Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-12-17
STANDARD TEST FOR
CAR ON SPEEDWAY
Will Have Far-Reaching I'M
portance in Promoting
Efficiency.

| A Now standard in automobile
making and operation which in all
/ likelihood will have a more iar-rcach-
3 lug promoting efficiency and in
searching out incfficicnCy in the
motor car than any of the important
standards hitherto adopted for the
uphuildlug of the automobile industry,
has been about completed. This stand
ard rs for measuring car performance.
hoth as to power and amount of fuel
used. The dcVising of tests that in
an acceptable degree would meet the
strict demands of the purpose sought
hts required months of preparation.
Not only was II necessary to formulate
a set of rules that would apply with
business and cumprchcnslVencss To II
different problem. but also apparatus
had to be provided that would record
with uncrriug precision the slightest
variations in car performance.
This work has been done by the re-
search division OF the Society of Au
tumuhilC Engineers An informal test
of the new standard has been made on
the Shccpshcad Bay speedway, with
most promising results 1t is expected
that the car performance standard
will he available for general use in
the early part of next year.
Vt the beginning the committee
found that 1t was necessary to sim
plify tie problem in hand as much as
possible In order to have "A uniform
roadway for all tests II was decided
to limit the trials To speedways Two
test were selected as the means for
measuring what "A car could do-one,
aCcolcrHtion as the gauge of the
car, the other economy of operation
on the basis of fuel consumption.
Each of these tests must bc made
under the same conditions. In chang
ing from the fuel test to the accelcr-
utiou test no change i'm the gear ratio
or IN the Carhurctor adjustment Will
hc permitted. There have been
thousands of car tests I'm the past, but
even where performances were OF
great merit they suffered from the
lack of some standard that would pass
unuuostioucd among automobile max
ers and owners. In many OF these
trials the fuel test and the power test
were made with ears specially adjust
ed, fuel, for instance, being laVshly
used in power test and thus re-
suit So obtained was not truly repre-
sentative OF car efficiency, for To the
average motoriSt power produced and
fuel consumed are insoparably woven.
For each of the tests of the new
standard special apparatus has been
provided 10y the committee. For the
aCCclcration test wires, electrically con-
ucctcd, are stretched across the track
at given distances. At the Sleeps
head BAY trial the wires were one
hundred feet apart, tho 1t is yet to be
determined what distance will he pre-
sCrihCd in the final standard At
tachod to the front axle of the car un-
der trial is wooden bar which, in
passing of the car over the switch on
a revolving drum with which each of
the wires in the layout is connected
The drum rests ON a table at the side
of the track.
This apparatus was invented by
Professor Walter Fishleigh of the
University of Michigan. one of the
members of the committee. From
bar above the drum two fountain pens
descend, each tracing line on the
sheet OF paper around the drum. one
OF these pens, aCtuated by "a mangct
in connection with the transverse
wires on the track, makes tiny
Jagged break in It's line every timo
one of the wires is crossed The other
pen is electrically connected with
/ chronomcter. and traces seconds of
time side by side with the distance
line on the drum, Thus from stand
ing start the accclcration of the car
under test is accurately marked on
the sheet of paper At the first trial
of the apparatus at Sheepshead Bay
the acccleration OF a ear was meas
ured for slightly more than half n
mile.
Another accelcration test with
different apparatus. tho based on the
same principle. was made. In this
case the car itself carries the measur-