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).
The influence of torsion rod location on vehicle turning characteristics like oversteer and understeer.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 95\2\ scan0110 | |
| Date | 20th August 1936 guessed | |
| vertical load on the tire has a marked influence upon the slip angle. Location of the torsion rod in the rear causes the rear wheels to take most of the overturning couple and thus overloads the outer rear wheel. This overload increases the slip angle of this wheel and tends to make the car oversteer. Conversely, a torsion rod in front tends to overload the outer front wheel and makes the car understeer. Thus the location of the torsion rods has a fundamental influence upon the turning characteristics of a car. Many other factors enter into this picture such as effects of changing camber, flexibility of the steering mechanism and influence of roll on steering position of the wheels. Therefore, in designing a car, these items have to be taken into consideration in their entirety and the location of the torsion rods will be determined from such considerations. This explains why some cars have torsion rods in front, some in rear, and some in front and rear. | ||