The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-07-18


Many erroneous conclusions have
been drawn regarding the relative
merits Of cars because owners have
overlooked the damaging effect Of
traffic driving and also through
failure to appreciate the beneficial
effects OF highway travel. Travel
ing statesmen, as group, are able
to obtain. higher naiieages with less
repairs than the rank and file Of
car owners because a motoriSt on
the road frequently drives LOO mics
or more with less use Of the con.
trolls than the average person
would do in the course Of q ride
MP and down town.
Constant Care Pays
The motorist on the road uses low
gear for starting and may drive
many miles without being obliged
even to drop back into second. The
car benefits by this constancy OF
use and is spared those many varia-
lions, sometimes abrupt and Earring.
which Wrack the best Of machines.
One OF the interesting features
In connection with this comparison
between the two types lof driving
conditions is the point that an en-
CINE operated at more constant
rate Of speed automatically benefits
itself through better lubricat ton.
In majority Of cars, oil pres.
sures are regulated by engine
speeds, which means that the pres
sure increases with an increase In.
speed decreasing az the engine
speed Is reduced. Obviously. there
must Be certain flag" Of pressure
behind engine speed. In other
words. II an engine is suddenly ac-
celebrated pressure may not always
reach its efficiency point as soon
as Il should. Similarly. on sudden
deceleration the pressure il likely
to be excessive.
Cause o. Blue Smoke
That i why SO many cars ex.
haust blue smoke. indicative OF burn
ing oil, when they come to i sudden
halt in traffic and why SO many
OF them develop piston SLABS. piston
pin knocks, and ouf-of-round cvlin-
ders after long and constant use In
heavy traffic
Because sudden removal of the
foot from the accelerator results
N equally sudden closing of the
throttle, the fast moving r,fstons
draw excess oil from the lower
cylinder walls into the combustion
chambers. There this oil Is burned
with the characteristic blue smoke
being emitted through the exhaust.
. car must be operated in
traffic. as all cars are to GER
tain extent, there are some rules
which may be followed and which
would have an extremely beneficial
effect along lines Of minimizing
the damaging effects Of conges-
ton. One Of these--tlle most i'm
pOrtant-is to attempt to smooth
out the cars speed so that there.
win be fewer peaks of speed in
acceleTation and fewer troughs Of
declaration and stopping. This
may be- aceOmpl ished through bet
ter planning In traffic driving.
Save BraIking
For example, II is not necessary
To rush up to- q street corner where
signal light or traffic conditions
are such that al stop is obvious.
E1J GAkAAMS II GdA1SE AMM ASL1MS
along, Il should be possible to lag
behind just enough to be In time
to move along with traffic when
1t starts again. This saves applying
the brakes, shifting gears and
acceIerating and spares both clutch
and tires.
It is essential. in addition, to-
consider that motoring conditions
are changing rapidly. Recently an
experienced driver was tested for
his hilitv "a. Keen I'm with the