Evening star., 1935-09-01
Fuel and Oil Mileages
Gain Without Power Cut
Engineers Reach Happy Compromise Be
tween Natural Enemies-New Type
Safety Drive.

In the school of experience, which
Is by no means so sad and bitter as it
Is reputed to be, motorists are learn
ing that the operating economy Of the
latest model automobiles is a tangible,
demonstrable fact-not just a phrase
In the manufacturer summary of his
products virtues.
Miles are mounting on odometers,
with a corresponding retarded rate of
decline on gasoline gauges in fash
Ion that tells an indiSputable story of
increased fuel economy Time was.
and not so long ago, when motorists
complained that the gasoline gauge
dropped almost as fast as the speed
ometer and odometer climbed. The
statement, to be sure was an exag-
geration and gross one, but gasoline
mileages were not what they had been
In an earlier day Of motoring.
The operating economy of the newer
automobiles is not limited of course,
to improvement in gasoline mileage.
Owners of later models are correlative-
ly happier over their smaller outlay for
engine lubricants. They are finding
that they can drive today at milea-
minute speeds without having crank
case lubricants disappear at a corre-
spondingly rapid rate.
To talk with the automotive engi-
neer on the subject of operating econ
omy is both interesting and illuminat-
ing.
The first fact he points out-and
not without some justifiable degree of
self-righteousness-is that the average
motorist Is unacquainted with the
basic aspects Of automobile perform
ance with respect to both fuel and oil
consumption.
Speed, power, acceleration, which
every one wants in an automobile,
are definitely inconsistent, in funda-
mental way, with gasoline mileages
and oil economy of the order which
prevailed in the early days of mo-
tcring; in fact, until Immediately
prior to the phenomenal growth of
the automobiles popularity, between
1926 and 1929.
To assume that they are, the en-
that these qualities come, not from
the mechanism itself, but from the
fuel it consumes. 1t is the gasoline
which has the energy that results in
speed, power and acceleration-not
the engine and other parts of the car.
The engine Is merely a mechanism
which converts the energy of the fuel
t1t vi }aI ,;oI,
is the automobile. If, for instance,
1t is designated as an 80-horsepower
engine, that does not mean that of
itself it has such power. Rather, it
means that it Is capable of converting
fuel, gasoline, to produce that much
power. In other words, that is the
engines capacity to convert gasoline
into energy, or, to use the engineers
term, useful work.
1t was back in 1925 that auto
motive engineers began to compete
with one another on the basis of in
creased horsepower. The public re-
sponded to the idea at once. 1t liked
the idea of more speed and power
and better acceleration. 1t had no
occasion to perceive that these i'm
provements were achieved at the ex-
pense of the heretofore prime requisite,
economy. Increasing operation costs
were so much lesser consideration
that they did not count
Accordingly, the engineers went on
increasing engine powers as fast as
possible without q demurrer from
those who purchased their handiwork.
Then came the depression and a
reversal of public opinion, although
the reversal was partial rather than
complete. The public did not want
to sacrifice the performance to which
1t had grown accustomed in its auto
mobiles. What it really wanted was
the same degree of performance with
a higher standard of economy, COM
bination of the new and the old.
Recognizing the severe limitations
under which he must work, the engi-
neer set about achievin- the new goal.
1t took some time, but today he has
made tremendous progress.
This progress is manifest in many
figures obtained in practical measure
ment Of performance. One complia-
ton, for instance, reveals that a car
weighing nearly $500 pounds is giving
20 miles to the gallon of gasoline at
speeds normal for city driving. Another
product, equally far removed from the
light car category, is giving the same
performance at corresponding speed,
and its manufacturer Is prepared to
show that its economy is universal, in
that it yields II miles per gallon at a
speed of so miles per hour.
There are scores of similar figures
from equally positive, precise tests.
Thousands, for example, are ia
miliar with the fact that from IA to
16 miles to the gallon was by no
means unusual performance on the
part Of cars in the lowest price field
just a few years ago. A sealed test
run by the manufactures of one of the
cars in this group in connection with
his 1885 product showed recently an
improvement to 21A miles to the gal
Ion. That performance is not alb
normal when judged by the fact that
from 18 to 20 miles an hour is not
uncommon among this group Of cars
today.
Oil economy has been correspond
lngly improved.
The difference is little short Of
phenomenal to the owner of a new
model who has vivid recollections of
adding quart of oil every time the
gasoline tank was filled in the course
of q continuous trip at high speeds.