, too, are Peerless attri- butes. But dependability —depend- ability like the rising and setting of the sun itself—that is Peer- less. By all means come in and drive a Peerless before you buy. Limousine - < $2695 Poerless workmes tabe craftsmes-like Pride in every single dotatlef thecar s fwisk. PEERLEDSS PEERLESS HAS ALWAYS BE EN A GOOD PEERLESS MOTOR COMPANY 14th and P Sts. N.W. BLUEFIELD GARAGE CAROLINA Bluefleld, W. Vi Kinston, N. C. Washington Branch DEALERS PEERLESS (0. PIEDMONT Lynchburg, Va. Main MOTOR (0. ENOS MOTOR 1837 W. Broad St., CAR 9850 COMPANY Richmond, Va.