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).
Road test report on an experimental car, detailing issues with suspension, steering, brakes, and a noisy engine and rear axle.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\P\October1926-November1926\ Scan067 | |
| Date | 22th October 1926 guessed | |
| contd :- -2- would have to work, there does not appear to be any means of automatically lubricating them: grease gun nipples being relied on. The car tried on the road was fitted with a Weymann body. The height of the roof was about 5 ft. 4 ins. from the ground. When driven straight at moderate speeds, the suspen- sion was excellent, all small low speed road shocks being totally eliminated. In spite of the low weight and low centre of gravity of the body, there was a definite tendency to roll when cornering at any speed. This was obviously due to the lack of lateral control. The suspension was very fair when running straight at high speeds on bad roads, but would have been better with a little more damping. Brake power appeared to be very poor, as was more or less inevitable with no axle control. The steering (which is an innovation, having two independent pendulum levers operated separately from the steering box) seemed very heavy and as far as we could see did not self-centre (we were not allowed to drive the car), and developed the most violent low speed wobble during the test. The rear axle emitted all sorts of strange noises, amongst others, a pronounced knock emanated therefrom every time the clutch was let in or the car was accelerated. This, presumably was due to, in a measure, the winding up of the rear springs. The engine was hopelessly rough and noisy. Altogether this car was rather disappointing being in a very experimental condition. The makers do not appear to have had time to attempt to overcome its more obvious faults. The suspension would have been commendable had it not contd :- | ||