Fluids and solids
Q I very much enjoyed your latest newsletter on suspension dynamics and it made me think of the BMC Hydrolastic suspension employed on many of their models from the ’60s, such as the Mk II Mini Cooper and Austin / Morris 1100 sedan. These cars had displacer units in place of the Moulton rubber springs (aka donuts) that were plumbed diagonally RF / LR and LF / RR.
The ‘Hydro’ units were not considered the best for racing and most race Minis (mine included) were converted to dry suspension. But homologation requirements meant earlier racers had to keep the ‘Hydro’ suspension, so they installed valves inside the car to ‘tune’ the displacement from one corner to
