Evening Star Newspaper, May 30, 1926, Page 34

UNUSUAL SPEED EXPERIMENTS WILL FEATURE LAUREL RACES THE SUNDAY Big Cars and Little to Take Part in Tests June 19, in Which Lack of Speed Will Be Only . Bar to Enlry. BY F. J. CARMODY. t When “Doc” Gerner drops the w! hite flag sending the fastest automo- biles made in this country and Europe roaring around the Laurel Speed- way on June 19, not been given in In the last few largely the province of two men, Tost of the races of recent vears have been test have been alternately victorious in many of the two machines. They board irack contests and both hold a Several vears ago the automobile manufacturers hecame convinced that tittle was to be gained by entering a special machine in the speedway clashes. As a result, instead of having a feld made up of perhaps 10 differ- ent makes of cars, automobile racing became a duel between the products of Miller and Duesenberg. Variety Will Add Interest. 1t will be different at laurel on June 19. In a sense the thrills of the old ““frea for all” will be reproduced with a decidedly modern flavor, in that nothing in the w of speed will be sacrificed. It will be a contest of cars as well as a contest of drivers, for each driver believes in his particular becomes the spice of competition. | An idea of this variet to be ob- | tained from the list of entered in | the race, which includes, in addition to | the latest creations of Miiler and Duesenberg, such famous race car names as Peugeot. Mercedes, Fronte- nac, Bugatti and Hispano Suiza, the products of the best engineering of | France, Germany and Italy i been no contest in Amer- | ica in yvears to determine the relative | <peed merits of these machines. The | race at Laurel will achieve this end, one that has caused endless argument among the close followers of this | thrilling sport ! “The backer of the Italian engineer’s genius can take the man who swears - Duesenberg to Lawel with him 1nd have settled to the satisfaction of both an argument that was begin- ning to look perpetu: e same xoes for the man who is the vie 1orv of Dario Resta in 4 Peugeot and | that this machine Is the ng that rolls on rubber tives, Speed Is Only Limit. The N. M. R. offic: vinced that the thrill of giving the publi avery type of ¢ and to thi end they have made lack of speed | virtually the only bar to participation In the association’s races. Thu if a man owns a car capable of, say, 130 miles an hour, he can enter it In the race almost regardless of its piston displacement. A limit has been vlaced, it is true. It stands, however, at 400 cubic inches, which permits | virtually every type of fast machine 0 compete. This also has brought info the N.! R. A. racing ranks large num- ber of special jobs—the work of en- =ineers who have turned out products ‘There ha Is are con- cing lies in to see | wears {have a chance to show its superior- of searing speed which *ride” onl\‘ on national tracks. No. 1 car under the ner is a Miller Straight 8. in which the world's fastest mile was made. It has been slightly modified by the Aautomobile engineering firm, Fischer & Jacobs, and will race under the!| designation 1°. & .J. Special. It lmsl M. R. AL ban- | a piston displacement of 183 cubic inches. It will be driven by Jimmy ileason 2 B 147 Miller 8, which was driven at miles an hour at Muroc, Calif. This machine, driven Russel Snowberger, won the racing fans are going to have an opportunity such as has 3 to sec a variety of fast.c rs the production of racing machines has been Harry Miller and Fred Duesenberg. s in action. of the speed of these number of records. M. R. A. championship last vear. has a piston displacement of cubic inches. No. 3 is another . & J. Special of entirely different design, with a piston displacement of 183 inches. Peugeot Is Glant Engine. One gets into larger displacement when one reaches the machine that No. 5 on its hood. It is Peugeot, with a volume of 300 inches and rated as one of the fastest ma- chines that “rides” the N. M. R. A. tracks. The Mercedes entries are machines of relatively dwarfish engines, having displacements of but 91 inches. The Hispano-Sulza, Italy’s repre- sentative in the contest, is the glant in National circles. It is capable of terrific speed with its enormous en- gine volume of 350 inches. The big blue Bugatti is one of the racing cars that are making their bows to America this year. It iy expected to make an excellent record. Armand Peugh, a Frenchman, will