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).
Critique of a car's performance, focusing on steering, ride control, horns, and handling.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 146\5\ scan0019 | |
| Date | 20th October 1938 | |
| SrI/ET.20.10.38 - 3 - You see therefore that, in all sincerity, I started off unconvinced and prepared to criticise to the limit, and I am obliged to state quite frankly that each car that is produced is a definite step in the right direction, apart from the maximum performance of our cars which, for some reason or other, never seems to be quite what we are hoping for. Turning to criticism of B.III, I should say that, on the Continent, people would prefer the steering of a similar car which I tried some time back in Derby. This steering was, in my opinion, amazingly good; the present one is very nice, but one does not get the immediate impression that one would be able, at speed, to put a front wheel over a sixpenny bit without hesitation. After a while, of course, one realises that one can do more or less anything with this car, but it takes a certain amount of time. The next thing I should like to see on this car would be more efficiency in the ride control. In other words, the ride control should act more rapidly and stiffen up the car generally far more than it does at present, so that when customer is suddenly removed from our latest series Bentley, even the 1939 model, and placed at the wheel of the B.III, he can, until he is used to it, which he very soon will be, get an all round feeling of greater rigidity. It is not fair, in my opinion, to ask customers immediately to understand the advantages that have been obtained on B.III, i.e. remarkable riding qualities coupled with excellent road holding qualities. You will admit that this question is one which all motor car manufacturers since the advent of automobiles, have been trying to solve, and I am prepared to stake that we are now on the road to achieving that end. I wish to call attention to the fact that the Mello-tone horns fitted to this car, whilst being very harmonious, are quite useless on the main roads of this country. As I already mentioned, I believe, on some previous occasion, it is no good using "Chopin" on French roads; "Wagner" is the only sound French auto-mobilists seem able to understand. Final criticism: when driving flat out, especially on the straight, the car, on three separate occasions, showed a distinct tendency to dive over to the left (the complete car seemed to pull over to the left). This impression is very disagreeable and probably has something to do with back axle patter. This was an explanation given to me of the possible cause of the above, but I am enclined to believe that, on the present car, this criticism applies mainly to something that happens in the front of the car. | ||