Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23
Low PRICE OF CAR
RESEARCH RESULT
Peaks of Technical Achieve
ment Undreamed of
Decade Ago.
Special Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, August %. - More car
for less money" as embodied In the
modern automobile, basicany Is the re-
suit Of scientific research. Precision
methods Of determining standards Of
performance, comfort and length Of life
In q motor vehicle now represent peaks
of technical achievement undreamed OF
q decade ago.
In the cars Of today scientific i'm
provement Is progressive. A change
scheduled for introduction in a 1882
model may be the result Of investiga-
ton and testing covering period not
Of months but Of years to perfect It.
Two Main Divisions.
Work Of this character has two main
divisions One is laboratory effort. with
specialized apparatus, conducted indoors.
The other is the outdoor branch, with
proving grounds or long stretches Of
selected highways as the theater OF op-
erations. Beyond these, again, are the
engineering departments, housed in spe-
cial buildings to which admission Is by
pass, issued only to those who may
have business there. In these places
secrecy is imperative, becaue millions
in profits may hinge on experiments
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Proving grounds have been estab-
lished by General Motors, by Packard
and by Studebaker. Each Of them
covers hundreds of acres, within the
area Of which speedways and test roads
have been constructed. Chrysler for
It's several divisions carries on It's tech
nical work from an engineering head
quarters building In Detroit, with out
door operations on the Blue Ridge
Mountain highways IN the vicinity Of
Ligonier, Pa.
Ths General Motors proving ground
at Milford, Mich, is the largest in the
industry. 1t is 1.245 acres in extent
and represents an investment OF more
than $4,000. 900.
The Ford Co. at Dearborn maintains
a huge engineering and laboratory
building in that town. Its highway
tests are so well kept from the public
gaze. however, that they are made over
DESIGNATED road areas in any part Of
the country that the engineers may
happen TO pick. Other companies also
follow this method, often Disgusting
chassis under trial by mounting the
body Of a competing make Of car on 1t
to hide its real identity.
The indoor work, carried on by the
laboratory forces, unites the effort of
college trained scientists. A current
new model as it comes from the factory
assembly line to the dealers show room
and thence to the eventual purchaser
Is q composite product. In it are
merged the talents distributed among
numerous departments. Among them
are listed power plant dynamics power
transmission, lighting. fuel research.
chemistry. n1etanurgy, electrical engi-
neering. carburetion, the experimental
machine shop and foundry, the pattern
shop and probably a special problems
division.
Stunts and Findings.
Summarized here are a few Of the
stunts" and findings that research
has developed:
At 20 miles an hour the average car
actually utilities only 8 per cent Of the
energy Of tha fuel TO push itself along
the road. The rest of the energy, or
90 per cent Of it, is either used up in
friction or thrown away entirely. About
40 per cent goes out through the ex-
haust and like amount into cooling.
To observe how the parts Of q car
operate when 1t is driven at 100 miles
an hour, engineers have designed the
chassis dynamometer. The rear wheels
rest on two rollers, connected 70 a dy-
namometer, or power absorbing and
measuring machine. Thus the engine
and Chassis behave as IL they are speed
ing along road while the car stands
still, and the research men take meas
urements and study performance.
One car may require an engine weigh
ing 800 pounds TO give 1t fast getaway
from trafiic signal This engine can
speed up the car TO 40 miles an hour
in about 20 seconds; the brakes must
be able to stop it in less than seconds.
A car Of 80 horsepower will use 500
horsepower brakes.
To design muff1ers which get rid OF
the exhaust gases quietly without caus-
ing back pressure the men who Spe-
cialize in dynamics follow the course
OF the fuel into the combustion chamber
and follow 1t out into the exhaust pipe
and through the mufier.
An automobile Is built for the most
part OF metals and alloys. About n
metallic elements are used in its con-
stxuction,
To study the crystalline structure Of
metals a photomicroscope that mag
nifies 5000 times Is used.
An S-cyiinder engine. driving . car
at 90 miles an. hour, requires $4,000
sparks per minute, each delivered In the
ing period Of the spark is less than one
nifty housandth of second.
Sounds that an automobile makes
while running are both seen and meas
ured. BY the use Of instruments u u
possible 10 determine exactly how loud
q sound Is, find It's frequency and
photograph rs form.
tcopyfiEi,t, 1881. 81 me Nofth American
NeWnpaDoS Alliance Incl