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).
Comparison of steering characteristics and road shock transmission between a 40/50 HP model and a Delage car.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\J\January1923\ Scan19 | |
| Date | 1st January 1923 guessed | |
| contd:- -2- in the column, that 6 lbs. pull on the pendulum lever turned the steering wheel. On the Delage car it was necessary to have 22 lbs. pull on the pendulum lever in order to turn the wheel. In the case of the 40/50 HP. with the plain thrust, we could not turn the steering wheel by any load on the pendulum lever. The more load we put on the more stiff the steering wheel was to turn. This test confirms the results obtained on the road, i.e., on the standard 40/50, slight road shocks are easily transmitted to the steering wheel - with the plain thrust, no severe shocks are transmitted to the wheel. The Delage is only moderately irreversible, but on the road this car is free from shocks. This must either be due to the front springs being so stiff that they do not deflect sufficiently to influence the steering, or, that the shocks are not so severe as we think. We propose making the front springs on the Delage more flexible by removing some of the plates in order to test this point. Although it is an excellent feature that the effect- iveness of the plain thrust increases with the blow, we think it would be a good thing if we limited the effectiveness, otherwise, there may be a danger of the steering being strained or damaged. For instance, if the car is run into a curb or over a large obstacle which would ordinarily deflect the steering wheel, if the steering wheel is held rigid by the plain thrust, then the shock will have to be taken by all the steering connections. With the side steering rod still disconnected, we measured the amount of effort required to turn the steering wheel | ||