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).
Comparative performance tests between two Continental models and two Bentley cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 21\2\ Scan088 | |
| Date | 17th April 1931 | |
| Y3805. To R.{Sir Henry Royce} From Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to R.{Sir Henry Royce} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} FN. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1/MJ.17.4.31. x3805 x7120 COMPARATIVE TESTS WITH BENTLEY CAR. Mr. Jack Barclay, one of our agents, had pointed out that it was difficult for him to sell a Continental Model against the Sports Bentley. He stated that the Sports Bentley with a comfortable saloon body would do 100 m.p.h. We were rather sceptical about the Bentley being able to do this speed and therefore FN. arranged that Mr. Barclay should meet us on the Brooklands Track with his Bentley car. We arranged to take 27-EX. fitted with twin carburetter and 5/1 compression ratio instead of 4.6. We also had 26-EX. car there, which is the original Continental car. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} and Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} came up from W.W. Mr. Barclay brought two Bentleys(an 8 Litre, and a 6½ Litre). The bodies on all four cars were four seater saloons. If anything the Bentley bodies were more roomy than ours. The results of the tests were :- ¼ Mile. Lap Speed. 27-EX. 84.9 83.7 26-EX. 83.5 83.0 Bentley 6½ Litre. 90. 87.2 " 8 Litre. 99. 97. All figures taken with C.O. open. The gear ratio of the 8 Litre Bentley was 88 m.p.h. at 3000 revs. 27-EX. and 26-EX. 79 m.p.h. at 3000 revs. The speeds of the Bentley are very good taking into account that they have a comfortable touring body. The 8 Litre Bentley is undoubtedly a 100 m.p.h. car. The engine running of the Bentley is very good. The smoothness of our cars at top speed is also exceedingly good. There is no complaint at all of roughness at the maximum speed of the car. We were running with C.O. open and therefore were not judging booms. Both the Bentley cars had friction type shock absorbers on front, and hydraulics on the rear. The damping on the car was nothing like sufficient. In fact, the cars were quite difficult to control compared with 27-EX. and 26-EX. Acceleration. We tried side by side acceleration with the 8 Litre Bentley and 27-EX., starting from 20 m.p.h. on top gear 27-EX. gained a little up to 40 m.p.h. The cars were level at | ||