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).
Copy of a letter from Mr. Raymond Mays regarding experimental brakes on a Bentley.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 90\4\ scan0075 | |
| Date | 22th January 1937 | |
| COPY OF LETTER FROM MR. RAYMOND MAYS. --------------------------------- Eastgate House, Bourne, Lincolnshire. January 22nd, 1937. TRM/SM. A.F. Sidgreaves, Esq., Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Ltd., 16, Conduit Street, London, W. Dear Mr. Sidgreaves, Concerning the experimental brakes which were fitted to my 4½-litre Bentley a few months ago. I have now covered between six and seven thousand miles since the brakes were fitted, but unfortunately I have not yet been able to compare the new brakes with the old ones as regards my various long journeys in Europe as the 1936 racing season was over before I received the car back from Derby. Under the normal hard conditions for which I use the car in this country the new brakes have behaved very well - the operation is not quite so light as on the previous brakes but is still quite light enough and requires less pressure than on any other make of car. The brakes are smoother in action when applied, and on no occasion have I ever noticed "grab" or "clonk" which was prevalent on the old brakes, particularly when they required adjusting. I have made several continuous applications from high speeds and I can definitely state that the present brakes do not fade as quickly as the old ones - even now I can still make the brakes feel well below normal efficiency after a few continuous applications from speeds of about 90 m.p.h. For some reason or other, the brakes appear to work better at high speeds than at very low speeds - on several occasions when applying them in London traffic, the pedal has been fully depressed and the car does not appear to have full braking pressure - this latter point is rather extraordinary but has happened on several occasions. From high speeds it is possible to lock both back wheels but so far I have not been able to lock the front wheels - would it be possible to | ||