Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-11-07

the body sag and wrinkle. After
few thousand miles YOU will find that
the too light car has loose. sagging
doors. cracked paint and so on. All of
these deficiencies are the results of
too light weight.
The third factor in considering
weight in comfort. Weight is saved
on some cars by the use of small in
adequate tenders. for instance. which
do not properly protect the occupants
OF the car from fying dirt. Very fire.
quently the size of the wind shield is
I cut down so that a small standard
size of glass can be used, saving both
weight and expense but also giving less
protection to those in the car.
In the auxiliary seats many design
ers, probably tiguring that these seats
are seldom used, reduce their size
until they are positively uncomfor-
table.
And so 1t is throughout the car.
Your extremely light weight car lacks
that soidity, that feeling of firmnesS
beneath you, which means comfort
In building car which is best
suited TO the policy OF building maxi
mum car, it is not very difficult to de-
eide which course to follow. The
best car for the purpose, means that
II must possess some definite qualities
I first, maximum safety; second, COM
fort; AND third, stability. These in
turn mean car of fair weight For
this additional weight, as it is termed
by some advocates light design, means
a car which is safe. which feels solid
beneath one; car which does not
need constant repair, which is built
to stand up for thousands upon thou
sands of miles of rigorous work.
contrary 10 the belief of some, the
extra weight which is really insurance
against frequent rattles and breakages.
does not increase maintenance costs.
BY accurate tests under normal con-
ditions 1t has been proved tenance
costs. BY accurate tests under normal
conditions it has been proved that two
cars OF the same approximate size and
I power. one weighing considerably less
! than the other consume the same
amount of gasoline. In actual road
work we have found that the lighter
car Will use as much and under some
\ conditions slightly more fuel than the
! heavier car. This is true because
where stability of design ras been
neglected it almost invariably follows
/ that motor and carburetor efficiency
/ have not been brought up to the high
/ est basis. A further, and perhaps the
fundamental, reason why two cars OF
/ widely varying weight burn equal
amounts of gasoline is that the heavier
construction means better alignment
! of the moving parts throughout the
car and therefore less loss of power
/ due to friction. The heavier car is
almost always an easier rolling car.
! 1t clings better to the road and there
I fore wastes less fuel.
For the sake of argument, how
I ever, let us suppose that between two
cars of the same approximate horse
power and size, the heavier does burn
more gasoline Experience proves that
/ in 10000 miles of driving, the extra
cost of the gasoline burned in the
/ heavier car would amount to only $40
; TO SIS. In other words in a year or
year and q half OF driving you would
have to spend not more than SIS extra
for gasoline to insure yourself car
| which is always comfortable. always
safe, and which gives the minimum
amount of trouble. Your greatest pos
sible extra cost for gasoline would be
! less than one per cent of your invest
ment and you might consider this as
your insurance against the troubles
which follow naturally from too light
weight. From another point of view,
the heavier car saves too . wonderful
amount of wear and tear on the nerves
of owner and passenger.
II would be one of the first to criti-
else a car which carries superfiuous
weight but l do maintain that the
weight of the many parts that go into
a motor car should be determined
scientifically. Every part should have
a sufficient factor of safety. 1t should
| be made large enough to guarantee
| his factor of safety. The art of auto
mobile building is now old enough to
! provide plenty of experience and data
for comparison. There is now no fur
ther need to guess the necessary
strength of various parts. 1t is always
! possible to determine accurately the
! experience to which each part is sub
! ject to proportionate each part insure
| stability safety and satisfaction.
Carrying superfiuous weight is an ex-
! travagance, but taking away from
scientifically determined necessary