Performance review and road test of a 5 Litre Supercharged Mercedes.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 22\5\ Scan152 | |
| Date | 27th November 1934 | |
| To Sg. {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} From Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /Gry. {Shadwell Grylls} C. to Wcr. C. to E. {Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} C. to Da. {Bernard Day - Chassis Design} C. to By. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} C. to Hay. C. to Bn. {W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} x407 Copy for files not sent out Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /Gry. {Shadwell Grylls} 10/KW.27.11.34. 5 Litre Supercharged Mercedes. We were able to have a run on one of these chassis fitted with a close coupled Coupe body. The chassis was similar to the one at Olympia having independent front and rear springing. The outstanding feature of the car was the performance when using the Blower a speedometer reading of 95 - 100 m.p.h. being frequently obtainable on the byepass even south of Bignall's corner. The scheme of bringing in the blower beyond full throttle is attractive in that acceleration equivalent to a much lower gear is obtained without any trouble. The blower itself was very noisy, a feature apparently liked by most German owners. The springing provided a good low speed ride for a sports car but could not be mistaken for a town carriage in Avenue Rd. The steering was light, selective and entirely free from road shocks. The top and bottom links are the same length as on 27-EX, and no effect on the steering of violent cornering could be noticed. It is difficult to say how much higher rating the springs are than our independently sprung cars. High speed cornering could be indulged in without any feeling of insecurity or likelihood of jumping out on the corner. One unpleasant feature was the ride over quite small humpbacks which resulted in anything on the rear seats hitting the roof. Hydraulic brakes are fitted. When used at all hard they produced a violent front end judder adequately demonstrated by their German expert during an emergency stop. The excuse given that the linings are not suitable for English conditions does not seem as likely as the fact that the whole front suspension is rubber mounted. The effect of braking on a corner could not therefore be tried. Also when braking at low speeds loud knocks came from the rear suspension (no excuse given). | ||
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).