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).
Results of a series of vehicle ride and handling tests.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 101\2\ scan0172 | |
| Date | 14th November 1936 guessed | |
| ( 2 ) Cornering was stable, braking was good, rear seat ride was hard and was continually harsh over all surfaces, producing an incessant up and down movement. Steering remained practically free from joggles, although the column showed slight tendency to whip sideways, despite the extra frame stiffening. Test II.) Damping was reduced all round by unscrewing the end caps, representing an initial damping of 60 lbs at the front and 55 lbs at the rear over a 14 second oscillation. The result showed a marked difference. Slight pitching would occur at intervals, although the back seat ride was generally comfortable. Steering began to joggle, and cornering became unstable, accompanied by rear axle patter. The passenger in the rear seat was thrown well up into the roof of the car going over a hump back at 40 MPH. Braking was bad due to axle patter on uneven tarmac surfaces. Test III.) Test II. clearly showed that the back should be hardened to eliminate pitching and axle patter. The end cap was accordingly screwed up to give an initial damping of 75 lbs. The result satisfactorily eliminated pitching and made the back seats ride good over hump backs, but axle patter was still evident. The steering was unaffected, but the braking was stable and good. The general opinion was, that if the rear were hardened up any more, the back seat ride would be spoiled, so it was evident that the controlling factor was going to be axle patter. Test IV.) The front was hardened up to 80 lbs by screwing up the cap the requisite number of turns. This produced a firm front coupled with a joggle free steering, although the column still continued to whip on bad roads. The back seat ride was definitely the best since starting the tests. Braking was good under all conditions. Test V.{VIENNA}) The front damping was unchanged, but the rear raised to 100 lbs. This effectively brought the axle under control, and did not appreciably upset the rear seat ride. Various other settings were tried to improve on the ride as a whole, but we could not improve on test V.{VIENNA} Test VI.) The roll-bar was disconnected. The result was disastrous. Cornering was unstable and the car was apt to jump about on a bad pot-holed surface, showing that if the roll-bar were permanently removed a harder front damping would be essential, which would upset the existing ride on straight roads. Test VII.) The roll-bar was replaced, and the frame tie-bars were | ||