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).
Vehicle steering, suspension, and road holding characteristics following a skid.
| Identifier | Morton\M10\ img048 | |
| Date | 4th April 1928 | |
| (2) CWB8/GM/4.4.28. that at any speed over about 72 to 75 m.p.h. I could not be certain of passing any given obstruction within 18" and found it necessary in practise to ease down to somewhere about 55 m.p.h. at the time when another car had to be passed on the road. There therefore appears to be a very definite difference of opinion regarding the characteristics of the steering of this car at the time it left Chateauroux and at the time I was with it. It may be that some of the faults which are enumerated in this same report of Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}'s have arisen. A burst tyre either front of back can be eliminated. There was nothing wrong with the tyres, which were examined immediately after Mr. Grylls' skid and all tyres were good on the day following my accident. As regards rear shock absorbers, I found it necessary and desirable to take these up slightly after the first day I was with the car and actually took up the two front and one rear Hartford a quarter of a turn and the other rear Hartford about two-thirds of a turn as this was definitely freer than the other one. Following this the car rode admirably and we had no intimation of any sort from the way the car sat on the springs, or from any peculiar movement of the car when in motion, that there was anything the matter with any of the springs. Altogether I consider the suspension and road holding qualities of the car, up to the point at which the skid occurred, excellent. [handwritten] 1/6 30 As regards a broken side steering tube spring, this is a possibility and would appear to account completely for the divergence of opinion regarding the steering of this car. In any case, this part is intact and so can be examined. [handwritten signature] CWB CWB. | ||