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).
Car's poor maximum speed, testing results, and potential causes like column whip.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 70\1\ scan0049 | |
| Date | 1st February 1928 | |
| +8774 x8774 / x.469 To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} ________________ Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}2/LG6.2.28. ________________ We have received your note. We are surprised that the car maximum speed is so poor. Last week-end we ran 10-EX with a calibrated speedometer and on good stretches of road brought the car up to 82 m.p.h. with the hood up. We therefore believe that your car should do the anticipated 85/86 m.p.h. with the rear screens and hood down if the speedometer is right and you are not having trouble. As the Zenith petrol filter went through the dynamometer test without any trouble, we are rather at a loss to know what test to make to reproduce the failure that you mention. We feel that the column whip of which you speak results from an incipient high speed wobble because we do not seem to get it on the chassis here to any objectionable extent because we cannot maintain the high speeds at which you can run on the Continent, nor have we the bad roads. We have experimentally put in hand a more rigid steering column stay. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||