Evening star., 1932-04-03
In the Motor World
BY G. ADAMS HOWARD.

tions, as he plans going still faster
than mortal man has ever trav-
eled on land before. The marvel
OF the modern motor fuel is
stressed by him.
Sir Malcolm Campbell will re-
turn to the United States next
year to attempt to break his mo-
tor speed record of 253 963 miles
an hour, recently established at
Daytona Beach, Fla, according to
word received from the worlds
champion racer, now in England.
Greater automobile speeds are
possible, he asserts.
AT one point in my trip down
the beach I was travelling more
than 270 miles an hour" Capt.
Campbell says. My maximum
record speed one way on the beach
was 267.459 miles an hour, or a
mile in 13.45 seconds.
Such automotive performance
would have been impossible with
out present. day fuel which has
aided in the establishment of
practically every worlds record
made by gasoline burning engines
in the past few years"
The racing car, engaged in high
speed tests. is a laboratory of au-
tomotive science, Capt. Campbell
states. Findings resulting from
these experiments. he declares,
are of interest to the entire auto
mobile world, from the manufac-
turer to the motoriSt.
When combustion Is started in
the cylinders Of an automobile
engine by the firing of the spark
plug. the portion of the fuel-air
mixture which closely surrounds
the plug Is the first to burn" Capt.
Campbell explains, outlining the
Importance of fuel in the future
development of the automobile.
IF this compression and heat
ing Of the unburned portions
raises the temperature beyond a
certain point, the unburned gases
explode with great violence. High
velocity waves result and the
knock occurs when these waves
strike against the walls of the
combustion chamber.
Suitable fuel, by controlling
the combustion rate of gasoline,
prevents it from burning too
quickly, thereby delivering added
power and utility, which would
otherwise be lost in waSteful
knocking. With knocking elm
mated, gasoline, like steel spring,
gives increasing power as the COM
preston is increased.
Limitations Ended.
Although gasoline once imposed
limitations on automobile per-
Torrance, since the development
OF a proper fuel these restrictions
have been swept aside. Engines
OF even greater efficiency must be
produced. Recognizing these needs
and fortified by the presence of
proper fuel, motor car makers are
now ofrering new models with en-
gineS OF higher compression.
The principle of high compress
sion In the cylinders OF an auto
mobile engine is simple. The
harder q ball is thrown down on
a sidewalk the higher it will
bounce, and the tighter the pis-
ton squeezeS, or congresses, the
charge OF gasoline before firing.
the greater will be the power de-
iivered after the explosion.
Higher compression engines,
scientific tests demonstrate. oper-
ate at cooler temperatures than
those having low compression.
There are only so many heat units
in gallon of gasoline, regardless
Of whether or not it is anti-knock
fuel. Some of these units are con-
yerted into power by the engine
The remainder are dissipated into
the cooling system and the ex-
haust gases.
THE more heat units utilized as
power, the smaller will be the
number remaining to be dis
charged. BY transferring more OF
the heat units to power, the new
fuel reduces the number passing
off as heat and a cooler engine
results"