Only 25hp from 225 cu?! Cars from this year should be making helluva lotmore horsepower than this. And a inline-6 in a Rolls-Royce when did they start that? I always thought they had either a V-12 or a V-8. <!-- Signature -->
I'm not surprised of the "lack" of power , this kind of displacement and power were frequent at that time. And this car wasn't made for racing.
I think its still kinda low, even for a '36 car. There where blown auto unions and mercedes benzes at that time producing like 400+hp. but then again, those were racecars. Bet a Deusenberg from the late 20 has more horses than this RR<!-- Signature -->
It was made in 1936.. engines weren't exactly effiecient at this time. Rolls is a very old company, they didn't 'start' putting thi inline-6 in cars because they didn't feel like dropping in the v-12, inline's were much more common and easy to create at this time period.<!-- Signature -->
Actually the 25 hp figure was a fake. The reasons behind it were the custom at Rolls-Royce to not publish accurate figures of horsepower and torque, and the British taxation rules. According to the British system, the cars were taxed in accordance to horsepower, deduced from cylinder bore. Since the formula had been devised back in early 1900s, the rated horsepower and the actual figure were no longer the same even before WWI, let alone 1930s or later. The true power output of the Rolls-Royce 20/25 was in the 80-90hp range(measured by private owners). ~Nautilus
The 20 had 50-80hp@~3800rpm. You can best compare the hp's from that time with like the cv's they use in France. They're not the same as that we use nowadays. Anyone remember the PulpFiction metrical system discussions? This rolls is not a cheeseburger, this is a royaaaaale with cheese.