The Washington herald., 1919-12-28
MILn-CYLNDER BECOMING
AMERICAN STANDARD ENGINE
Pulling Ability and Smooth Action Gains
Favor for 1t Here and in Europe.

Every automobile swner would like
toj know the progress that issbeing
made in automobile engine eonstruc-
ton and Whist the future holds for
the different types both in this coun-
try and in Europe. The writer has
CINE situation and fnds that the over
head valve il last becoming IL Amer
lean standard. and though the six
cylinder 10 the leader, with the four
second. the eight third and the twelve
last. there will be in a few, years a
sudden turn to mult-cylinders.
European critics seem to believe
that also abroad will the muiti-cylin-
der engine gradually creep into irsS
position. Il may be difbcult for many
to see how the six cylinder can be
displaced. but the same view was
held Of the four not 30 many years
ago. The ideas that the eight and
the twelve present mechanical combli-
cations and that the more cylinders
the more trouble have been shattered.
There are two outstanding features
Of the multi-cylinder engine which
will make its appeal all the stronger.
One il its performance and the other
its quietness.
smoothness of torque-great puIIins
ability on high when the car Is run
ming slowly. quick pickup. reduction
OF vibration. are the results Of multi
cylinder construction. Speed and
power. while they may be had In the
four or six. cannot be had with the
same smoothness Of operation as IN
the eight or twelve.
1t was believed that the use of
eight or twelve cylinders entaIled the
use of a long or wide hood because
the engine took up more room than -
four or six. As a matter Of fact we
now have eights, with cylinders in
row. that are shorter than any six
producing the same power and speed.
In Europe the Lancia company Is
building a twelve-cylinder which is no
larger than a six and looks exactly
like one, owing to the casting of
-all cylinders in one block. The two
rows of cylinders are only twenty-five
degrees apart and only one carbureter
is used. As time goes on the all in
a row idea will take hold and we shall
see many such models in production.
-Four CyIinders In Europe.
In Europe the average car has four
cylinders and four speed transmits
sion, while, at present the American
average is q six with q three speed
transmission. Europeans do not OBJ
ject in the least to shifting gears and
they are not SO insistent upon obtain
ing the high gear performance de-
mandod by American buyers. hence
the four-cylinder engine with the four
speed transmission.
Gradually though the Europeans are
coming 10 American ideas, for the
Paris and London shows. recenrfy
held. indicate the following ideas that
are being taken up practically by all
European builders: Vacuum fuel
feed. block casting Of cylinders, re-
movable cylinder heads. battery igni-
ton. electric starting and lighting
During the war American builders
had a wonderful opportunity TO work
out details of design for the postwar
engines. using some Of the knowledge
gained in the design Of airplane en-
gines. These builders have not WORK
ed out their designs as quickly as the
foreigners who already have more
than a dozen overhead valve engines
with overhead camshafts- We shall