HOW FAST WILL IT GO MISTER?

Next to "I used to have one of those!" >and "How much is it worth?" the most popular question in the public interest is in what sort of speed your Austin Seven can do. Perhaps it would be more realistic to consider what speed your Austin should be capable of maintaining comfortably in modem traffic.

Any Austin Seven, from an early Chummy to a late Ruby, should be capable of running all day at 40 45 mph if it is in good tune and condition. If yours is not comfortable at this speed, what are the likely reasons?

Number one is probably ignition timing which will then be followed by worn valves and bores, and finally worn bearings which cause the engine to rumble so badly that you simply dont feel confident driving it at a reasonable speed.

However, at the end of the day, it might just be you because you have the final choice in how fast or slow your car travels the only thins is that depending on the time and place you might need to consider the effect on all the traffic behind you, the sort of comment and stress you might generate by causing the queue following an old car at 2.5 30 mph!

But if you do decide to cruise at 40 -45 mph, you need to consider a couple of things firstly, can you anticipate traffic movement far enough ahead of you and secondly, can you stop in time?

A lot has been said about Austin Seven brakes but a well adjusted set of brakes in good mechanical condition should be capable of locking your wheels in a real emergency (however cod, or bad, a thing that is!). No finer advice on brake adjustment has been written than that by Bill illiams in his Austin even Specials book, when he says of adjusting coupled brakes, that all four wheels should be off the ground to do the job properly; the front should come on before the back and the rear off side before the rear near side. Use cable adjusters to fine tune it and look at your skid marks in gravel!

Happy going and stopping,

Phil Whitter

True Motoring economy

The cost of running a motor vehicle is an elusive quantity. A big car costs more to run than a small one; a fast car costs more to run than one of moderate speed, and given any car of any type or powcr in thc hands of one driver it will cost more than in the hands of another.

Economy in motoring need not mean inefficiency or insufficiency. it is just a matter of care.

Th first economy is to buy well.

Depreciation - always going on whether the car is used or not -suggests that the first cost is compatible with the accommodation and the speed required, and of these two considerations accommodation should come first. For four passengers (including driver) an eight or ten horse-power car gives ample room. There is no room for an additional passenger, but the fuel and tyre economy of the smaller power. the lessened taxation and depreciation. are important assets to the man or woman of moderate means.

But given any type of car, of any horse-power or any width, length, or accommodation there are some basic rules of economy which, if carefully

and faithfully carried out, will reduce the mileage cost of motoring without impairing the service or the pleasure to be derived from the use of the car.

These rules refer mostly to the actual driving of the vehicle.

High bursts of speed send up the fuel bill. One may travel from London to Manchester in the same running time and under the same load and with the same stopping periods, and in one case consume 10 per cent more fuel than in the other.

Keeping a fair average speed and avoiding crawling for part of the way and speeding for the other will make a definite saving in the fuel consumed. Speed always increases fuel costs. which can be said to go up at twice the rate at which the speed is increased. It is well worth bearing in mind that for economy a steady average should be aimed at. Not only does it save on fuel, but it is less wearing for engine, transmission and tyres. But tyre economy is not merely a mattcr of restraint in respect of spccd. It is false economy to denude the engine by allowing it to run for long periods with worn-out and unchanged oil.

The biggest strain and greatest wear comes on tyres by starting, accelerating and slowing. The rapid spectacular start - beloved of the speed man - is a tyre eater. Rapid acceleration at any time is just as wearing to the substance of the tyre and to the cotton cords which form its structure, as sudden and violent brake application. The former is accompanied by excessive and useless expenditure of fuel. The latter also wastes fuel, for to drive under full power to the last moment and then take it out of the tyres to achieve a sudden stop, is waste at both ends. Most motorists use their brakes much more than is really necessary and so wear out tyres and brake fabric and add very materially to the mileage cost of running and repairs.

Sudden accelerations and decelerations also entail wear of the engine. Cylinder wear is increased by quick opening of the throttle which causes a rush of liquid petrol into the cylinder, sweeping away the lubricant and inducing excessive friction and wear between piston rings and cylinder walls. The expense comes in before reboring is required as the wear increases the consumption of oil, the most expensive accessory to motoring.

Failure to keep the mechanism of the car adequately lubricated with the right lubricants involves expense which can be avoided. Gears and back axle drives starved of clean new oil wear unduly and require earlier replacement.

Engine big ends and main bearings wear badly if the lubricant is not changed at the proper intervals.

Economy in oil means buying the best, generally the most expensive, which lasts longer and so costs less for a given mileage and defers indefinitely expensive engine reconditioning which would eat up the cost of a year's supply of lubricant. Cheeseparing on the cost of engine lubricant is not economising. Some oils are more expensive than others, and low priced oils often prove to be the most expensive of all.

True economy means making adjustments for wear as soon as they become at all necessary. Delaying small matters means the certain arrival of big and expensive troubles. The little attentions cost no more than a little of the owners time, but as they save pounds of cash, they should be given right from the commencement of the use of the car.

When the car is new, high speeds, especially high engine speeds, are expensive and should be avoided. A rigorous restriction of speed during the first thousand miles will give the car a chance of many months of longer wear and use than it would otherwise have. It is useless to adopt any economy after a few thousand miles of all-out, full-power, full -braking, and full-acceleration driving. The mischief has been done and only money spent on expensive overhaul and reconditioning can put the matter right.

From the Austin Magazine of January 1936