Evening star., 1920-02-15
SPEED NOT JUDGED
ALONE BY POWER
Auto Expert Cites Miniature
Racers Found on Pacific
Coast as Proof.

Coast as Proof.
That the speed of an automobile is
not to be judged by the power of the
engine alone, is we'll illustrated in
| the miniature racing cars so popu-
lar on the Pacific coast, says T. A.
Tarantous, automobile expert of New
York.
Some of these small cars with driver
weigh in the neighborhood of 500
pounds and are capable of travelling
| over seventy miles an hour. The en-
gines used in these cars are single
and twin cylinder motor cycle types
| which develop around six and seven
horsepower. Some of our popular
touring cars have engines developing
fifty, sixty and seventy horsepower,
yet these same touring cars can travel
at their very best only ffty-fve to
sixty miles an hour unloaded. IL
makes no difference how much pow
er you have, but how much power
you have compared with the load it
has to move. that determines the
speed at which the vehicle will travel.
That is why the miniature racing car
with one-tenth horsepower can out
distance the touring car fiVe times as
large, and, sad to say, more than hVe
times as heavy.
Reason for Need Of Heavy Type.
1t is because our modern cars are
too heavy that the engines used in
them must be powerful and heavy
also If the excess weight could be
removed it would be possible to get
the same road performance with real
fuel oil and tire economy that are
to be had in the lighter vehicle. Forty
miles on a gallon of gasoline and w.
900 miles on set OF tires may seem
a Utopian idea to some motorists
who are driving ordinary cars giving
ten miles per gallon and 5000 miles
on tires, but the time is coming when
the word economy" will be asso-
ciated with far different standards
from the present ones.
One of our best makes OF motor
trucks has an engine developing
more than 100 horsepower. Ihat en-
CINE drives the truck with load at
a speed of about twenty miles per
hour maximum That same power IN
speedway at about 1!5 miles an an
hour. The truck weighs 1900
pounds, the racing car about 2'4oo
pounds. If the miniature racing car
mentioned above were to nave oniy
twenty y-five-horsepower engine IL
probably would travel around 11o
miles per hour because of it's very
light weight Excess weight retards
road speed. just as load on
mans mind retards his thinking
speed.
Every Buyer Wants Speed.
Every buyer or owner of an auto
mobile wants speed. He may have
occasion to use that speed out
few times, or he may not wish to
use it at all. Nevertheless he wants
to know that the car is capable of
travelling a certain speed. The idea
in the average motorists mind, now,
ever, is that in order to have speed
yuIr
erful engine. Some of them believe
the car itself must be a large, pow
erful-looking one. Both are wrong:
In order to have high vehicle speed
it simply is necessary to get proper
ratio between characteristic and car
weight The engine may develop
only twenty horsepower. yet the car
may travel much faster than another
touring car with a fifty-horsepower
engine AS a matter of fact, exactly
such cars are or have been on the
market They lack scienc>lc design:
because the engines were produced
after the vehicle and the latter with
out regard for scientific lightweight
principles. The designers. instead OF
realizing that scientific light weight
means speed, economy, comfort ana
ability. went ahead under conven-
tional principles. with the result that
they had a conventional car giving
ordinary results.
Discussion of Designs.
Considering speed alone, racing car
designers have learned the lesson of
lightweight cars with small engines.
The most notable European racing
event in 1919-the largo Florio race
around the Island of Sicily-was won
by car Weighing slightly more than
2,0O0 pounds-a Peugeot with an en-
CINE of only 153 cubic inches displace-
ment. That is about the size of
Ford engine, less than a Dodge or
Maxwell and half the size Of the aver
car is capable of ninety-six miles per
hour, but, Of course. it was built for
speed and that is it's only qualifica-
tion. In America we have an 183-inch
car, weighing about 1000 pounds.
which recently showed it could travel
about 100 miles per hour for hour
after hour. 1t established many rec
ords. The designer, speaking to the
writer said. eff l only had chassis
about 500 pounds lighter that engine
would pull it at 125 miles an hour"
In order to produce vehicle of the
certain work, give certain perform
ance at the expenditure of the lowest
amount of fuel, it is necessary to
start the scientific design with the
very first part. 1t cannot be accom-
plished by using existing units be-
cause no such units exist to produce
a scientific light weight car 1t can
not be done by using existing meth
DDS Of production, nor by employing
the heavy though cheap castings and
forgings of iron and steel. One must
extend the scope of materials, go per-
haps to non-metallic substances.
Must BE Scientific.
Greater use must be made of alu-
minum alloy, while alloy steels and
pressed steel must be better employ
ed and used only where they can do
must be scientific, part after part
must be no larger, no heavier, than
needed. Done in this manner, there
will be a vehicle with a safety factor
as great, if not greater. than in existing
types, and life three times that of the
ordinary car Of today.