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).
Car performance tests conducted at Brooklands, comparing a Buick with in-house models.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\V\March1931-September1931\ Scan276 | |
| Date | 24th June 1931 | |
| SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} FROM R.{Sir Henry Royce} (SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} is crossed out) C. to WOR.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} C. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} (This line is crossed out) re. TESTS AT BROOKLANDS. [Stamped Text: RECEIVED] [Stamped Text: ORIGINAL 1931 JUN 24] These shewed the great importance of weight and windage by the very small difference between the car from Derby and my J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} 1. from WW. We agreed that the Derby big limousine had a broad flat back, whereas my car tailed off somewhat towards the rear. We also moved a passenger or two which made an enormous difference in the acceleration between one car and another. Regarding the Buick, I personally found the synchronous mesh quite good, simply requiring a certain amount of deliberation in movement. One or two others who handled it made noises, and especially was it noticeable the difficulty of going to 2nd. speed which had no synchronous mesh. The gears themselves were very noisy. Regarding the engine this struck us all as being remarkably smooth at all speeds. The performance however was not very good considering the light weight of the complete car. Both acceleration and maximum HP. seemed to be low, as we expect from this type of straight 8. engine, owing to the difficulty of getting the cylinders filled up. The riding and the brakes were poor, and the front axle had a horrible tramp at about 60 MPH. on the speedometer. I was not aware that we did any real timing on that car owing to this front axle period. The gear was very low owing both to the back axle ratio and the small dia. of the road wheels. The steering was I believe of the old order of irreversible and therefore one could not feel road shocks. Altogether the car might impress one when used for town carriage purposes, but as a motorcar for a critical motorist it did not appear to possess any attractions. The construction one would think may not be very good for life. Regarding our own cars, both the green car from Derby and mine from WW. lapped at approximately 68/69 MPH. There was a head wind along the straight which made this nearly 5 MPH. slower than the other parts of the course. Both cars ran very steadily, that is, the springing was good, and the damping sufficient. We continued the tests and discussions until 7 p.m. and the green car left for Derby, and we left for WW. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||