Norwich bulletin., 1915-02-11
DOINGS IN TIE AUTO WORLD
Several 1915 Models Perfected England and France Before the War Broke Out-The Speed Mania Has Had Its Day Elimination of Noise in Automobile Has Been Very Gradual Process.

In spite of the fact that war has resulted in a practical discontiRuation | Of motor car manufacture in France, ! Germany, Belgium and England, yet
 in France and England there are sev- ] eral new 1915 models which were | perfected before the outbreak of the war, and these have bene brought through, as much to represent a con tiunity of the industry as to really market cars.
 An analysis of the specifications of these cars recently published in the Autocar shows that had 1915 been a 1 normal season the cars would have represented practically continuation ! Of the 1914 model with d. continua- 1 ton of those lines of progress that were exemplified a year ago. In this respect is noted a very general adop- | tion of the small car, a, car that oc- 1 cupled more or less uncertain posi- ton and design a year ago, but which i today is much more definite quan- ! tlty. This small car a year ago was l ln the majority Of cases a cross be- l tween a miniature car and what we ! nave known as the cyclecar. Today ! this car is in nearly every case a real ! miniature car. construction with a | four cylinder motor, with 8, fiywheeI l clutch, with a two or three speed ] gear set and with a shaft driven transmission system.
 [ "fASH A IS 1ok care should De taken not to pour cold water into the i cooling system too rapidly. When the cold water strikes the overhea ted i cylinders it is very apt to crack same. due to the rapid contraction which
 takes place.
 1 That safety and sanity in the opera ton of n7ortor ears are essential to a continuation of the phenomenal sue l cess the automobile industry has been ] f.yT. t- i general among the leading car nanu- ! facturers. Staunch, stable construction and the utilization of every possible
 mechanical improvement and refine
 ment, rather than an effort to provide i tremendous speed are. in their minds,
 the demands of the day in motor car 1 building.
 The speed mania has had it's day. 1 Those who believe that speed is one i of the biggest essentials in a. car are now an exceedingly small minority of ! the motoring public. Their require ments are being conscientiously 1 ignored by the majority Of manufac- 1 turers who produce cars that appeal ! to the solid, substantial public. The need of the present time is staunch- ! ness, simplicity, dependabilty, smooth
 ness and ease of operation, rather than speed.
 1 Makers are endeavorins to manu- facture cars for business and pleas ure rather than joy riding or the reclz- ! less speeding. No business, except
 that of racing, demands abnormal car 1 speeds, and anyone who has ever rid i den at 50 miles an hour knows that there can be no real enjoyment at
 more than 80 or possibly 70 miles an hour.
 1 The elimination of noise in the automobile has been a very gradual process with motor car manufacturers. !, It has been Q problem involving great ! expenditure of time, money and brains
 on the part of the men who have ! furtheSt advanced the cause of the iautomobile in this country and abroad. | In the beginning we had the big 1 square type of cylinder, cast sinEly, and with exposed valves on each side | of the motor. Nuffiers were still in
 the future and the roar from the ! exhaust of the powerful motor of that day was indeed an awesome thing ! Then came the first big cast iron nufflers, resembling small boilers, but at least capable of cutting down some of the noise.
 l With the exhaust report reduced to ! some degree, the noise caused by the ] driving chains on the rear wheels ! became just IS offensive to the driver. : Enter the steel propeller shaft com bined with the first bevel gears. The l first car designed along these lines 1 was exceedingly heavy and only a ! little less noisy than it's chain drive ! predecessor. But improvements in ] the grade of steel and the art of gear 1 cutting rapidly brought the rear axle
 system into a very fair degree of l quietneSs.
 ] With the exhause and rear axle { taken care of, the motor car engineer next turned his attention to the valves. 1 The noise attending the opening and closig of valves for make and ex- l haust DIrDoSes has finally been reduced to a minimum by casting ] cylinders of the L head type with the ! valves all on one side. Head plates l which are easily removed now close l in the valves, so that their operation
 is barely perceptible to the driver. 1 From the silencing' of the valves to a similar process in connection with 1 the front end gears which operate the cam, magneto and pump shafts, was | but step. Formerly these gears operated directly with one another