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).
Car springing, weight distribution, and ride comfort issues.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\T\2July1928-December1928\ Scan126 | |
| Date | 1st October 1928 | |
| BJ. ) FROM R.{Sir Henry Royce} BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} ) HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} ) Copy to WOR.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} " DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} " E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} " C. " SG.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} R1/M1.10.28. ORIGINAL re. SPRINGING. (Handwritten annotations:) X5410 X7410 X5410 X507 X4050 X7830 Certain undesirable characteristics of the cars have been overcome by effective shock dampers, that is to say, I believe that when the springs are correctly selected for the weights carried according to our standard we have little or no complaints as regards high speed riding and sea-sickness on either the 20HP. or 40/50. The remaining complaint is that of harsh riding at slow speeds, and is confined almost entirely to the Phantom. We do not know how to overcome this better than using the more recent balloon tyres at a low pressure. Our serious difficulty is that we are not able to get a better weight distribution until we are able to introduce the "SS{S. Smith}" model. The reason why we believe that the weight distribution is of the utmost importance is that we rarely have complaints from the 20HP., so that everything points to the importance of pushing forward the time in which we shall be delivering "SS{S. Smith}" chassis. In the meantime everything must be pushed back that is possible by ourselves and the coachbuilders, in the way of spare wheels, battery, tools, and spares. One great point is that the coachbuilder will push the rear seat very far back for the sake of: (1) dropping glass windows behind drivers, (2) very comfortable occasional seats (facing forward). and so waste the best part of the car. This is demonstrated in the short 4 seater body I am using. The Show cars will look horribly high, and to make the best of these we should have springs that will bring them down to their loaded position. There are also some wheels slightly smaller in dia., i.e. 20" rims with super-balloon tyres. The tyres could be less than fully inflated. HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} says that the more silent type of tread makes a wonderful difference to the silence of the car. I suggest our trials cars should be so fitted. My 12-G.4. is waiting for the same. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||