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).
The proposal and costings for acquiring a concrete skid pan for vehicle steering tests.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 155\4\ scan0012 | |
| Date | 18th February 1936 | |
| To Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} X1322 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls}16/KW.18.2.36. Concrete Skid Pan for Steering Tests. While Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} and I were in America we were impressed by the usefulness of the General Motors Skid Pan. This piece of apparatus allows one immediately to find out whether a car under-steers or over-steers, and its general behaviour when taking a corner. This matter is becoming more important to us as our cars are now being fitted with low rating springs, and a likely future development is that they will have springs of even lower rating. We understand that during a conference in your office at the beginning of the year Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} agreed to our having a skid pan like the one at General Motors. This consists of a flat piece of concrete about 80 yards diameter. We have been in touch with Mr. Shields, the owner of Donington Park, and have been to see a piece of ground suitable for the Skid Pan. Mr. Shields estimates that it would cost him about £2000 to build, and that he would be willing to do so if we guarantee £50 a year for 10 years, unless the cost of the Skid Pan had been paid off before that date, in which case, like other manufacturers, we should be charged £1 an hour for its use. In the event of the Skid Pan rapidly gaining in popularity, two days a week of its use would be reserved entirely for Rolls-Royce. We approached EJJ. on the cost of making a Skid Pan ourselves, and he has given us a rough estimate of £2,400 for the concrete alone. We believe it would be well worth our paying £50 a year for an apparatus on which we can so easily carry out steering tests, and also the effect on carburation of violent cornering. We shall be glad if you will let us have your views on this matter. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} Att: Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}56. | ||