In recent years automobile engines for racing purposes have been very generally rated in accordance with their piston displacement. The natural result has been to encourage the highest possible engine speeds to attain the greatest possible piston displacement per minute. Features of engine design that have been developed under this rule include enormous valve areas, usually obtained by a multiplicity of valves, huge inlet pipes and carbureters, extreme valve-timing and very light reciprocating parts, all of which are undesirable in commercial engines.
To encourage the design of engines of a type developing higher efficiency at lower engine speeds, the suggestion is made that a rule be formulated under which cars will be rated in accordance with the piston displacement per mile actually used by them. Such a rule would involve rear-wheel diameter and gear-ratio, as well as the piston displacement of the engine. This would automatically allow the use of engines of varying size, provided the other elements were proportioned properly.
