Rolls-Royce Park Ward: which generation changed what
The Park Ward has 1 generation, keyed as 1 generation, body Sedan, running 2000-01-01–2002-12-31. There is no restyling listed as a separate generation and no second generation to compare. Everything that follows is therefore a comparison *inside* 5.4 AT, not across generations: power versus displacement, kerb versus horsepower, city versus highway fuel, payload versus tank, clearance versus mass.
The Park Ward has 1 generation, keyed as 1 generation, body Sedan, running 2000-01-01–2002-12-31. There is no restyling listed as a separate generation and no second generation to compare. Everything that follows is therefore a comparison inside 5.4 AT, not across generations: power versus displacement, kerb versus horsepower, city versus highway fuel, payload versus tank, clearance versus mass.
If you are choosing a Park Ward in this catalogue, you are choosing that generation and that body. There is no later generation that cut weight, added boost, or changed drive. Drive stays RWD, gearbox stays Automatic with 5 gears, boost stays No, fuel stays 95.
Specs of the only version: 5.4 AT
| Version | hp | Nm | Displacement, cm³ | Fuel | Cylinders | Layout | Boost | Gearbox | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 AT | 326 | 490 | 5379 | 95 | 12 | V-shaped | No | Automatic | RWD |
5.4 AT is Gasoline, Front, longitudinal, Distributed injection (multi-point), compression 10, bore and stroke 85 × 79, 2 valves per cylinder. Those labels are the catalogue English tags; they are not a second engine family.
Power per litre and torque per litre
Displacement is 5379 cm³, which is 5.379 litres. Peak power is 326 hp (240 kW) at 5000 rpm. Peak torque is 490 Nm at 3900 rpm.
- Power per litre: 326 ÷ 5.379 ≈ 60.6 hp/l (240 ÷ 5.379 ≈ 44.6 kW/l).
- Torque per litre: 490 ÷ 5.379 ≈ 91.1 Nm/l.
- Hp per 1000 cm³ of the stated 5379: 326 ÷ 5.379 ≈ 60.6 again — the same figure, because there is no second displacement to rank against.
Boost is No. The specific output is therefore the naturally aspirated figure for this 5.4 AT, not a blown one. Compression 10 sits with that: no second compression ratio exists in the data to say a later tune “bought” more squeeze.
Bore and stroke 85 × 79: stroke is 6 mm shorter than bore (85 − 79 = 6). The engine is oversquare on those two numbers. Peak torque arrives at 3900 rpm; peak power at 5000 rpm. The gap is 1100 rpm. You are not looking at a low-rpm truck peak and a high-rpm sports peak far apart; both peaks sit in the same mid-upper band.
Valves: 2 per cylinder × 12 cylinders = 24 valves for the whole engine. That is arithmetic on the given cylinder and valve-per-cylinder fields, not a second engine spec.
Weight per horsepower
Kerb weight is 2450 kg, gross 2810 kg, power 326 hp.
- Kerb kg per hp: 2450 ÷ 326 ≈ 7.52 kg/hp.
- Gross kg per hp: 2810 ÷ 326 ≈ 8.62 kg/hp.
- The extra mass the car is allowed to carry: 2810 − 2450 = 360 kg (payload between kerb and gross).
- Payload as a share of kerb: 360 ÷ 2450 ≈ 14.7%.
- Payload as a share of gross: 360 ÷ 2810 ≈ 12.8%.
If you load the full 360 kg, you are asking 326 hp to move 2810 kg instead of 2450 kg — about 14.7% more mass than kerb. There is no lighter 5.4 AT in another generation to buy your way out of that. The version to buy is still 5.4 AT; the question is whether 7.52 kg/hp at kerb (8.62 kg/hp at gross) matches how you will use a 2450 kg Sedan.
Performance and economy: what the 5.4 AT actually returns
0–100 and top speed
5.4 AT is listed at 7.3 s to 100 km/h and 225 km/h top speed. Those are the only acceleration and maximum-speed figures in the data. There is no second Park Ward version that is quicker or slower, so you cannot “buy” a faster 0–100 inside this model. The extra money, if any, is not for a hotter catalogue tune — we have no prices — it is for this one Automatic 5-speed RWD package.
At 7.3 s and 2450 kg, the kerb mass per second to 100 is 2450 ÷ 7.3 ≈ 336 kg per second of the 0–100 run as a crude ratio of mass to the stated time. It is not a physics measurement; it is arithmetic so the 7.3 s is not an isolated slogan.
Fuel consumption and tank
Figures for 5.4 AT:
| Cycle | l/100 km | Implied range on the 100 l tank |
|---|---|---|
| City | 25.4 | 100 ÷ 25.4 × 100 ≈ 394 km |
| Highway | 12.8 | 100 ÷ 12.8 × 100 ≈ 781 km |
| Mixed | 17.4 | 100 ÷ 17.4 × 100 ≈ 575 km |
City is 12.6 l/100 km higher than highway (25.4 − 12.8 = 12.6). City is about 1.98× highway (25.4 ÷ 12.8 ≈ 1.98). Mixed sits 4.6 above highway and 8.0 below city (17.4 − 12.8 = 4.6; 25.4 − 17.4 = 8.0). If your use is city-heavy, the 25.4 figure is the one that governs; the 12.8 highway number does not cancel it.
