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).
Visit to West Wittering and the comparative analysis of a 12-cylinder Packard engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 127\1\ scan0066 | |
| Date | 1st February 1920 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to EJ. c. to EN. c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} X.435 Hel/LGlC.2.20. V.3408 RE VISIT TO WEST WITTERINGHenry Royce's home town. We expect that it will be two or three weeks before the Hawk-Northcliffe chassis will be sufficiently complete to bring to West WitteringHenry Royce's home town. If we are considering a 12-cylinder engine, we think that we might obtain some useful data from the Packard engine. The Packard is very similar in size to what we require. It has 3" bore and 5" stroke. The total swept volume is 425.12 cu.ins. compared with 454.2 cu.ins. for our standard 40/50 car. It has connecting rods side by side. It is fitted with aluminium pistons. The back axle ratio is 4.13 to 1. We are at present fixing a R-R Carburetter to this engine. As the induction pipe manifolds are cast integral with the cylinders, we cannot do anything with them. We will put the car on the dynamometer when this is complete. We think that it might be worth while making a lot of experiments with this 12-cylinder engine to obtain useful information. We might even look into the possibility of fixing this engine into a R-R chassis. We think that the best way to compare a 6-cylinder and a 12-cylinder would be to try both types of engine on the same car. It is a D headed engine, which we still think has many advantages. We think that with a detachable head, the D headed engine is an Contd. | ||