V8
on the Test Hill at Brooklands
Ian
Ailes has sent in a couple of photos of his immaculate MGBGTV8 on the Test Hill
at Brooklands.
Posted: 140411
|  | Ian
Ailes has sent in a couple of photos of his immaculate MGBGTV8 on the Test Hill
at Brooklands last weekend which he felt might me of interest. The slope is 1in
8, 1 in 5 and then 1in 4! He provides a note on the Test Hill.
The
Test Hill was built in
1909 as another facility to encourage use of the track for development and test
work. It is 352 feet long and divided into three sections, starting with a gradient
of 1 in 8, then 1 in 5 and the top third has a gradient of 1 in 4. It was used
by manufacturers to test both the ability of cars to climb steep hills and also
of their brakes to stop them coming down.
As performance increased, cars
and motorcycles driven at full bore inevitably ‘took off’ when they
got to the top. This extra spice of danger made it an irresistible attraction
to some of the drivers at Brooklands, and the Test Hill Record became a recognised
institution until speeds got so high that there was not enough room at the top
for a safe landing. The record climb in 7.691 seconds (an average of 31.277 mph)
stood for nearly seven years until on the 25th October 1932 when R.G.J. Nash (no
relation to Archie Fraser Nash) driving a Frazer Nash special called ‘The
Terror’ established the all-time car record for the Test Hill with 7.45 seconds
(an average of 32.444 mph) . ‘The Terror’ crested the rise at about
50mph and flew about 40 feet before landing!
Photos
- MGBGTV8 on the Test Hill | | V8
Register - MG Car Club - the
leading group for MG V8 enthusiasts at www.v8register.net |
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