New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-02-23
BY Charles E. Manierre

by the sight of so many different
makes, each. TO the casual eye, about
equal IN deslrablity to the other. and
an OF them shining respondent in
their newness. 80
one way or selecting a new car, and
IN many respects very good way is
10 ma among ones friends the owner
ol car which has given him satisfac-
Tory service. particularly if the friend
IS one VINO seems to have been in
,,erested IN its management and IN
Keep. frequently good cars have been
concerned without reason for faults
"nlch were chargeable to their incor
petent owners. 1t will not often han
pen, however. that poor car gets a
nlgh recommendation from man who
mas suffered from it's idiosyncrasies.
10 those who prefer to use their
own Judgment in the matter. il NAV
be suggested that there are seine i'm.
portant points about car which moth
ing but prolonged use will reveal
ne so-called demonstration of a car.
WINE interesting, is not very instruc-
'lVe' as usually carried out Almost
any new car is smooth running. finely
ponshed. without creaking of springs
or BODY, and will carry its load with
ouo iaoorlng on the good roads and
ih9aerate grades generally selected
things, that the purchaser gets no
more than he pays for. and if he is
dealing with an honorable concern. he
may, reasonably expect to get that
much.
Consider the Name
Taking for consideration medium
priced car. sufficiently good for all
practlcal purposes. the price this wear
VIII DOUBTLESS be somewhere between
$1,000 and $4,000. The name of the
maker is to be considered, and also.
casually, It's standing in the second
hand car market. This will vary with
different localities. and still more with
different cars. 1t is decided advan-
tagc to have a car for which there j.
good nI-hand demand
1t is well, if possible, to note the
appearance of cars of the same make
which have been on the road for some
time. 1t will then develop whether The
varnlsh keeps its character or quickly
loses its lustre. Cars differ greatly in
this respect.
IT a runabout is under consideration
special inquiry should be made as 10
whether the springs are specially Sc
lected for that type of car or are the
same as would be used with a touring
body, in which case they would prob
Respecting the springs, it should be
said that the reason why large, heayy
cars are generally more comfortable is
that the weight of the passengers bears
small relation to the whole weight
and the whole weight of the car is very
great as compared with the unspriag
weight OF the rear axles A light
weight car with its full complement of
passengers and with a correspondence
light inspiring axle weight would be
just as comfortable. With only TWO
passengers and if the rear axle weight
is somewhat heavy, it may prove very
uncomfortable. Even if the springs are
all that they should be the coil aux
iliary springs are decided advantage
Their period Of oscillation is very Short
and they take care of short Irregular
tiles in the road which the main springs
are utterly incapably of suitably ab-
sorbing. The snubbers which prevent
a too great rebound are also worth
their small cost and may, in fact more
than pay for themselves in preventing
a broken spring.
Nearly all of the cars mentioned have
engines Of either four or six cylinders.
There is little preference between The
number of cylinders. If the car is
otherwise satisfactory the difference
particularly when the engine is we'll
made, has noticeably less vibration
than the four, but the four cylinder
should be good enough for almost any
one in that regard.
In these times of very high priced
leather, probably we'll made substi-
tute will be better than a second grade
of the real article as an upholstery COW
ering.
Comfort in Driving
There is considerable difference in
the matter Of the drivers seat. which
should be convenient to slip into, com
Portable for long periods of time, and
with the wheel, brakes. etc, conven-
lently placed. In other words, the per-
son who is to drive the car should find
his tools readily at hand. This is an
important point and men of different
suited to their needs. Only a few of
the items are capable of adjustment
and any lack Of convenience will prove
daily annoyance.
Some of the cars Of ancient make
were fitted with a double set of spark
plugs and with two entirely separate
systems of ignition. including dis
tributers. This was a decided advan-
tage, in view of the fact that ignition
tAOuUlcS are perhaps tiS ilSoN t'iH-
mon on the road and are frequently
OF no great Importance, and yet in
volvc annoying delays. The ability to
switch from one ignition system to an
other was considerable advantage.
However, tho modern car IS not so
fitted. Practically all cars of medium
price take their electricity from the
storage battery, or else from the gen
orator, at the usual driving speed.
The matter of tires is important, and
one to which even the newcomer may
have some opinions Of his own. His
friends will give him advice as to re-
liable makes, and if the make of ma
chine which he has in mind cannot be
fitted with the tires he wants he would
do we'll to look for some more accom-
modating dealer.
The recommended capacities and
imitation pressures for finch tires
are S15 pounds of load for each wheel,
including, of course. passengers, etc.
with an imitation of So pounds For
l's-inch tires, with maximum load of
100 per wheel, rs pounds imitation.
For 5-inch tires, with maximum load
of 300 per wheel, so pounds imitation.
1t is understood that the pressure
may drop 20 per cent before the tire
needs repumping.
Unfortunately some cars are not built !
to accommodate these exact figures, /
and 1T will generally be found that the |
tires arc expected to hold up consid-
erably more in the way of weight than !
hac II