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).
Investigation into a customer complaint from Gustav Wyns in Brussels regarding steering, braking, and other issues.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 17\4\ Scan087 | |
| Date | 9th October 1934 | |
| COPY. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/GWH.{George W. Hancock - Head Chateauroux}9/KW.9.10.34. COMPLAINT OF 128-PY. Gustav Wyns, Rue Phillippe le Bon, Brussels. ------------------------------------ As requested, I travelled to Brussels to investigate and obtain first-hand knowledge of Mr. Wyns' complaints. The following are his complaints - (1) Steering joggles and shocks. (2) Not sufficient braking. (3) Tyre wear. (4) Instruments breaking such as water temperature gauge pipe, electrical clock stopping. (5) General noise from tappet mechanism at high speed. I accompanied Mr. Wyns from the centre of Brussels to his Works at Velvorde, a distance of approx. 5 miles, afterwards on routes he frequently uses. The roads are paved with large pave and are in a deplorable condition. Mr. Wyns is a very fast driver and stated that he had driven racing cars, also that he did not buy the car to be driven about in a leisurely manner. He drives it at an average speed of 55 m.p.h. on the pave roads. The steering wheel joggled the whole time, also there were periods of severe oscillation. There was no sign of wobble or tramping. Mr. Wyns' method of holding the steering wheel lightly does not help to keep the steering wheel steady. With our light reversible steering there is very little hope of being able to give Mr. Wyns the steering he desires. Our own car 28-EX, which has a friction device fitted to the pivots and a friction disc on the steering column would not satisfy his criticism. We drove our car over the same conditions of pave and although the steering wheel was steadier it was not free from joggles or periods of severe oscillations. There are three different kinds of pave in Belgium, the worst being the large blocks. The small pave which is now being extensively used gives a good surface and has little effect upon the steering. There is a general move throughout Belgium to improve the road conditions. Brakes. The brakes on this car were a good standard of | ||