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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).
Road test report on a car with a magnetic clutch and electrical control, detailing performance and issues.

Identifier  WestWitteringFiles\D\February1920\  Scan33
Date  1st February 1920
  
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On a standard R-R car we always obtain more power on the gears than we do on the direct drive due, I suppose, to the tyre losses on the dynamometer.

Road Tests.

With a clever driver it is possible to make a wonderful show with the magnetic clutch and the electrical control on this car. But in the hands of a novice it has more vices than a car with the orthodox clutch.

To get away smoothly it is necessary for the engine to be running slowly. It does not matter how evenly it is running so long as it is not turning very fast. If the engine is running at all fast there is a jerk getting away; Even when the car has got away, if the engine is kept running fast, there is another jerk when it is put on the direct drive. To get a smooth pick-up the direct drive should be engaged with the engine slowly.

During the time we have had this car we have had one axle shaft break. As both brakes are on the rear wheels and are not very powerful, it shows that it is possible to get severe shock on the transmission. It is noticeable that the car is very bad on hills. We carried out a test on the Hazelwood hill; this hill has a gradient of about 1 in 7 at the worst point - a very good R-R chassis will sometimes get up on top gear - we found that with the Owen Magnetic, we had to run on the second gear electrically. The speed of the car dropped to 10 M.P.H. We had the cover off the electrical transmission and it was noticeable that there was

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