From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Customer complaints about the poor acceleration performance of the 20/25 HP model.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 27a\1\ Scan154 | |
| Date | 19th November 1934 | |
| To: "Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}" DERBY. PARIS Sr21/Dn.19.11.34 re 20/25 HP Performance. I note with interest the contents of your Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}2/KW.15.11.34. I did, in fact, complain to London of the performance of the 20/25 HP Demonstration Car we received, as well as of the 20/25 HP cars we have delivered to customers, of whom 3 out of 4 turned the car down owing to lack of acceleration. It is obvious to me that the bodies on these cars are heavy, - certainly heavier than usual - also that the average 20/25 HP fitted with the old type carburetor under the same conditions, i.e., similar body weights, has a better "get-away" from 10 or 15 miles per hour on top speed, than any of the 20/25 HPs{Horace Percy Smith - Experimental Factory Mgr} with the latest type carburetor which I have been able to test. This is what the customers are complaining of. In other words, it does not get off the mark as quickly as its predecessor. As you know, customers are in the habit of remaining in top gear more so with this car than with the Bentley, and I certainly must agree that, if one takes the average modern 20/25 HP car today, the acceleration is very poor. I naturally do my best to persuade people to admit that owing to the general silence of the car, and its lack of fuss, they are mistaken about the question of acceleration, but when they bring out their old 20/25 HP cars and put them against the new type, and get away from them on top speed, it is very difficult to know what the next argument has got to be. That is the position, however, and I shall prove it to Hancock when he comes to Paris. I previously tried two of the former 20/25 HPs{Horace Percy Smith - Experimental Factory Mgr}, one being 6 months old and in very fine condition, whilst the other was over a year old, and in very bad condition. Both of them were certainly "snappier" on "get-away" than the modern 25 HP, with which we played about with all we knew, in order to get out of it the very best performance possible. However, strictly speaking, this car, as you know, is not the one that interests me. I am very pleased to get your news re the new bumper bar method of eliminating front wing and lamp movement. At present, we have no demonstration car over here, but we certainly will be having one shortly. The | ||