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).
Investigation into objectionable tyre noise on the Phantom III car, comparing it to the Phantom II and testing various tyre makes.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 30\5\ Scan148 | |
Date | 7th October 1935 guessed | |
Phantom III Tyre Noise. We have been investigating the objectionable tyre noise which has arisen on the Ph.III car, with a view to reducing same to a minimum. The noises actually can be placed into two categories, groan, and hum or sing. For reasons as yet unknown, the Ph.III car is worse than the Ph. II when identical tyres are used on both cars, although the Ph.II car is not free from the noise. We have experimented with various makes and patterns of tyres, and have also tried actual Cadillac wheels, and a similar type of Dunlop Magna wheel, without being able to cure the trouble, except in the case of perfectly smooth tyres. There is no noise whatever from a smooth tyre, but of course these are impracticable from a road holding point of view. The tests carried out on the roads around Derby certainly do not show up the noise so much as the smooth polished surfaces of the London streets, and what are apparently good tyres in Derby are not good enough when tried in London. The tyres we have tested so far are - Avon Supreme B.T.R. (Goodrich) India Super Goodyear Dunlop Silent Dunlop original '90' type, and Dunlop present '90' type, and extensive tests under many conditions show the Avon tyre to be the best all round tyre we know of at the moment for noise. | ||