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).
Promotional leaflet for the 'GALLOMETER', a device for measuring a car's fuel consumption.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 33\5\ Scan034 | |
| Date | 29th November 1922 guessed | |
| THE TRUTH AT LAST. When motorists get together, the invariable question is “How many Miles per Gallon?” Yet few motorists have been able to give an accurate answer, and until to-day none has been able to prove it quickly. The GALLOMETER will now answer that question accurately every time, and will tell the truth under all conditions. Every motorist who reads the “HOW” and the “WHY” must appreciate its simplicity and utility, and will agree that it is certain to come into universal use. One outstanding feature is that it cannot possibly give any trouble, as in the ordinary running of the car it is simply acting as a tap through which the petrol passes on its way to the Carburettor. The upper vessel could be removed entirely and still the car would run as usual. A simple locking device prevents casual busybodies from putting the handle into the second—that is the filling—position. As an instrument its accuracy is perfect, because every GALLOMETER is carefully calibrated. In actual operation this accuracy is retained, because the test is always made under working conditions, and without stopping the car at the start or finish of the mile. Further, owing to the GALLOMETER being filled from the bottom, air bubbles do not mix with the petrol. The efficiency of a car is affected by many factors: condition of engine, type of carburettor, size of jet, choke tube, timing of ignition, motor spirit, lubricating oil, sparking plugs and the various devices for improving them, etc. Now, how can you possibly make adjustments effectively, or under any circumstances reach the highest pitch of economy, if you are unable to obtain quickly the result of variation of any one factor? It is like trying to tune up for speed without a speedometer. THE GALLOMETER Range in miles per gallon. PRICE. 30-60 . . . - - - 50/- 25-50 . . . - - - 20-40 . . . - - - 15-27 . . . - - - 65/- 12-20 . . . - - - Lower and Higher Ranges for Lorries and Motor Cycles will shortly be standardised. Finish: Nickel-plated, Lacquered Brass or Black Enamel. Special Equipments with Portable Tanks are now available for Garage and other occasional testing. State Maker and Horse-Power of Car. Copper Tube, 1/4-in. diameter, 1/- per foot. " " 3/8-in. " 1/3 " Nickel-plating, 6d. per foot extra. Manufacturers & Agents: BEST & LLOYD, LTD. HANDSWORTH, BIRMINGHAM. Proprietors: GREENHALGH BROS., ATHERTON. ECONOMY ASSURED. Again, when you have adjusted, to the best of your ability, all the factors on your car as it is, what is your attitude towards the hundreds of devices advertised to increase the “miles per gallon”? Usually, they are offered on approval; but motorists are reluctant to try them, simply because there are bad ones as well as good, and there has previously been no convenient and accurate method of verifying the claims. An important question, seldom solved by the average motorist, is— “Which is the best Motor Spirit?” With the advent of the GALLOMETER the whole outlook is changed; the owner of a car so fitted is master of the situation. We assert with confidence that in many cases the cost of the instrument will be repaid by the economies of one month, while on a heavy freight vehicle the reduction in one week’s petrol account may pay for it. Further, many motorists will find it a pursuit of absorbing interest to test petrol consumption under various conditions of speed, loading, gradient, surface, temperature, motor spirit, etc. When you purchase a car, new or second-hand, will you not require to see the “miles per gallon” statements checked by a GALLOMETER? It can be used with Gravity, Vacuum or Pressure Fed Cars, and in the case of the gravity feed type it has the incidental advantage of indicating the last few inches in the tank—a boon which will be appreciated. The GALLOMETER is usually mounted on a bracket below the instrument board, or at the side. For cars with a tank under the seat a special arrangement is provided. For the manufacturers of gravity feed cars we make an instrument for incorporation in the tank, the cock of the gauge replacing the ordinary cock. | ||