The Washington herald., 1920-02-22
r
AUTO MAKERS
FIGHT WEIGHT
Car of Future Will Be Of
Better Riding and Lighter
Qualities.
CUT OPERATING COST
Experiments with Steel Al
loys, Aluminium and Even
Wood Progress.
CUT OPERATING COST


preplem that haS confronted en-
gineers since the beginning of the
automobile industry has been to SO
design a car as to make it eco
nomical Upkeep has been re-
tarding influence even in the pur-
chasing of cars, for the initial cost
Is hardly ever given so serious con-
Federation as upkeep. There are
three factors of automobile upkeep
which interest the engineer and
user alike. These are: Tires. gaso-
line and repairs. These three
fundamen ntal controls of the cost
of keeping a car running are re-
duced almost in the same proper
tion as the car Is scientifically re-
duced. in weight. At the same
time that this all-important up
keep is reduced by lightweight
3constructlon there comes of neces-
sity a simplification of the chassis
and easier handling.
The car of the future will be a
better riding car. a lighter car. a
better performer, and paradoxical
u
the present one.
The lightweight construction.
which is Inevitable in the future
far. and which already is being
fused on a number of present
models, may be obtained in nu-
merous ways all of which go to
produce a vehicle which will show:
!. Lower operating cost The
Ia - raf1
travel.
?. Lower consumption of fuel.
The average car should give thirty
miles pr gallon.
). l.. tire wear. The average
tire shculd~ give at least 10000
miles service.
4. Better performance.
All OF these results may be ac-
|complished for the benefit of the
car owner, the manufacturer. the
roads and the country as a whole.
through the proper use OF the cor
rect materials, the proper proper
tioning of the weight of the car,
proper design so that lighter ma
terials may be used. That this
may be done to produce q superior
vehicle has already been shown
since there are a few cars on the
market which exhibit practically
all the characteristics mentioned.
In going over these cars and i'm
studying the subject of light
weight vehicles one will find that
there is greater use of alloy
steels. aluminium and pressed steel
TO supplant the heavier metals such
as carbon steels, parts of larger
section. cast iron. etc.
Pressed steel for Iron.
In other words, II an iron part
uNeighing fifty pounds can be discard.
cd tor a pressed steel part Weighing
one-third as much and doing the same
OF better work. there seems no logical
reason why the latter should not be
used. At the same time that a
change OF metal is considered the sub
ject OF cost comes zip. In some cases
an actual saving may be made by the
substitution. but in others it means
an increase-in cost. However, the
point to be carried in mind is that
the initial Increase in cost usually Is
slight compared with the aggregate
swings due to the accomplishments
NJ the lightweight vehicle.
4 short time ago ID was suggested
by one engineer that the body could be
made nt pIywood and that the frame
and axles could be made OF wood.
While the plywood idea Is new and
no doubt will lie taken up. the use
Os wood for fraloss and aNles Is far
IA ON new. The single cylinder Brusfy
runabout used a wooden axle. Frank.
lin even now continues to use a
wooden frame The point is that car
manufacturers In the past nave been
adherinG too closely to convention In
stead OF carrying the lightweight Idea
TO SEINE logical end. Especially have
axles been neglected and weight
reduction here is a most important
matter.
..Eat'' Tires aad Gasoline.
NJ the present time there are sotte
extremely good ears on the mafket-
, aopa i'm every respect except that
they eat tires and gasoline. This
g due 10 the carrying around OF too
much dead weight weight which Is
pseless). The hard riding which many
cars exhibit with much so-calied re-
bound is due in greater measure 10
the heavy rear axle and the lack OF
appreciation by the engineer of the
proper ratio Needed between the
sprung weight and the uniprung
weight Cweisht below the spring..
There IL ahsthef very important re-
suit which light weight brings about
We all know that II requires mbre'
effort to move a heavy mass than 1t
does to move light one. The lighter
mass Jthe lightweight carl will then
accelerate better. il will climb hills
better. II will show a higher maxi
mum speed on the road. These are
t,,,tk,. ,-hien arprv apbiraat at,,l "A, . ), :,
liaht-car owners appreciate.
The serious consideration of design
toward a reduction IN weight. the use
of lighter materials viii unquestiof-
ably bring the weight of the average
touring car Of the future down some
500 pounds. In the larger. more ex-
pensive cars the weight reduction may
be greater than 1000 pounds Even
OR so.called lightweight cars Of
today will be far lighter.