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).
Road test report on the 20 HP Alvis Speed Model.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 3\4\ 04-page049 | |
| Date | 30th May 1932 | |
| ->Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} to EH. Report on 20 h.p. Alvis Speed Model. GEX/KW30.5.32. I had an opportunity of trying this car over last week-end in order to get some impressions of a car of a sporting type that appears to be very highly spoken of. It was fitted with a light open 4-seater body which was naturally very conducive to good acceleration, in fact the whole car only weighs 25 cwts. The price complete is £695. The engine has three S.U. carburetters. I found this car a very pleasant car to handle, and it certainly is the nicest sports car that I have driven. The acceleration, as was to be expected, was very good and the car easily attained 80 m.p.h. It is supposed to do 90, but I had no opportunity of exceeding 80. I think it would want everything in its favour to do 90. It is a 19.8 h.p. engine, 73 x 100 m/m bore and stroke, total c.c.2511. Tax £20. The engine seemed particularly free from any periodic vibrations but got a bit rough and harsh at 4700 revs to which on one occasion I boosted it up on third gear when she was doing between 65-70 m.p.h., and whilst not too silent when idling,is nice and quiet when pulling. The engine is inclined to pink easily on petrol and wants a good deal of nursing in consequence on the ignition lever. I imagine that Benzol fuel is recommended for this car. There is no supercharger. The four-speed gearbox has a so-called silent third, which was not really silent except when compared with the second gear,which was very noisy and sounded very coarse. The third gear was very noisy on the overrun and had a period at about 40 m.p.h. when it developed a loud sing which entirely destroyed any suggestion of it being a silent third. These gearbox noises were much accentuated by the fact that the whole gearbox is inside the front compartment, similar to what is intended on the "Bensport", and therefore there is not much to deaden the noise to the-occupants of the front seats. The back axle was definitely very noisy. The springing was terribly hard at low speeds,although naturally on the higher speeds one could not criticise it so much. Pneumatic cushions both front and back help to damp out a good deal of the rough riding at slow speeds, and therefore they let the occupants down rather lightly in that respect. The fact that we can do the same high speeds as this car on our Continental with much more flexible springing really shows that this very harsh riding in ( contd ) | ||