Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-02-18
HIGH SPEED IS
A SEVERE TEST
OF MOTOR CAR
Engineer Wall, of the National
Forces, Tells Why High
Speed Racks Machines.

1t is not the big jolts that break
the car to pieces" according to En-
glpeer w. g. Wall, of the National
Motor Vehicle Company. "Of course
ne continues, that does not mean that
II you fall over a cliff you will not
inquire your machine. 1t seems that the
! pumps on the roads which toss the oe.
cQpshts almost Of the car are not
half as Injurious t. the mechanism as
the owner frequently thinks. Most
preakage is the result of vibration,
when crystallizes the metal and makes
il brittle.
Excessive speed produces more VI
.iation than anything else, and unless
q car Is designed with a view to speed
iAs u Is rapidly torn to pieces in the
hands Of the owner. It Is estimated
that there are many times, possibly 100
times, the amount of vibration at nine
~ miles an hour that there Is at a
speed Of forty miles an hour. one hun
Gred miles Of racing at terrific speed
probably equals hundreds of miles of
ordinary travel in a motor car.
Tho results OF vibration are anala-
goua u those Of heat improperly APP
plieG. Vibration increases out of all
proportion to the increase in speed OF
the car. From the first shock when
the gears are meshed at the crack of
the pistol in a race the heat waves be-
gin to rise through the metals in the
Car. As the vibration increases crystal
llzation occurs.
disqualification is the transformation
OF molecules III the substance, so that
its form, which IS to all appearance
fibfous, becomes a coarse or crystalline
structure. This means, of course, that
the material IS brittle and much more
liable t. break.
Touring fer n,ontns at the good
average 81 ecd Of eighteen miles an hour
would have no effect upon O car butt
10 endure through one long race after
another at high piston speeds. The
occasional shock would he moth ng con-
pared with the incessant strain of sew
enty or eighty miles an hour speed for
tGo, 200 or 800 miles.
Steering knuclSles, aXles, frames,
springs, every part of the car,
is put through an ordeal In the bigger
racing events which may almost lit
orally be called the fire test. In addi-
lion to this creation of neat or vibra-
Lion there Is q terrific strain In taking
the turns at high speed. When the
racing car sweeps into a curve every
rsrt of the machine is wrenched and
twisted viciously.
THE wear increases out of all proper
lion to the speed and perfect lubrica-
tlon is an absolute necessity. Oil must
be fed TO every bearing swiftly ana
without faltering or that bearing will
hurn or stick, In ordinary usage a
defective oil system would result IN
wear, but 1t may develop slowly, while
in racing lack of oil would mean q
tell-tale disaster in very short order.
I'm cars of cheaper construction, fire.
.nuently, tho maker gears them low,
s making fast work almost impossible.
Every ear, however, SHOULD be able to
withstand the test OF racing. Although
the owner may never care to use the
excessive speed, the power to endure 1t
means that there is a wide margin Of
safety, longer automobile life, less ex-
pense and greater satisfactfor for the
owner and operator. The most con-
sentative and fearful driver is liable
at any time to coll upon his car for a
burst of speed or owe in a time of
unusual need
'"They~ say the way to fight fire Is
with fire. Perhaps that is the theory
the people worked upon who found the
way to prepare steel to stand vibration,
which was to give the steel certain heat
treatment before used. This heat
treatment is q very accurate process
and simply toughens the metal and
eliminates the possibility of crystalliza-
ton to q great degree.
This treatment is accomplished with
special furnaces. Very special effort is
made to dip the steel at the exactly
proper temperature. Different treat
ment Is given to steels for varying
purposes. The highest grade of steels
are used in motor cars and are IN
spected with exceeding care before and
after 1t is used"