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).
Technical evaluation report comparing different car suspension systems and ride quality.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\S\September1928-October1928\ Scan164 | |
| Date | 16th October 1928 guessed | |
| contd :- -5- as 2 1/2" only. The maximum permissible deflection as 8 1/2". The car body was an occasional 4-seater with one spare wheel at the back. In spite of the relatively strong springs the car rode well on a normal main road with a rippling surface caused by busses. This is the type of surface that gives us so much trouble. It was not quite so good as the Cottin Desgouttes under these conditions, but very much better than the average car. Considering that the weight distribution on this car is far from what we know to be ideal, the absence of pitching was rather remarkable. At high speeds on the worst possible roads the car behaved very well indeed. Corners could be taken at high speeds without rolling, this was one point where the Cottin failed. Considering the limited amount of experimental work that the manufacturers can have been able to put in, the car is rather a vindication of the coil spring. The car we tried had done considerable mileage but body rattles of any sort did not seem to exist. We admit that when we tired the Garson which had a similar type of springing, the result was not good, but the whole Garson system was most primitively made so that it probably had very considerable internal friction while it had no hydraulic damping. There does not appear to be any advantage in the Leon Laisne system on the front over the Lancia system, it is also heavier and an inferior steering lock is obtained. on the rear, however, where independent wheel suspension allows the body weight to be reduced, and vertical coil springs on the Lancia lines are hardly practicable due to space restrictions and drive difficulties the Leon horizontal spring seems to offer possibilities. The car is small and so hardly comparable contd:- | ||