The Washington herald., 1919-11-09
WEIGHT OF CAR
VERY IMPORTANT
Upkeep of Auto Should Be
Always Considered By
Purchaser.

In considering the purchase Of
new car. as thousands will be do
ing this fall and winter. II is of
utmost Importance that great deal
of consideration be given to the
weight of the vehicle taken in con-
junction with the distribution OF
that weight. Light weight In a
motor car means the least consump-
tion Of fuel and oil, the greatest
tire mileage. comparative freedom
from expensive repairs and easy
riding. Some of these advantages
rof the light weight car may not
seem apparent to every motorist.
but a little study of the subject will
soon convince one OF the soundness
of the claims.
Scientific light weight construc-
ton will be seen in the future car.
and that car will be capable of
showing over thirty miles on an
American gallon OF gasolene. some
1000 to 1900 miles on a gallon OF
oil and considerably over $4,000
miles on one set OF tires. While
these claims might be made by
some makers OF existing cars. these
results be a general thing instead
OF the unusual when light cars are
produced properly. The author be-
lieves II will be necessary for the
motorists of America to revise their
ideas Of economical motoring and
comfortable motoring when the
American engineers make up their
minds that the present run Of cars.
as whole. are designed with alto
Gether too much dead weight At
al, H. = ;
see attempts at this future car. per-
haps the ideal reached in one OF
two. but nevertheless II it does not
come this year at least progress
will be made toward realizing the
ideal.
The important matter that the
buyer has to consider when he looks
over the cars is not so much the list
price as it is the upkeep. The high
cost of driving n car has kept hum
dreds of thousands from owning cars.
Light weight will cut in half the cost
of operating. So in looking over the
cars IT will be well to consider
weight. This means the weight OF
the vehicle as a whole. and the
nearer it approaches 400 pounds for
a five passenger car the more nearly
1t approaches the ideal
The light weight Of the vehicle must
not be obtained by the extreme re-
duction Of the weight Of few units,
for this would destroy the homo
geneous light weight construction
which IL necessary to produce the
results mentioned. This will be clear
when it is remembered that il there
is one unit or part unnecessarily
heavy il will in turn require a heavy
part Z" drive it or to support it In
other rds. the light weight con-
strucIIun must he carried out through
the whole car. and then only will
there result a true light weight vehi-
Gle This light weight vehicle must
have light axles and the correct ratio
between the sprung and inspiring
weights. There must not be more
weight on the rear than is necessary.
nor in the front. and so on
It is an actual fact that such a
car will ride easier than the heavie,
car. besides giving the greatest pos
sible mileage on gasoline and oil.
This is accomplished quite easily.
since the heavier the body IL the
more power is needed to haul II and
the more gasoline is required toI
produce that power. Many present
owners have cars which may give
as high as eighteen miles per gall
Ion. They call their cars light il,
weight and know that they get that
high mileage because the car
doesn't weigh as much as a two-ton
truck which gives. let us say. fve
miles per gallon While there are
such so-called light weight cars.
they are not the lightest that can
be made and still give the requisite
riding comfort and the economy
mentioned previously.
When you ask for the weight of
car be sure to get the total weight,
including gasoline, oil and water
ready for the road. That weight
must be considered with the size Of tht
BODY. fer the passengers mus. sit
comfortably. and with the sorafcrt
Of the passengers while the car is
driven over rough roads. The sci-
entinc lightweight car should b.
able to outperform the majority Of
~ ~ -h-