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).
The unsatisfactory performance of the 3.5 Litre Bentley on pave roads in Belgium.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 87\5\ scan0146 | |
| Date | 14th July 1934 | |
| W/S - H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} c. to EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} X250 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}10/KW.14.7.34. 3 1/2 Litre Bentley in Belgium. B-88-AH. With reference to H22/MC.13.7.34, we are fully aware that the Bentley as at present being sold is a highly unsatisfactory car for use under the extreme conditions exemplified by the pave roads in Belgium. We experienced exactly the same trouble on the level crossings in America. The very features which make the Bentley so unpleasant on pave road surfaces give it the road holding qualities which make it so desirable for good roads on the Continent and in England. We have really no cure to offer for the trouble at present. In America we catered for the conditions by lowering the poundage of the front dampers and running with soft tyre pressures. Lowering the damper loads spoilt the car for high speed work. With the controllable dampers, however, it is of course possible to run with minimum damping over pave and by use of the control get the maximum damping at high speeds. We are at present running our test in France on 6" tyres; the only object of 6" tyres is to cater for conditions such as these. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} of course ran the Bentley in Belgium the last time he was over there and entirely agrees with the criticisms made. We will take the opportunity of finding out what is the best compromise now that we have controllable dampers on our experimental car. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||