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).
Continued road test report comparing a Lanchester car to other vehicles.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 180\M4\M4.1\ img030 | |
| Date | 11th November 1920 | |
| Contd. -2- Dal/A/11.11.20. the back of the car very distinctly. Running light the engine was worse than the Hispano-Suiza and had a distinct knock due to the camshaft drive In the case of none of these cars was it possible to try the maximum speed, but this car also appeared to have good power and acceleration. It also pulled well at low speeds, climbing a hill which I should judge to be about 1 in 16 at six miles an hour without faltering except towards the top where it began to miss and knock badly, and transmission chunking became apparent. At my request the driver flung the car about from side to side with the steering wheel, but the rolling was very slight. The car is fitted with a special anti-rolling device. The springing however, was not very good, and was distinctly uncomfortable in the back over a bad road, and, no doubt, this would account for some of the absence of rolling. The gears were distinctly noisier than the Rolls-Royce. They were what one would describe as bad. The car was able to do 40 miles per hour on third gear, and to change at that speed into top quite easily. It is, of course, a single plate clutch with dry ferodo discs. The back axle drive was very quiet. The brakes were not very powerful, and were harsh and noisy in action, but they dud not produce jaggers as far as U could make out. I was not able to make this man apply his brakes as suddenly as in the case of the Hispano-Suiza driver. The driver claimed 55 to 60 miles per hour as the maximum speed that he could get, and 13 miles to the gallon consumption. LANCHESTER. This was much the worst of the four cars. The engine was full of rattles and noises, and was not as smooth running as either of the two previous cars. It appeared, however, to have a fair amount of power, but not as much as the Napier. The Gearbox was extremely noisy on all the speeds, and the driver did not care to let it run for more than a few seconds. The springing was good, but certainly no better than the Rolls-Royce. As the car was an open one it was not possible to judge the rolling, but it appeared to be about the same as Rolls-Royce. The steering was quite light and self-centering but the road shocks were distinctly felt on the wheel. The transmission brake had a fair amount of power, and was fairly smooth acting, but Contd. | ||