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).
Comparing the suspension and ride comfort of the Phantom and Silver Ghost models.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\O\2April1926-June1926\ Scan043 | |
| Date | 24th April 1926 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c.c. to BJ. RG.{Mr Rowledge} c.c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c.c. to BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c.c. to Ma. ORIGINAL Z HS{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}2/LG24.4.26. X9410 X3900 X8410 X7628 PHANTOM SUSPENSION. We have obtained several pre front brake Silver Ghost cars from the R.D. and Mr. Nadin and ourselves have compared the riding with the Phantom. We have not yet tried a Silver Ghost which shows any improvement over the Phantom. Some of the Silver Ghost cars we have tried, Mr. Nadin has criticised as having too stiff rear springs or too much internal friction in the springs. We believe however we are agreed upon two points - (a) That the differences between the Phantom and the Silver Ghost springing can easily be swallowed up by the variations in spring weights, tyre pressures and friction. (b) If we get both Phantom and Silver Ghost in the very best possible condition in each case, the Silver Ghost has a slight advantage. We understand that Mr. Fuller considerably altered his views on Phantom springing after trying a max number of Phantom cars. He appears to have been unfortunate in the first example he tried over here. Rn{Mr Robinson}'s scheme of obtaining the value of the riding of the car by the amount of water lost in a vessel is proving a very useful and reliable test. It does agree with ones personal impressions and the results can be repeated consistently. Unless one has some means of measuring the comfort, it is quite impossible to keep in mind the degree of comfort obtained on different cars with the various combinations of springing. This test shows up clearly that customers satisfaction with the 20 HP. springing is justified. | ||