Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-03
GASOLINE TESTS
ON CHALMERS CARS
Engineer of Chalmers Company
Points Out Chief Factors That
Determine Difference

Gasoline consumption-eith the
oretical or actual-has from time to
time occupied much of the thought of
both engineers and automobile own
ers,'' says c. C. Hinkley, chief engi-
neer of the Chalmers Motor Company.
Engineers have always known that
the difference in the amount of gaso-
line used by one car and by another
make of the same approximate size
and horsepower was an inconsiderable
factor in the maintenance of the car.
But it has remained for extensive and
accurate tests to show that the differ
ence in gasoline consumption between
different makes of cars in the same
general class is actually a negligible
quantity Where it becomes at all a
factor in maintenance costs, large or
small gasoline consumption depends on
carburetion and ignition - not on
weight
THE Chalmers Company's tests
cover great many miles of driving
over all kinds of roads with several
makes of cars. Unlike most expert
ments in gasoline consumption our
tests were under average conditions
with Identical loads and identical
equipment. In testing the Chalmers
against some other car, for instance,
we ran the cars at the same time so
that weather conditions might be
identical. We had each car carrying
the same passenger load and regularly
equipped. We used also the usual
commercial gasoline and not a special
variety to give high milege.
How unimportant a factor gaso-
line consumption is in automobile
maintenance can be illustrated by just
one instance in which a Chalmers
Light Six was driven under the above
conditions with n cheaper and smaller
siX-cylinder car which, loaded and
ready for the road, weighed 1000
pounds less. In an extended trip these
two cars showed the same identical
mileage. With the spark plug points
carefully cleaned and with both mo-
tors tuned for n special test, the
Chalmers Light Six showed in over
twenty miles of ordinary road driving
over three miles more to a gallon of
gasoline than the smaller and lighter
car.
"An experiments prove that accu-
rate carburetion, the proper size of
the gas intake, correct valves and
proper ignition are the chief factors
in regulating gasoline consumption.
With these parts of the motor of the
right design and construction, the
mileage showing of any half dozen
cars of the same general size is APP
proximately the same. The difference
heaviest as compared with the lightest
car in any one class will not amount
to more than $40 or S12 in 10000
miles of driving. This statement is
not theory, but is founded on actual
tests under normal conditions.
Fuel consumption being equal, the
buyer certainly gets the best service
from the car of most substantial con-
struction and greatest power. Gaso-
line is one of the cheapest things an
owner buys for his car, and 1t should
be one of the least of his considera-
tions. His biggest concen is not the
quantity of gasoline he burns so much
as the power and smooth operation
which result from his fuel consump-
ton. Many cars burn a lot of gasoline
but do not convert it into working
force. 1t is a fact that has been proved
by test that between two cars of diff
ferent makes burning the same
amount of gasoline, one will often de-
veIop from to IL more horsepower.
Naturally that car is the more eco
nomical to operate and the more sat
isfactory to own and to drive.
My advice to every person about
to purchase a car is to study carefully
the comfort, dependability, strength
and smoothness of the various cars,
and not to worry about the difference
in cost of gasoline burned, which at
most is insignificant