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).
Daimler-Benz vehicle technology, including frame construction, engine design, and a review of a V-12 supercharged engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\3\ scan0239 | |
| Date | 21th June 1937 | |
| -5- DAIMLER-BENZ. Owing to limited time, very little was seen here. Barrel tappets with ends flash welded on are being used on a side valve engine in conjunction with cams with a very large diameter base circle. The use of the "backbone" tubular frame construction is to be extended this year to all Mercedes cars - including racing cars. A representative of the firm maintained that tests had shown that for a given weight of material and production cost, this type of frame was stiffer than any other. Among the frames tested was a X-braced box section frame. We were able to arrange for a run in a 2/3-litre Mercedes with swinging axles. The engine performance and the ride were both good, but tyre noise was very much in evidence. The tyres were admittedly a little low in pressure, but we gained the impression that tyre noise was nevertheless excessive, and it was more or less admitted by the Mercedes representative that the swinging axles were responsible. In the museum we saw a V-12 supercharged petrol engine of 1000 H.P. at maximum boost, designed for motor-boat use and presumably intended for the German navy. Though heavy compared with our engines, the engine was designed on aero lines. Separate steel cylinders with sheet steel jackets welded on were closely packed on a substantial aluminium crankcase. A cast aluminium camshaft housing and rocker cover tied the tops of the cylinders together, but valves and porting were carried in the separate cylinders, the heads of which were, of course, not detachable. A cross drive at the supercharger end drove two coolant pumps discharging into two manifolds, one at the bottom of each bank on the outside. These fed each cylinder separately, the cylinder jackets being connected in series at the top, and the coolant was taken away from the top of the end cylinder in each bank remote from the supercharger. The supercharger discharged into a passage cast in the V.{VIENNA} of the crankcase which led to a central uptake to the carburetter. (Cont'd). | ||