Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-05
TON-M|LE TERM
NEW CAR STANDARD
Usage Gives Better Picture
of Stamina, Engineers
State.
Special Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, April f. - Ton-mile per-
Torrance as the real criterion Of an au-
tomobile's all around capability is be-
ing revived and put to use for high
way tests. Away from proving grounds
and test tracks, ton-mile is a term that
has been rarely heard among automo-
bile men for the last 10 years
In the days when trucks first began
to displace horses for hauling. 1t was
used often as a basis of performance
claims and for purposes OF comparison.
In reality, it constitutes a close in
mathematical calculation of what a
car can do over a long distance and
under varying road conditions, under
continuous operation.
BY engineers and research experts
the ton-mile is regarded as giving a
better picture of stock car stamina
than straight inter-city runs in which
time and fuel consumption give a basis
for so-called records.
Recent Trial Run.
One trial that has brought the ton
mile rating back into usage recently
was the third annual Gilmore Wright
wood Mountain run from Los Angeles,
Calf, to the top of Wrightwood
Mountain, 5000 feet above sea level.
The distance was 200 miles, over which
hills, grades and virtually all the av-
erage highway conditions are encount-
cred from the standpoint Of endurance
and economy.
The conditions called for women to
act as pilots of the cars. The event
was under official A. A. A. Contest
Board observation.
Decision Of the winner was made
by ton-mile score This is arrived at
by multiplying the distance by the
weight of each contesting car in tons
and dividing by the number Of gallons
Of fuel consumed.
The winner was credited with do
ing the 200 miles on TIA gallons Of
gas.
The term ton-mile had its origin
years ago among railway officials, who
used 1t to calculate the cost of moving
one ton over distance of one mile
by freight train. In passenger service
the cost OF moving one passenger one
mile was the adopted unit.
April Increase Seen.
April according to reports from the
automobile factories, will "step up" the
volume of cars that are to come off
the assembly lines. Among the Cen
eral Motors divisions Chevrolet has
scheduled 85,088 cars for this month.
This is jump ahead OF 1000 cars
from a previously determined schedule.
Buick plans call for 13,457 cars, as
compared with l0,500 during March.
Cadillac's schedule calls for 5000
cars. 1t has been revised upward three
times. In March the Cadillac and
La Sale volume totaled 1882.
Hudson, recording a SO per cent sales
increase during March, Is figuring on
another one of equal proportions for
the present month, with a production
increase to accompany 1t.
WillyS-Overland will increase It's April
which has recorded a 80 per cent gain
over February. During the last 10
days of March the Toledo plants OPP
erated five days a week, using 5000
men The schedule for the last sew
eral days has been 600 cars.
Civic Parade Held.
civic parade Of carnival floats sig
nalized the start Of operations by
De VauX-Hall Motors Corporation of
Grand Rapids last week. The celebra-
ton was occasioned by the fact that
Grand Rapids. for many years a pro-
Queer Of parts for cars, now has. be-
come an actual builder, along with
other cities of Michigan
A meeting fraught with interest to
both manufacturers of cars and the
dealer fraternity Is TO take place here
on April g. It will be between the
traffic managers of factories which are
members Of the National Automobile