pilot it in Its board track debut at Laurel. Tt is rated as the greatest car Europe has turned out in the game of speed, and was to have made its first Ameri- can appearance in the race at At- lantic City early this month. Supercharger Was Delayed. This plan was changed, however, when the foreign supercharger that was needed to supply gasoline to the motor at its tremendous top speed failed to arrive in this country in time. Now this vital bit of equipment has been added. and the machine is being tuned to mpete against the best products of N. M. R. A, drivers. This giant of the oval already has It 226 ‘the Italian Grand Prix and the Tago- "lorio speed classics in Europe to its credit. In each of these events it established records that its Furopean followers are confident will resist the assaults of others for year: All told, there are il foreign cars racing under the colors of the Na- tional Motor Racing Association. There is a still greater number of American makes, and, although all of either class may not qualify, TLaurel Speedway still is assured of a greater variety of machines than ever befdre have roartd around it. The tiny 91-inch Mercedes will ity over the 350-inch Hispano, and the latter to prove that “a good lit- tle man never is quite good enough to lick a l»ig one. |RAPID COOLING HARMFUL Pouring Cold ‘Water Into Overheat- ed Radiator May Hurt Metal. Nothing is gained by trying to cool an overheated radiator quickly by the addition of cold water. It is better to let the radiator cool off naturally, adding the water when its metal has reached a point where the sudden hilling will not have a further dam- One of the lorthem Fol the Gerner, col stepping speed king: speedy race cars of foreign make that will thrill followers ol t& 1928 racing season at the Baltimore-Wasl] starter for tha National Motor Racing Resoclaton, 15 piorare John Smith and His Car BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL John Smith is a character whom every motorist should welcome. He is not selfish; rather he is a motoring martyr, a chap willis have uploiled, in an interesting way, his experiences for 1l and glad to e benefit of the other 20,000,000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 152—Driving on the Level. “Let’s find a steep hill,” Smith sug- gested while we were out for a recent spin in the interest of greater fa- miliarity with our cars. “T'd like to show you some new tricks I've dis- covered in hill climbing.” “Let’s pick out a level stretch and see how good you are where driving is easlest,” I countered. hat was 2 new one on Smith. Are you on the level””’ he asked. was mniore serious,” I ex- ‘There is quite a little art to driving a car on the stralghtaway, and a good deal of the trouble with to one‘s faflure Just then a knocking noise in the rear of the car became very notice- able. “The universal joints are worn a . he apologized. Explaining the Knock. “But why inflict more wear on them?” 1 asked. “Can’t you see that you are balancing the engine's power against the car’s momentum in such a way that the propeller shaft is floating virtually free at times? The universals do not know whether they are being pulled by the engine or just carrled along by the rolling speed of the car. That keeps them knocking. ¥Even if they were tight, this sort of thing would start them on the road to wear. “I note that you are alwi careful not to let in the ciutch with a bang or slam on the brakes. Aside from many other points vou do th. because you have regard for the uni- versals, And yvet here you are in the easiest part of your driving inflicting even more serious wear on the uni- versals. If you are going to save the universals, try to keep the engine pull- ing steadily, Instead of in jerks, no matter how gentle those shocks may be. I don’t know whether you have ever noticed it or not, but when 1 am plcking my way gingerly, either in high gear or second, 1 often press on the service brake pedal a little in order to keep the strain on the universals ‘one way.” With the car dragging a Tit little, it stands to reason that the uni- versals cannot start to rattle or buck. ““On the other hand, it the engine is supplying more power than is needed to keep the car in motion the thing to do is to coast, except when creeping over a rough detour where power is needed intermittently. Under such circumstances it is well to dab the brake pedal & littie in order to hold back the car at those points where