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).
Improvements in chassis clearance, performance, induction, and central oiling systems.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 14\5\ Scan131 | |
| Date | 16th September 1929 guessed | |
| (2) we have reduced the height of the frame from the ground, and actually increased our minimum clearance. We should like to point out here that many chassis having very low appearance have what we think insufficient road clearance to allow for rough roads, camber, and hump backed bridges. The seating and bodywork should follow on the same lines to give a low and long appearance. A high or heavy roof makes for bad steering at the high speed this car is capable of running. Performance has been considerably improved by :- (A) weight reduction, in which, owing to our experience in aero work we have been able to save much, without making any of the parts more liable to fail from wear or fatigue. This acts directly to increase the performance, especially in acceleration, and on hills. (B) Owing to certain improvements in the inlet and exhaust system and the new R.R. rollerless valve gear we are able to run the engine at higher revs. getting a better torque at all speeds, and especially at the higher revs. The combined advantages of (1), (2), and (3) make the improvements most marked, and especially if one takes advantage of the saving in weight of modern body construction. The induction system (following our experience in aero work) has been re-arranged to give more equal distribution when cold, and to need less heat under all conditions. This improves the engine for power with less detonations and pre-ignitions. In examining the merits of any car one should be aware of mis-statements and incorrect speedometers, which we are sorry to say are so frequently met with, and rather judge of the merits by average over a well known road, or the maximum speed or acceleration as recorded at Brooklands. CENTRAL OILING. This has been fitted in the most practical form. It has been carried out with care and thought. It is so very useful in getting some work done which is usually badly neglected, with the result that parts become worn which should not have happened. We have however avoided the impractical and unreliable [strikethrough]scheme of oiling the front and back axles. We have group[/strikethrough] scheme of carrying the flexible tubes to the axle, but have grouped these together to one point each that can be easily filled at wide intervals (3 months). The foot pressure pump however feeds all the points that come under the weekly oiling schedule. | ||