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).
Merits and demerits of single-cylinder engine work versus full-scale testing for future car engine design.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\5\ scan0114 | |
| Date | 1st September 1936 | |
| X1260 To E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}25/KW.1.9.36. Car Future Engine Design - Single Cylinder Work. We have now had about two years' experience of single cylinder car work. We have come to the conclusion that if an engine is in production it is better to develop it by full scale tests than single cylinder work. This is because jigs and tools are in existence for all the full scale parts, and they can quickly be produced. The results also take into account the peculiarities of induction and exhaust systems which are inseparable from car engine work. As a matter of fact we can go so fast with full scale development work that almost invariably the single cylinder gets left behind. We find it is not at all easy to transfer single cylinder results into their full scale equivalent figures. It is very easy to spend a lot of money on matching up results and then finding the customer has got nothing out of it. However, we are not by any means convinced that single cylinder work is no good. We feel that it can with advantage be used to investigate completely new types of design. By having a single cylinder unit of standard design available as a yard stick, an approximate figure of merit for the new construction can be determined. In view of these facts, at the present moment we are confining our single cylinder work to finding out whether the side valve exhaust, overhead inlet engine has sufficient merit to be worth producing as an alternative type of power unit. From the results so far obtained we think the respective merits and demerits of the high power will be as follows. | ||