Rolls-Royce Is Testing Cars Above Speed Limit Without Actually Speeding

Article Summary

• Rolls-Royce has opened a new test facility at Goodwood to fine-tune ride comfort, handling, and refinement.
• The Eric Platford Testway features eight different road surfaces designed to replicate challenging real-world conditions.
• The aero-acoustic chamber uses high-pressure, variable-speed air jets on a movable gantry to test and fine-tune wind noise.

We’ll admit that the news of Rolls-Royce opening a new testing facility at its Goodwood home isn’t the most exciting. However, something did catch our attention. The newly inaugurated Eric Platford Testway gives the BMW Group brand an interesting way to test its cars at speeds you wouldn’t normally be allowed to drive at in the UK. Well, kind of.

The facility has an aero-acoustic chamber that can simulate speeds above the country’s 70-mph (112-km/h) national speed limit. Rolls-Royce has equipped it with high-pressure, variable-speed air jets mounted on a movable gantry. This lets engineers conduct static wind-noise testing at simulated speeds above the national speed limit.

In other words, Rolls-Royce can reproduce the high-speed conditions its cars might encounter in markets with unrestricted sections of road like the Autobahn in Germany without taking a prototype onto a UK road and breaking the speed limit. The company says the system can simulate conditions comparable to those encountered in some markets where unrestricted roads exist.

Supreme Comfort At Any Speed

That’s particularly relevant for a brand that puts an enormous emphasis on refinement. At highway speeds and beyond, wind noise, vibrations, suspension behavior, and even the smallest interior rattles can become more noticeable. Rolls-Royce wants to identify those issues before a car reaches a customer. Of course, the new facility doesn’t completely replace real-world testing, either. Engineers continue validating a selection of vehicles on an eight-mile (13-kilometer) route on local roads around Goodwood.

After going through the aero-acoustic chamber, the cars tackle four parallel 90-meter lanes with eight different surface profiles. Rolls-Royce uses these to subject its cars to controlled inputs and identify even subtle deviations in refinement, chassis behavior, and structural integrity. The surfaces mimic everything from small and large cobblestones to railway tracks, concrete waves, twist humps, and alternating iron covers.

That’s not all. In true Rolls-Royce fashion, there’s even a smooth tarmac section. The car is driven twice on each surface, both at fixed speeds and while sweeping through different speeds. Turning areas at either end of the facility simulate roundabout-style changes of direction, with engineers paying particular attention to whether loose objects inside the cabin remain undisturbed.

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Eric Platford Testway

The facility is named after Eric Platford, Rolls-Royce’s first Chief Tester and a key figure in the company’s early history. More than a century after Platford tested early Rolls-Royce models, the new Testway is designed to help today’s engineers put the finishing touches on the company’s hand-built cars.

Rolls-Royce’s lineup currently features the Ghost and Phantom sedans, along with the Cullinan SUV and Spectre electric coupe. If spy photos are any indication, an electric SUV is on its way as the fifth member of the portfolio. It’s reportedly coming in 2027 to sit alongside the V12-powered Cullinan rather than replace it.

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