The time has come when greater attention must be given to the smaller parts and the various appliances found on automotive machinery. Previously, investigations have been made by the research laboratories of a few companies manufacturing engines, carbureters and some other parts, but chiefly engines; by the laboratories of research corporations, including the Bureau of Standards and the Bureau of Mines; and by the engineering laboratories of colleges and technical schools.
The number and value of the researches that can be conducted and reported on from time to time by these agencies depend entirely upon the appropriations that they can obtain by act of legislation and upon the personnel of the staff that can be attracted by the opportunity to do this class of work. It would therefore seem to be to the interest of automotive engineers to advance the research work being done by Federal and State institutions, to see to it that adequate appropriations are made by Congress and the State legislatures and that those problems which need solution are attacked according to a guided program.
The author gives an account of engine tests made at Ohio State University, inclusive of considerable information regarding the kind of research, methods, equipment and results. A further series of tests to determine the power lost in transmission is described and commented upon in a similar manner, and mention is made of a series of tests which it is proposed to conduct to determine the power required to drive a car at different speeds.