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 Bentley frame's obsolescence and the development of a stiffened chassis to cure faults.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 86\4\ scan0216 | |
| Date | 16th June 1936 | |
| FILES. x227 16th June, 1936. Bentley Frame. The Bentley car produced over two years ago is already obsolescent, particularly as regards ride and engine roughness, and as Wraith will take up most of our energies in the near future, the redesign of the Bentley is unlikely to take place for some time. The stiffened chassis frame on 5-B-IV has been produced in an attempt to improve the Bentley without redesigning the entire car; in particular it is an attempt to help cure the following faults: (1) Body Failures. (2) Engine Vibration. (3) Front end shake, including lamps and steering wheel. (4) Tendency to tramp. Fault (1) is self explanatory: the coachwork on recent 10,000 mile cars has not stood up. As regards (2) we hope a much more flexible engine mounting will be of material help in improving matters. It is impossible to use this on a frame designed for a solidly mounted engine, as tramping would occur immediately. The front end shake of a Bentley at speed is very unpleasant and the steering wheel is uncomfortable to hold. In producing the stiffened chassis frame we have succeeded in increasing the torsional stiffness of the whole car considerably, and in reducing all shakes. Comparison of graphs J and G shows how much torsional stiffness we have gained: namely 2 1/2 times. The same graphs show that 5-B-IV is 1 1/2 times as stiff as a car with 2 crosses. Graphs J and C | ||