power is not needed. In coasting, however, you are up against the prob- lemn of remembering either to have the clutch in or out. N point should be tolerated. Lot the Ammeter Tell. Smith thought the idea was all right, but expressed the popular no- tion that it is not always easy to tell when the clutch is out. “All you have to do is watch the ammeter,” T said. “When the clutch is out, and the engine is running free, the indicator of the ammeter will drop back to zero or discharge, depending upon the idling speed of the engine.” Desiring to try the idea in order to fix it in his memory, he presses out the clutch pedal and looked at the am- meter. You're all wrong!” he exclaimed. “TJust look at the ammeter. It's regis- tering a higher rate of charging than before.”” He was right, but the ammeter test was unaffected. Smith had the hand thirottle so wide open the engine raced ‘when he set it free. This was a handy basis for another point, so I switched the subject quic “If you think driving on the level is v,” 1 sald, “try to shift into ear while we are just jogging “T}uts something I've never been able to do with any great success,’ o But while explain- ing the ‘situation he had pressed out the clutch, shifted through to neutral, let in the clutch, pressed it out, shifted to second and let in the clutch again. It was a perfect. sh “That's one on me,” he admitted. “How do you account for {t?" “The throttle {s set rather wide on the steering post,” I told him. ‘““Your STAR, WASHINGTO! when they roaring road it Laurel, Md., on June 19. !'l)oe" is nlntured flagging one of America’s fast- engine races when you free it instead of idling. You fail to shift into second easily because you forget the impor- tance of speeding u~ the engine and clutch gear when you are double- clutching. In this case it just hap- pened that the racing engine did the Job for you automatically.” “But this wag just an isolated case,” he argued.’ “I Midn't notice the throt~ tle lever was set so high. [ must have caught my sieeve in it.” All of which went to prove one of the greatest risks of driving on the level. Tt is so easy drivers forget to be observing. Things go wrong with- out their noticing it. Most of the accidents happen on straight, level roads. Smith wondered why the car did not gain speed rapidly when the throttle was set so far above the idling po- sition, even though he fed very little gas with the accelerator. The answer to this was that Smith had been run- ning for a block or so with the emer- gency on. It's a mistake he wouldn’t make in any other kind of driving but the easy sort. Next week, No, 163—Garaging the Car. (Copyright, 1926 ) Hefteisss ~ wyia e "WOMEN LIKE FENDERS. Next to downy and slinky uphol- stery, woman motor buyers seem in- trigued by so practical a thing as a fender. The beautiful, rounded and shining pleces of guarding metal seem to have a particular charm for the sex. And, as far asthat goes, there seems ample reason for their delight. Manufacturers have developed fend- ers to what seems to be the last de- gree, and the latest models seen are equipped with affairs so handsome that they appear to belie their prac- tical purpose. e Don’t Drive Close. Driving closely behind another car ‘when crossing a raflroad track is bad polic: He may mnot have looked where hé was going, or may have planned to get over just in time. The ! hext driver is the sufferer. USED TIRES Any !h.—-l‘w-l MM. $4 Up D. GII.BERT 1370 H St. N.E. CAUSE OF CARBON KNOCKS FOUND BY CHEMICAL SOCIETY Experiments Fmally Dlsclose Rcason Why Lead Eliminates Noise While Gold and Platinum Are Useless in Aiding Explosion. Lead compounds, among the cheap- est to produce, are the greatest enemy of engine knock in automobil Chlorides of gold and platinum, among the most expensive, are absolutely powerless to prevent it. These signifi- cant facts are developed in a report the American Chemical Soclety, which describes a. theory of detonation entirely new to scienc 1 ‘The experiments, carried on in the chemical laboratory of Ohio State University at Columbus by William Hale Charch, Edward Mack, ir., and Cecil E. Boord, covered the whole fleld of anti-knock materials. The researchers determined and | classifled all anti-knock compounds as ther | well as compounds without effect in attacking knock in automobile en- gines, to eliminate which is a major effort of science. Tetraethyl Best Compound. . ! Y.ead tetrasthyl was found to be the most formidable