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).
Reprint of a 'Daily Mail' article reporting on a prolonged test of Houdaille hydraulic shock and recoil absorbers by Mr. John Prioleau.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 25\2\ Scan048 | |
| Date | 12th October 1920 | |
| HOUDAILLE HYDRAULIC SUSPENSION SHOCK AND RECOIL ABSORBERS Report after a prolonged test by Mr. John Prioleau in the Daily Mail October 12th, 1920 IT IS NOT OFTEN THAT I HAVE A CHANCE OF GIVING A NEW CAR OR A NEW ACCESSORY SO SATISFACTORY AND SEARCHING A TEST AS I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE THE SET OF HOUDAILLE SHOCK ABSORBERS which the agents, the Hydraulic Suspension Co., Ltd., of 41, New Bond Street, London, asked me to try some three months ago. The set was fitted to my car in June, and very soon afterwards I started on a 4,000-mile tour of England, Scotland, and Wales. Four thousand miles is, of course, not an unusually long distance for a trial of this kind. In fact, it is not really long enough. I am still watching the behaviour of these excellent shock absorbers, and shall probably have to write another report on them. But these particular 4,000 miles could not have been better chosen for the purpose. I DROVE OVER EVERY VARIETY OF ROAD SURFACE TO BE FOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN, FROM THE SMOOTH PERFECTION OF THE LANCASHIRE AND KENT ROADS, TO THE RIVER-BED HORRORS OF WARWICKSHIRE AND PARTS OF SCOTLAND, SOMETIMES “RIDING LIGHT,” WITH NO COMPANIONS AND ONLY A FEATHERWEIGHT SUIT-CASE IN THE BOOT, SOMETIMES WITH THREE UP AND IMPOSING QUANTITIES OF SOLID LUGGAGE AND SPARE TYRES AND WHEELS. I THINK THE HOUDAILLE ABSORBERS HAVE BEEN THROUGH EVERY EXPERIENCE TO WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE TO SUBMIT THEM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. I am not, as a rule, enamoured of accessory trials, chiefly owing to the time needed to arrive at a working estimate of their value, but I TOOK SPECIAL INTEREST IN THESE ABSORBERS FOR TWO REASONS. THE FIRST IS THAT I CARRIED OUT SIMILAR TESTS WITH A SET ABOUT SEVEN YEARS AGO, AND I WANTED TO SEE WHAT IMPROVEMENTS, IF ANY, HAD BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE NEW TYPE, AND THE SECOND WAS THAT ANY DEVICE WHICH IS SAID TO ALLEVIATE THE AGONIES OF DRIVING A LIGHT CAR OVER SOME OF OUR MOST NOTORIOUS POST-WAR ROADS DESERVES CAREFUL EXAMINATION. The springing of cars has not improved at the same rate of progress as the rest of the chassis, and I DO NOT THINK THERE ARE MANY MACHINES OF ANY PRICE ON THE MARKET TO-DAY WHICH WOULD NOT BE IMPROVED BY THE ADDITION OF SOME FORM OF SUPPLEMENTARY SUSPENSION. JARS SMOOTHED DOWN. The Houdaille absorber is a hydraulic automatic recoil damper, working, through the medium of castor oil, somewhat on the principle of those compressors which ensure office doors being shut without slamming. The crude jar set up by the potholes is absorbed by the damper, and, as it were, watered down into a mere push. The valves controlling the volume of oil upon which depends the extent of the watering down are adjustable in a few seconds, SO THAT THE ACTION OF THE ABSORBERS CAN BE CONVENIENTLY ADAPTED TO SUIT THE LOAD CARRIED BY THE CAR. THE DEVICE IS SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE, AND, SO FAR AS I HAVE FOUND IT, TRUSTWORTHY. In giving my impressions of the Houdaille 1920 model I must begin with the weight of my car, which is a two-seater. Unladen it weighs about 16 cwt. Two-seaters, especially of light weight, are notoriously difficult to spring properly, and, consequently, less responsive to shock absorbers of any kind than larger and heavier cars. In the case of my own car the springing is exceptionally good (a fact which weighed largely in my choice of the machine) and, to be frank, I did not anticipate any very startling improvements from the use of the Houdaille. I WAS AGREEABLY DISAPPOINTED. At moderate speeds and over ordinarily poor surface I do not find the difference in running very marked, but AT ANYTHING MORE THAN 15 MILES AN HOUR, AND OVER REALLY BADLY POT-HOLED ROADS, THE ABSORBERS INCREASE THE COMFORT OF BOTH DRIVER AND PASSENGER VERY NOTICEABLY. I say driver advisedly, as I find that with the absorbers the strain on one’s wrists caused by keeping the car on a straight course over bad surface is materially lessened. For example, I have driven the car several times up and down Sunray Avenue, near Dulwich, a stretch of nightmare horror which I generally include in my car trials, and I find I can keep the car perfectly steady with my left hand only on the wheel at anything up to the legal limit. The car naturally bounces a certain amount over the holes and bumps which disgrace that avenue, but the motion is an easy one and causes no real discomfort. TYRE AND PETROL ECONOMY. Another advantage is that THE HOUDAILLE TENDS TO KEEP THE DRIVING-WHEELS IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE GROUND AT HIGH SPEEDS. This should have an appreciable effect on tyre and petrol economy. I have no direct evidence that this is so beyond the fact that the speed of the car is distinctly improved, but I think that should go a long way towards proving it. Incidentally, as the tendency of the device is to keep the springs from too violent action, I imagine that it prolongs the life of the leaves. So far, I have only one casualty to report. Each absorber, of which there are four to a set, is connected to the axle of the car by an ordinary ball-joint. After about 3,800 miles the joint of the off-rear absorber came adrift. This was owing to an excess of play, which was no doubt aggravated by the terrific hammering the car received on the tour, and it only needed a few minutes to put matters straight again. I HAVE WRITTEN AT SOME LENGTH ON THESE ABSORBERS, CHIEFLY, AS I SAID, BECAUSE ANY SUCCESSFUL DEVICE WHICH HELPS TO PROTECT OUR CARS FROM THE DESTRUCTIVE HAMMERING THEY GET ON POST-WAR ROADS DESERVES EXTRA CAREFUL EXAMINATION, BUT ALSO BECAUSE I THINK THE HOUDAILLE PEOPLE HAVE DONE A GOOD DEAL TOWARDS SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF LIGHT-CAR SUSPENSION. VERY FEW LIGHT CARS ARE ADEQUATELY SPRUNG TO-DAY FOR ANY BUT FULL LOADS AND SLOW SPEEDS ON GOOD SURFACE, AND REALLY EFFICIENT SHOCK ABSORBERS MUST INEVITABLY PROLONG THE LIFE OF TYRES AND MECHANISM, IN ADDITION TO INCREASING THE COMFORT OF THE OCCUPANTS. READERS OF THE “DAILY MAIL” WILL APPRECIATE MR. PRIOLEAU’S TESTIMONY OF THE WONDERFUL EFFICIENCY OF THE HOUDAILLE HYDRAULIC SHOCK ABSORBERS AND THE DURABILITY OF FITTING A SET TO ALL MOTOR CARS. | ||