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 choice of springs for the 25 HP model for France, balancing comfort against reliability and handling.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 181\M13\M13.2\ img081 | |
| Date | 17th August 1931 | |
| THE CLASSIC COMPROMISES IRRECONCILABLES? ORIGINAL THE SPEED MERCHANT & 'OLD LADY' To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to Sr. C. c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}4/MJ.17.8.31. 25 HP. FOR FRANCE. X5410. Replying to R.3/M.15.8.31. The type of spring is chiefly dictated by the customer. It is unfortunate that the "old lady's car" i.e. the one which as a rule has a big body and high centre of gravity, is the car which customers demand the maximum comfort at average speeds which we can only obtain by fitting the low rating springs. On the other hand the car with the low centre of gravity is generally an owner driver's sporting car and in that case we can most often make the customer happy by fitting stiffer springs than the standard. The chief reason why the 25 HP. car which we have sent to France is fitted with the low rating springs is because we have had a number of tests in France on the standard springs but we have never yet had a test on the low rating type. As we have already pointed out, the stress in these springs is very high and we wish to find out whether they are going to be very reliable. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||