Camber Compensator

Yet another addition to the vast range of equipment supplied by Speedwell Performance Conversions is the camber compensator. This is designed for cars with swing axle rear suspension and consists of a transverse leaf spring which is attached at its centre by brackets to the gearbox housing in the case of the Renault Dauphine and Volkswagen and to a special mounting plate on the Triumph Herald. At the outer ends of the leaf spring are strong webbing straps which enclose the drive shafts, being free to move along the shaft with suspension movements. The principle of this compensator is similar to the device fitted by the manufacturers of the Porsche and Mercedes models, both of which have swing axle rear suspension. Under hard cornering conditions with swing axle rear suspension the inside rear wheel tends to lift and the offside rear wheel “tucks under” causing the car to hop sideways in an unstable condition. Speedwell claim that their compensator alleviates this condition and to prove it to the Press they arranged for us to try it on a before and after basis. The car which impressed us most during these tests was the Triumph Herald which, with the compensator fitted, could be thrown into bends in a most confident manner, rear end breakaway being promoted eventually in a very controllable fashion, even hard braking halfway through a bend not causing any drama. We were also able to try the compensator on a VW and Dauphine and noted a slightly firmer ride with these two as well as an improvement in the handling qualities, although higher than normal tyre pressures may have helped to improve the handling. Certainly it was possible to break the rear end away with both cars which is undoubtedly preferable to many drivers than the tyre scrub which invariably defeats attempts at fast cornering with these models. At £7 this compensator seems to be well worth while investigating.