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).
Vehicle suspension performance, specifically concerning shock absorbers and springs during road tests.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 16\5\ Scan014 | |
| Date | 2nd September 1931 guessed | |
| -2- About half way to Paris I had the front Hartfords put out of action with a view to ascertaining whether the springing of the car as a whole and the controllability of the steering would be satisfactory with the correct RR. rear shock absorbers and without Hartfords to the front. I soon found, however, that the controllability of the steering and the joggles were as bad as referred to in para. 3. I am wondering whether I ought not to have had a pair of RR. shock absorbers for the front as well as for the back with the latest setting for low rating springs, and whether, if such is the case, the controllability etc. would have been O.K. I assume, however, that if such is the case, you would have sent them to me. I should like information on this point as, if we can adequately damp the back with our own shock absorbers, I do not quite see why we cannot do so in front. Perhaps you will let me know. I hope that you will understand that I am not intending this to be a severe criticism of the low rating springs as I know that none of us ever really thought that they would be satisfactory under conditions of fast touring on French roads. Nevertheless I wish to try the effect and the results are interesting but more or less what one would expect. Many thanks for sending me copy of letter from Cy. and I am very pleased to see that he considers the springing of the American chassis with low rating springs to be very good. You are to be congratulated personally on the way in which you perservered with this very difficult problem whilst you were in America and after your return. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} | ||