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).
Typed memorandum detailing multiple faults and desired improvements on a vehicle, including overheating, gearbox issues, and noise.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 91\1\ scan0069 | |
| Date | 18th September 1935 | |
| To Bx. from Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} that the P.III is infinitely superior to the P.II and, therefore, should give much greater satisfaction and pleasure to owners. Paragraph 4. I am at a loss to understand this and it requires careful investigation. I do sincerely hope that it does not mean that the engine is under cooled as I thought that we had once and for all overcome our old overheating and boiling troubles. I should like to have information regarding this. Paragraph 5. If, as appears to be the case, only the same amount of illumination has been provided for the large speedometer as was originally included for the small speedometer, I can only say that this is very stupid and must be immediately corrected by the Dept. concerned. Paragraph 7 I did not experience this on the comparatively short-run which I gave the car but Lewis can doubtless say whether it has happened on his journey back to Derby. Paragraph 8. In addition to what Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} says I would add that there is an objectionable hum or groan round about 30 miles per hour. I am not convinced that this is all due to tyres. 30 mph is such an important speed now in view of the limit that we shall have to do better. There does appear to be considerable fussiness from the engine or transmission which I hope can be improved as under present conditions I am sure that the car would be severely criticised under this heading. The change speed is definitely not satisfactory, i.e. nothing like as nice as our existing gearboxes but when I was at Derby last week I understood that no great difficulty was anticipated in getting this unit right. The third speed is very noisy, especially on the over-run. The third speed on my 20/25 is excellent. Paragraph 10. I should be interested to know whether this car has had the improvement embodied in the carburetter to overcome the difficulty of starting when the engine is hot. | ||