Motoring TWO MODERN ENGLISH CARS THE two cars I have
for report this week, the 17 Armstrong- Siddeley and the io Talbot, have nothing in common— unless you allow their high quality as a link—but each has at least one feature that distinguishes it and puts it into the swiftly shrinking category of unusual cars.
The Armstrong-Siddeley is fitted with the new form of transmission called balanced gear. This, in effect, is simply the abolition of the flywheel, whose work in providing the necessary smoothness of running to the engine is carried out by the self-selecting gear itself. This is not perhaps so revolutionary as it sounds, as for several years modern fly- wheels have been so reduced in weight and bulk that now most of them are not much more than an enlarged outer member of the clutch. The important modification in the Armstrong- Siddeley transmission lies in the fact that the shaft connecting the engine-shaft with the drive is reduced to the least possible length and that consequently the gear-box is practically an integral part of the engine assembly. This means that the flywheel effect is brought as close to the forward end of the propeller shaft as it can be and that as a result the whole drive is less subject to torsional flexing.
The makers claim for this arrangement that the pull of the car throughout its range is smoother and after a circuit of my special test route I am quite ready to agree. The new car is a great deal better balanced than the last of the type I tried, early in the year. There is not only a refreshing absence of vibration of any sort and a comfortable sense of sturdiness about the drive, but the performance—presumably a direct result of the reduction of twisting stresses and therefore of power-losses—is noticeably higher. There is more and greater liveliness, and the average speed is certainly better. It is a much more comfortable car to drive.
In other respects there is no outstanding change in the design. The engine is mounted on rubber in a special way that not only damps out the vibration under load but also allows unusual steadiness when running idle. Nearly every flexible suspension has the drawback of setting up a con- siderable shake at idling speeds. It is not of much importance, but as the shake is to a greater or less degree communicated to the car body it does constitute a disadvantage in any but the cheapest types of car. It has not been wholly eliminated in the new Armstrong-Siddeley but very nearly so.
Here are the principal dimensions of the car. The six-
cylinder engine has a bore and stroke of 66.6 by 554 millimetres, giving a capacity of 2,394 c.c. and a tax-rating of £12 15s. The valves are overhead, operated by push-rods and rockers, the carburettor is the hew downdraught Zenith, ignition by coil with automatic advance and retard, cooling by pump with a thermostat. Three wheelbase lengths are available, 50 ft. 3 in., 9 ft. 8 in. and 9 ft. 3 in., the rear track being 4 ft. 6 in. in the shortest and 4 ft. 9 in. in the others. The gearbox can be had with one of two ratios, the lighter car with a 5.1, 7.5, 11.6 and 20.4 to one ; the others with 5.3, 7.8, 52.5" and 21.2 to one. The clutch is the automatic centrifugal type which has already proved itself really suitable for the Wilson type of gear. It begins to slip when the revolutions fall to about soo a minute and provides shockless engagement on all gears.
The car I tried was the touring saloon, a big and thoroughly comfortable car that will seat four people with sprawling room and five very fairly. The back seat has a movable armrest. It is very well equipped and finished. There arc folding tables fitted to the backs of the front seats as well as folding footstalls and the luggage-boot is wide enough to take golf-bags. It has six windows, with sliding quarter- lights. The ventilation is draughtless and in the back you sit well forward of the axle. The outlook is excellent.
On the road, as I said, I found a great improvement in behaviour. The pick-up is lively and ready, the acceleration good and the performance throughout what it should be in a car of this type. Its comfortable maximum is about 70 miles an hour on top and 5o on third. It climbs steep hills steadily and easily, if not very fast (it beat its predecessor's showing pretty well), but the points in which I noticed the most important improvement were the steering; road-holding and springing, particularly the front springing. It is a much better car than the old 57. The model I tried costs L475.
The new 50 Talbot is another improved car. I do not think they have done anything radical to it since I last tried the model, but the new carburettor (also the downdraught Zenith) and some minor modifications here and there have combined to give it a considerably more lively performance. Leaving that aside for the moment, the outstanding feature of the Talbot—to me—was this. It has an engine of 1,18o c.c. content and it weighs 18 cwt. or so. Another car of a larger type, with a deservedly high reputation, has an engine of nearly 20o c.c. greater capacity" and weighs a good deal less. Over the same steep climb, under exactly similar conditions, the bigger car only beat the Talbot by a second. As readers of The Spectator may have gathered, my views on the subject of weight are definite. Right Or wrong, I consider that nearly every car made anywhere is much too heavy and that British cars are wickedly handicapped in this respect against their rivals. The Talbot's performance, like that of another English car in the same circumstances, proves that in the matter of getting power out of small engines there is nobody to touch us. If only we would learn what America and the Continent have to teach us about weight-reduction our light cars would have no rival in performance.
Apart from that revealing hill-climb I liked the new Talbot very much. Generally speaking I do not like small cars at all. They fulfil a useful function, I know very well, and they make intelligent motoring possible to a great many people who, without the little Eights and Tens, would never have
known the joy of possession, but only very occasionally do I come across a little car that behaves like one of a reasonable size. This Talbot trial was one of those rare occasions. There was not quite enough room for me elbow-ways, and the de- scription ``four-seater" applied to the saloon would be of more interest to children than to people as long as myself. In spite of that I drove that little car with as much pleasure if not quite in as much bodily ease as I have driven at least a score of machines of twice its power and half its size again.
They have improved the gear-change (it is now one of the
best I know of the all-synchromesh type), the engine runs more quietly, and without perceptible vibration, the road- holding and steering are better, the brakes quicker and more powerful in operation. There are no flat spots in the pick-up and the acceleration is exhilarating. About 65 miles an hour can be comfortably reached in ordinary circumstances, a little more, I daresay, at need, and at that and all other speeds the road-holding is nearly beyond criticism. A neatly finished body, without window-pillars and with good luggage- room behind, costs £255. An English car of note.
Joxii PRIOLEAU.
[Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payahl must be given, as well as the type of body required. No adv., can be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used cars.]
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