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).
Quarterly complaints report regarding Bentley vehicles, focusing on brake issues and poor slow running.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 130\4\ scan0001 | |
| Date | 8th June 1936 | |
| K 1112 To Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Les.{Ivan A. Leslie} c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Smth. c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/AFM.{Anthony F. Martindale} c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/CTS.{C. Trot Salt - Carburation} c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Swdl.{Len H. Swindell} c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/G.R. c. to Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Wst. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}22/KW.8.6.36. Bentley Quarterly Complaints. (1) Brakes. Martindale. Brake complaints lead the field. The dangerous complaint is brake judders. It is absolutely imperative that we should do something to alleviate this trouble on cars at present being delivered to customers, and some fundamental modification to make sure that future cars built cannot suffer from the disease. We regard this problem as No. 1 on the Bentley programme. Brake squeaks produce the greatest volume of complaints, and this is now assuming such proportions that we must assume that either the design or the material we are using is fundamentally bad for this feature. The interesting point is that there are nearly three times as many rear brake squeaks as front brake squeaks. We are going to see if we can get one of the Trials cars running on the new brake material. We are not interested in hand brake squeaks because this brake is only meant for parking and in our opinion squeaks merely discourage its use for purposes for which it was not intended. (2) Poor Slow Running. Salt Ratcliffe. In our opinion a very justifiable complaint, and one that is going to get a good deal worse on the 4¼ litre. We have got to improve the slow running on the standard Bentley car. | ||