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).
The performance of the 4.EX car during a three-thousand-mile test run in the U.S.A.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\F\February1921\ Scan11 | |
| Date | 11th January 1921 | |
| RUNNING OF 4.EX. IN U.S.A. 4.ex Car has now completed over three thousand miles running in U.S.A. We have just finished a trip of two thousand miles from Springfield to Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Zanesville, Wheeling, Hagerstown, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and Springfield. We experienced a wide range of different road conditions and also a wide range of different temperature conditions. In some parts we had excellent roads - very much better than the average english roads. In other places we travelled over dirt roads which were in very bad condition and had very deep ruts. In one place we got stuck with the car, owing to the ruts being so deep that the rear axle casing rested on the frozen snow. The atmospheric temperature varied from zero (F) to 60°F.{Mr Friese} My conclusion after running 4-EX car under American conditions are as follows:- Nothing different is required in America to the Rolls-Royce Car as we know it in England. The standard of running which we expect and get from the car in England would be better than anything I have seen here. The Rolls-Royce Car, however, in America does not perform in the same way as it does in England. If the cars in England behaved in the same way as I have experienced over here, we should not rest until improvements had been made. The chief reason why the Rolls-Royce car does not perform here up to the standard we expect in England, is due to two things:- 1. Difference in the quality of petrol. I have already sent curves which show distillation temperatures of the America gasoline. I have found since that the sample we tested was rather above the average. 2. Difference in range of atmospheric temperatures. In England we would say the minimum and maximum temperatures are from 25°F to 90°F.{Mr Friese} In the U.S.A. the temperatures vary from minus 20° to 110°F.{Mr Friese} Contd. | ||