Motoring
TWO WELL-BEHAVED CARS
IT is not often that a couple of cars resemble each other so much in achievement and differ so widely in method as the two I had out lately, the new 16 Rover and the " Special " Dolomite 12-14 Triumph. Both are very fast cars not only for their capacity but in comparison with larger-engined machines, both have a pleasant suaveness of manner and both are plainly destined for membership of that still very select company of real Continental cars.
Looking back over the two tests and comparing the notes made at the time I am puzzled to discover exactly why they are so different in character, with a performance so similar. One has a six-cylinder engine and the other a four ; one is about a quarter of a litre bigger in size : but although there was a natural but surprisingly slight difference in the feel of the two engines under full load it was certainly not that which distinguished one from the other. Both had their peculiar driving charm, liveliness, speed, good springing and remarkably quiet running, both were cars I would myself like to own and drive on long-distance tours embracing as many mountain ranges as you like, but each made its own peculiar appeal to me both as cars to drive and cars to be driven in.
The Rover is a fairly new model. I think it came out last year, but only late. It is a particularly well-designed machine, with a powerful engine and a proper-sized body. Except in the usual minor details nothing has been changed in the design of the engine or running gear, and it can be taken, roughly, as a larger edition of the Fourteen I have described in The Spectator once or twice. The excellent overhead valve-gear is retained, the downdraft S.U. carbur- ettor, the pump-and-fan cooling and the pump-driven fuel feed. In the running gear the freewheel is still fitted (the only English car so equipped, I believe), the synchromesh 'between the higher gears and the " silent " gears. The bore and stroke are 67.5 by Rio, giving a cubic capacity of 2,147 c.c., a rating of 16.9 and a tax of k12 15s.
Further points are the high gear-ratio, 4.7 to I on top, 7.1 on third, 10.6 on second, and 18.9 on first. On the first three of these the maximum speeds are close upon 8o miles an hour, well over 6o and a little over 4o. These figures are very remarkable in a car of this type, a large saloon weighing over 27 cwt. in marching order, and they must account in no small measure for the notable impression you get of effortless- ness. Speed is very deceptive, the action of the car at 70 being so smooth and noiseless that unless you keep an eye on the speed-indicator you may well put it at 5o. The even running of the engine, combined with the comparative silence of the gear—silent, at any rate, against the noise of the tyres and the wind—makes it very easy to drive at 4o or 5o on third in mistake for top. The wheelbase is 9 ft. 7 in., the track 4 ft. 4 in. and the overall length 14 ft. 4.1 in.
There are no special fittings in this car, unless you admit D.W.S. hydraulic jacking, but the general equipment is admirable, planned by a man of common sense with a sense of what car-comfort means. The fitted tool-drawer under the dash is a good instance. The freewheel is, to my mind, the leading feature. It is a restful gadget to have on long journeys over easy rise and fall and I can well believe the claim that it reduces wear and tear and saves some petrol and oil. Its chief claim to popularity is, of course, the perfect gear-changing it allows. You have only to pause the two or three seconds necessary to let the engine-speed drop and you can engage any forward gear with no more effort than is required to move a perfectly free lever. This dodge has always seemed to me the best all-round easy- change device. It is a shade slower than either the self- selector or the really well-made synchromesh, but the same results–are attained at, one imagines, less cost and more simplicity. Unobtrusive " life " is the main feature of the new Rover. The acceleration is very good and from a pick-up at slow speeds the car gets into its stride very fast. I liked the steering (though I would prefer a larger wheel) for its lightness and directness. The road-holding is very good and you can put the car round difficult bends pretty well as fast as you like. The balance is excellent. The Girling brakes are very powerful and light in working. The six-windowed saloon is roomy and comfortable and there is good luggage accommodation. It costs £360, a very moderate price for a really first-class car.
The Triumph is another striking success, a further vindication of the four-cylinder principle which is now being belatedly revived. The model sent to me for trial was the type they call the " 1' -litre," fitted with an engine of 1,767 c.c., and in most respects similar to the last I wrote about on this page. The bore and stroke are 75 by too, the valves are all overhead (not, as in some previous Triumph models, half-" mushroom "), the compression-ratio is 6.6 to 1 and the engine is mounted on rubber at four points. The gear-ratio is a little lower on top than the Rover's, at 5 to f, but the others are high, third being 6.8 to 1, second io.8 and first 16.6. As in the, bigger car this gives the Triumph that pleasant elasticity of action. You can get something not far off 8o out of it and 6o on third, but the acceleration is so ready on the lower gears that you can keep up a cruising speed that is not much less than brilliant. It is also a very good hill-climber. Those exceptionally high gear ratios give remarkable results both on long trying slopes and on sharp gradients. I have a private hill-test of my own which while not deserving that exhausted epithet secret can usually be described as unexpected—to the demonstrator. It consists in driving the car as fast as it will go up a short rise from a standstill, where the gradient is worse than 1 in 6. Any normally geared car that attempts to use third speed will infallibly lose several seconds to another that sticks to second. Any car that climbs this fast, without losing speed, and at the same time puts up a decent maximum on the same gear on the level is, in my view, a good climber. The Triumph is.
The gear-change is very good indeed, as easy as most I have tried and as swift. Synchromesh is used, of a well- designed type, and there is no excuse for " crashing " a change. This is to be noted, as in certain types of synchro- mesh it is difficult if not impossible to make a clean change without a definite pause in neutral. I was much impressed with it, as I was with the steering and road-holding, both of which are of the real " confidential " sort. You can corner savagely without disturbing the balance of the car and the effort needed to put and keep the car where you want it is of the slightest. The length of the steering column is adjustable, as well as the rake ; an indispensable feature, I think. The foot-brake is very good, the pull-out hand- brake fair. The saloon is a good example of its type, as roomy as can be expected. I cannot fairly either praise or criticise it as there was not enough room behind for my long legs. In front I was perfectly comfortable. The vision is good, there is room for a fair amount of luggage and the equipment is all it should be. The Triumph runs very quietly and very smoothly, yet with a " snap " that is very infectious. It is very much alive. It costs £325.
JOHN PRIOLEAU.
[Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payable must be given, as well as the type of body required. No ark.t.ce can be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used cars.]
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