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).
Providing impressions from test drives of competitor cars at the Olympia Show.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 23\2\ Scan021 | |
| Date | 11th November 1920 | |
| X437 To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to CJ. c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to En. c. to Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to EFC. Dal/AH11.11.20. Whilst at the Olympia Show I had a short run on each of the following cars :- X.4214. HISPANO-SUIZA X.441. LANCHESTER. X.437. NAPIER. X.235. 12 CYL. PACKARD. A short run like this, of course, does not prove much, especially as one is not allowed to drive the car oneself, but I thought these few impressions might be of some slight interest. I could have tried the new 8 cylinder Isotta-Fraschini and one or two others if I had stayed another day, but I thought it probably not worth while. HISPANO-SUIZA. This car started easily and very quietly. It appeared to have plenty of power and acceleration. and was very smooth and regular in running. The engine was distinctly harsher and noisier than Rolls-Royce, and had several periods which, at times, caused vibrations to be felt both back and front. Running light it had considerable tappet knocks and noises which appeared to come from the camshaft drive. In this respect it was distinctly worse than Rolls-Royce. The engine was also noisier at speed. The springing appeared to be fairly good, but I could not try the car over specially selected roads. The outstanding feature was the brakes which were extremely powerful and smooth acting. I should think that they were much more powerful than any of the other cars which I tried. On more than one occasion they were very suddenly applied on a road that was not very smooth and there was no sign of jaggering at all. The gearbox appeared to be a rather good one for noise, and I could not distinguish any marked transmission knocks or noises from the transmission generally, but, of course, the London streets are not very suitable for judging these noises. The steering was fairly light and self-centering, but I should think not so nice as the Rolls-Royce. NAPIER. This car had a covered body. The engine was harsher and noisier than the Hispano-Suiza, and much more than the Rolls-Royce. There was, at once speed, a vibration which could be flet in Contd. | ||