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).
The performance of controllable shock dampers on the 22-EX chassis.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 16\5\ Scan137 | |
| Date | 3rd November 1933 | |
| File N7520. CONTROLLABLE SHOCK DAMPERS ON 22-EX CHASSIS. Over-riding Control at Minimum. In this position the car represents what was originally intended to be automatic damper control. That is there is a full governor range increasing the ball pin load up to 160 lbs, at 80 m.p.h. For a chauffeur driven car where the driver refrains from making any drastic movements of the car, the result is quite suitable. Although the riding in the car is good for lack of harshness and well dithering though out the speed range, there is a noticeable increase of damping as the car goes faster. The general riding and controllability of the car is better than our present standard car, although we have no doubt that far better results will eventually be obtained. Overriding control Maximum. In this position the governor does nothing. The ball pin load is over 300 lbs. at low speeds and it would be unwise to put a governor range at the top of this, bringing it up to 500 lbs., until we XXXX know more about the system. There is also a difficulty of the control bellows collapsing inside the damper. The first thing which is noticeable on the road is the feeling of safety inviting you to drive fast. An important point however is improved riding in the back of the car, when driven fast over wavy roads, particularly when the car is fully laden. At low speeds the riding is extremely harsh. This accentuates the range of the control. When traversing pot-holey surfaces similar to Bishops Avenue at about 40 m.p.h. the maximum position is very useful. Overriding Control Half Way. At 80 m.p.h. there is no difference between the half-way and the maximum position. This is due to the governor. At low speeds the riding is much less harsh than the maximum position. It is quite easy to imagine certain XXXX owners using the middle position all the time. | ||