of the anti-knock compounds, the report said, and all comparison was based upon a ue of 100 attached to this compound as “the antl-knock co-efficient.” Lead diphenyl dimethyl ranks sec- ond, with a value of 97, and lead dipheny! diethy] third with 93.5. l.ead dephenyl dilodide. scored 80, lead diphenyl dichloride scored 72, and lead diphenyl dibromide 60. I.owest in the scale of anti-knock compounds, investigators discovered, num ethyl fodide, ¥ owing to fodine anti-knock.” ‘Thirty-four compounds proved to bé worthless in suppressing knocks. These included gold chloride, platinic chloride and nitrogen sulfide. ““None of these compounds,” said the test effect in of the ex- plosion. Diethyl selenide even ap- peared {o increase the loudness of the reports, “Less than 0.1 per cent of chromium pentaphenyl bromide would he dis- solved in a fuel suitable for the test. This compound would be expected to exhibit anti-knock properties if larger concentrations could be tested.” The investigators offer a new theory of detonation, which attempts to ex: plain the way in which tetraethyl lead, studies of which bv Thomas Midgley, jr., and Thomas A. Boyd resulted in the production of ethyl gasoline, pre- vents knoc] This theory, it was pointed out, is a striking development of sclence be- cause if it proves sound it will bring in the conquest of knock affecting the Nation’s 20,000,000 motor vehicles. Chemical science previously had shown that tetraethy! lead would suppress knock. The Ohio State re- searchers think lhe) have .olved the is low, partial oxidation will begin earlfer in the cycle and extend throughout a larger volume ef vet burned fuel than if it is high. In the extreme of the latter case, it would cause a lowering in the efficiency of the compound, while in the former i might cause siight prefgnition. “The ideal anti-knock compourn: l-houxd possess a decomposition tem | perature which will cause it to begin |10 function just with or just after ignition of the charge by the spari plug. | Five properties, according to the re mystery of why It suppresses knock.|searchers, are essential to this ideal According to their theory, in the ex-|anti-knock. The flrst is volatility, . | plosion which takes place in the gas|with the boiling point.under 400 de erigine tetraethyl lead decomposes sud- { grees centigrade. . The second is denly into infinitestimal particles of | the amount of free metal libel metallic lead, which act as centers|when the compound is heated in iiv for_partial burning. {air_should be complete. The decom These little particles themselves | position temperature should be burn as the flame front approaches|tween 200 and 400 degrees centigra them and thus they make the flaine | Temperatures developed by oxidat travel faster than if they were mnot|{of the metal shouid high present. This condition is described | pared to jgnition_temper as somewhat like that of millions of |fuel. Th unimaginubly small spark plugs that | colicidal s igrito the gas Just ahead of 1he flame | The knock in un tront. {1t was explained, is supposed to due to the fact that the burning ot {part of the gas mixture 8o compresse- { the unburned portion, that this {burned portion beconies hot enoug! ]lo ignite spontaneously. The burning of the gas is analogou« be utomobile engine Even Explosion Possible. ““Chus, by virtue of the multiple ce ters of high temperature created b; the burning of these little particles lead,” says the report, “there is init ated evenly ahead of the main flame | to the burniug of & firecracker, wh front a partial oxidation or an auxili- | takes & finite time to happen, whil ary burn tending to maintain a com-|the spontaneous ignition of the re bustion in & reglon of fuel which|maining gas is analogous 1o the e otherwise would be subject to detona- | plosion of the firecyacker itself, whici tion. happens at almost infinite velocity “The decomposition temperaturs of | The little particles of lead disril antl-knock materials, taken in con- [uted fhroughout 1h nisture vast Junction with the temperature of the |ly increases the swiftness of the flame cylinder gases, thus determines at |[travel and make it possible for 1} what stage in the cycle they shall|flame to reach e part of the begin to function. before it has h 16 1o ign ‘If the decomposition temperature spontaneously EMEMBER how you felt when you graduated out of the “rock crusher® class of car? 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