A 100 l tank is large in absolute litres. Against mixed 17.4 l/100 km it still only buys about 575 km. Against city 25.4 it buys about 394 km. The tank does not make 5.4 AT an economy car; it offsets a high litre figure.
CO2 is not measured. Eco class is not measured. Do not treat a missing CO2 as “this engine has no emissions figure in real life”; in this catalogue it is simply not measured.
Fuel is 95. There is no second fuel type to choose.
Dimensions, weight, clearance, wheels
The data does not list overall length, width, height or wheelbase. Those sizes are not measured here. What is measured:
- Kerb: 2450 kg
- Gross: 2810 kg
- Ground clearance: 140 mm
- Tank: 100 l
- Wheels: not measured
Clearance 140 mm under 2450 kg: 2450 ÷ 140 ≈ 17.5 kg per millimetre of clearance as a ratio of mass to ride height. It is a catalogue comparison aid, not a suspension rating. Front suspension is Independent, spring; rear is Independent, spring. Front brakes Disc; rear brakes Disc. There is no second Park Ward with a different suspension or brake tag.
140 mm is the only ground clearance. If you need more, this catalogue does not offer another Park Ward generation that raised it. If you need a measured wheel size for tyre shopping, that field is not measured — do not invent a diameter.
Payload 360 kg must fit inside the 2810 kg gross. Occupants plus luggage that exceed 360 kg above the 2450 kg kerb put the car over the listed gross.
Which version to choose
There is one named version
Choose 5.4 AT if you want this model at all. The catalogue does not split Park Ward into a weaker and a stronger 5.4, or into Automatic versus another gearbox, or into RWD versus another drive. Two versions with the same name would be told apart by horsepower; here there is a single 5.4 AT at 326 hp, so no such split applies.
What you are buying, in the numbers:
1. Engine package: Gasoline, 12 cylinders, V-shaped, 5379 cm³, 326 hp at 5000 rpm, 490 Nm at 3900 rpm, No boost, Front, longitudinal, Distributed injection (multi-point), compression 10, 85 × 79, 2 valves per cylinder, fuel 95. 2. Driveline: Automatic, 5 gears, RWD. 3. Body and years: Sedan, 1 generation, 2000-01-01 to 2002-12-31. 4. Performance: 7.3 s to 100 km/h, 225 km/h. 5. Use cost in fuel (not money): 25.4 / 12.8 / 17.4 l/100 km city / highway / mixed, 100 l tank. 6. Mass and stance: 2450 / 2810 kg, 140 mm clearance, wheels not measured.
What “extra money” cannot buy inside this model
There is no higher-hp 5.4 AT, no later generation with more than 326 hp, no version with boost other than No, and no AWD alternative in the data. Arithmetic cannot invent a second row. The only internal “upgrades” you can reason about are how you use this one row:
- Highway-biased use leans on 12.8 l/100 km and ~781 km from the 100 l tank, with 225 km/h as the listed top speed.
- City-biased use leans on 25.4 l/100 km and ~394 km per tank — city is 12.6 l/100 km worse than highway.
- Loaded use moves from 7.52 kg/hp at 2450 kg toward 8.62 kg/hp at 2810 kg; payload is 360 kg.
- Low-clearance use is fixed at 140 mm; Independent, spring at both ends does not change by version.
Reliability and problems as a buying filter
This catalogue does not measure reliability, common faults, or service intervals. Those topics are not measured. A buying decision that needs a failure-rate number cannot be closed from these fields. What is closed: a 12-cylinder Gasoline V-shaped engine with No boost and Distributed injection (multi-point), 5-speed Automatic, RWD, disc brakes front and rear as tagged Disc, produced only in that 2000–2002 window.
mpg and economy as a buying filter
The consumption fields are litres per 100 km, not mpg. Using them as written: mixed 17.4, city 25.4, highway 12.8. If economy is the reason you opened this page, 5.4 AT is a high-litre Sedan with a 100 l tank to stretch range, not a second, thriftier Park Ward. There is no smaller-displacement version in the data to “buy down” the 17.4 mixed figure.
Dimensions as a buying filter
Without measured exterior dimensions or wheels, you cannot rank Park Ward generations by length or tyre size. You can rank by mass and clearance only: 2450 kg kerb, 2810 kg gross, 140 mm. If your constraint is garage length or a specific wheel, those constraints are not measured here.
Bottom line
For Rolls-Royce Park Ward in this catalogue, the version to buy is 5.4 AT — because it is the only version, 326 hp, 490 Nm, 5379 cm³, Gasoline, 12, V-shaped, No boost, Automatic 5, RWD, Sedan, 2000-01-01–2002-12-31. Specific output is about 60.6 hp/l and 91.1 Nm/l; kerb weight is about 7.52 kg/hp; payload is 360 kg; mixed range on 100 l is about 575 km; 0–100 is 7.3 s; top speed 225 km/h; clearance 140 mm. CO2, eco class and wheels are not measured. There is no second generation that changed those figures, and no identically named twin to separate by horsepower.