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).
Page discussing the influence of the car's centre of gravity and the necessity for suspension damping, with a table comparing R-R and Sunbeam models.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 178\1\ img180 | |
| Date | 28th August 1926 | |
| - 8 - Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/LG28.8.26. When considering spring periodicity it should be remembered that, while the actual spring frequency is a guide to the behaviour of the car, the problem is much complicated by the tyre deflection, the fact that the car is sprung at the front as well as the rear, and the position of the centre of gravity of the sprung mass which all have a very material influence on the characteristics of the suspension. (d) Influence of car centre of gravity. Our experiments have shewn us that, to obtain the maximum comfort for the passengers in the rear of the car, it is best to have the centre of gravity of the sprung weight as near the rear axle as possible. For immunity from rolling, the height of the centre of gravity of the sprung mass above the ground is of the utmost importance. For cornering and general road holding ability, the height of the centre of gravity of the complete car should be as low as possible. As a matter of interest, we give some figures for the position of the c. of g.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} of the Sunbeam and R-R models:- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Touring | Saloon | Saloons | | | 20 HP. | 20 HP. | 14/40 Sunbeam | 20HP. Sunbeam.| |-----------------|---------|---------|---------------|---------------| | Ht. of c. of g.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} | 24" | 27.9" | 27.5" | 29.0" | | above ground. | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (e) The necessity for damping in the suspension. The difficulty of obtaining the correct amount of damping in any suspension system, is very real. For slow speed shopping work, shock dampers are practically superfluous with normal leaf contd. | ||