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).
Road testing a Bentley suspension for American conditions, noting issues with body rattles and contrasting road types.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 173\1\ img080 | |
| Date | 15th January 1934 guessed | |
| Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} We have spent the day at the R.R. Plant trying to make the suspension of the Bentley reasonable for American conditions. In spite of only having covered about 250 miles, the body was a mass of rattles which quite spoilt the impression created otherwise. My feeling so far is that the American roads fit for speed are so wide & have so little camber that it is not necessary to have very stiff springs to obtain directional stability. Also there are no roads corresponding to the English cross country main roads i.e. with a good surface but endless corners. On the other hand, with the traffic density and continual stop lights one is frequently forced to travel for miles at below 30 M.P.H and frequently the roads on these stretches have a rippling surface, which make | ||