Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-08-11
NEW FUEL DOPE
 DISCOVERED BY
 AUTO. CHEMISTS
Tetra Ethyl Lead Developed by General Motors Engi- neers Is 1ndorsed by Na- tional Society
By Alexander Johnston, Editor of MoToR.

GulCOA VI uAO 1ONs.
 For many years the dream of the
 automobile alchemists has been the discovery of some, agent that would
 stop engines from "pinking" and in-
 crease the power and economy of gas ,oline. Such an agent would not only
 give greater mileage for given quan-
 tity of fuel, but it would diminish
 carbonization, do away with crank case dilution and other ills that have
 inevitably followed |. the necessary
 lowering of the quality of motor car fuel. Discovery E of this element
 would enable the production of high compression engines, regardless of the
 quality of gasoline used. 70. r. So many years passed without any
 real progress being made that most people considered the whole problem
 impossible of solution. To add to the confusion, many dishonest operators entered the field, claiming to have discovered the secret and marketing products for which they made extrav- agant claims. Government depart ments even took the trouble to warn motorists not to be fooled by fuel adulterants, as none of those on the market, under searching tests, reveal ed the slightest value. So the idea be- came certainty in the minds of most motoring enthusiasts that doping fuel to get better service was an unrealiz- able dream.
 r And now comes the announcement, backed by the indorsement of no less an authority than the Society of Automotiye Engineers, that this long, sought substance has been discovered, is, actually in existence and can be manufactured at a cost which makes it aEcommercial possibility. When we say that the new fuel dope was discoyered in the research depart ment of General Motors, we place further stamp of, actuality upon it, and. finally, we name it tetra ethyl lead, which being interpreted means alcohol lead. ,..
 <, When mixed with gasoline in pro- portions of a cubic centimeter to a gallon of gas, this new product elim- mates knocking, caused by poor fuel. It will not take out a bearing or wrist pin knock, but the troublesome pinking, which is caused by poor quality fuel, disappears. This new product will even eliminate knocking rom violent overheating and glowing carbon, if it is used in sufficient quantity.
 But this is only the beginning of the usefulness of the new agent. Present-day engines run at 60, 65 or 7O pounds compression pressure, with a maximum compression ratio of Az to l. The automobile engineers are anxious to use compression ratios of ' to z" to l, corresponding to 100 to- l2O pounds compression. This would mean an enormous advance in fuel | economy, in power and lessening of dilution and other troubles. This new product, generally used, would enable the engineers to get this in- compression.
 It is planned by the producers of this new compound to get production that will enable them to sell to the fuel producers, for mixing with the gasoline at the. base of operations. Thus the fuel already "doped" will go to the retailers and motorists may ob- tain it from the pumps exactly as they do present grades. The cost of the anti-knock compound will add 2 cents to the retail price per gallon of gaso- ine. It is important that distribution of the "doped" fuel be obtained, be- cause without this the production of nigh-compression engines would be When production and dis sribution of the new compound are as Sured, the automobile engineers will be able to proceed with developments that they have always longed to make, but which low-quality fuel has always denied them. This will give us motor car embodying an efficiency and economy beyond our present un- derstanding. . It will mark new era in motor car development.