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).
Test report on a 14-34 model vehicle after 13,230 miles, covering steering, brakes, clutch, and engine performance.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 5a\2\ 02-page309 | |
| Date | 8th April 1931 | |
| To Messrs. From Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Sd. C. To SGR. C. To R.{Sir Henry Royce} C. To W. x5840 Ha/m.1/WJ.8.4.31. TEST OF 14-34 AFTER 13,230 MILES. STEERING. - Light selective free from road shocks. On the whole the best steering we have had on a 20-HP. in France. BRAKES. - Smooth progressive well equalized and sufficiently effective. High pitched squeaks from the front but reports state that these disappear when the standard dampers are fitted. CLUTCH. - O.K. The pedal travel requires increasing to lighten the foot pressure to operate. This is being done on production. Only fault disinclination to stop when hot. Provision for overcoming this trouble should be considered by design dept. Fault no worse than found on standard cars. ENGINE. - The rubber mounting certainly makes this unit smoother than the present standard car. The improvement is very marked. Above 50 m.p.h. the engine becomes rather more obtrusive but it is never as bad as the standard car at similar engine speeds. The way the unit maintains its tune under continuous high speed running is remarkable. We tried the car when it had done 13,230 miles the last 4,000 of which no tappet or other adjustment had been made. We consider that its performance at high and low speeds was 100%. The valve burning at 9,000 miles was due to the tappet clearance being lost. The tappet clearance under the maximum speed conditions out here, seems to require adjustment every 5,000 miles. This can be considered excellent as a few years ago, with the old type valve steels, the tappet clearance used to vary from day to day if the car was driven as on our tests. We consider that this unit is a marked improvement over anything we have previously produced. On bad Continental roads at speed there is more movement on the pedals and side levers than might be desired but this has already been catered for by the proposed design of a steady at the back of the gearbox as on F.11. The | ||