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).
Unsatisfactory stopping distance of Bentley brakes.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 85\1\ scan0343 | |
| Date | 7th July 1937 | |
| S/W. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} re- Bentley Brakes. Cx{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager}9/KW7.7.37. I understood you to say on the telephone that you were replying to my Cx{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} 9/KW30.6.37, but I have not so far seen any communication from you. I am rather at a loss to understand what you said on the telephone about agreeing with the Motor in their latest result, i.e. a stopping distance of 40' from 30 m.p.h. As you know, the two previous results we had with brakes which are obviously not as good are 30' and 36' respectively, the 30' being obtained by a technical representative of the Autocar. On that occasion Bly{B. W. Bleaney - Bentley Sales} happened to be with the car at Brooklands and saw the whole operation and measurements carried out. There is no doubt in his mind that the stopping distance was in fact 30', although the method of obtaining it was rather brutal. It seems to me it is just a question of how brutal one cares to be with the car as to what sort of result you get. I have since tried the same car that Mr. Platt recently tried, and there is no doubt that the brakes are to my mind better than any Bentley brakes I have previously tried. It is therefore rather difficult to believe that the result from 30 m.p.h. must of necessity be inferior to what has undoubtedly been obtained before. I know that you rather queried the results obtained, but Bly{B. W. Bleaney - Bentley Sales} is positive that when he was present the stopping distance was definitely as certified. It might be therefore useful if you would tell us what is the officially accepted stopping distance for the latest form of modified Bentley brakes from a speed of 30 m.p.h. We have had several people already communicate with us on this result which to them appears to be a very unsatisfactory one. Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} Kuel | ||