Oh so many questions and so little time ;-)
* Dampers (hydraulic) provide a resisting force related to velocity and direction, but it is only really trick ones on some of the latest luxury/sports cars & military vehicles that also relate damping to deflection - work on going.
* One significant deflection related effect one can achieve to advantage with damping at the front is to ensure that the top rubbers on the front dampers are not over tightened. Only tighten the top nut sufficiently so that one can still turn the top steel washer by hand - use a Nylock nuts or double nuts. That way when the damper is seeing high velocities, causing it to resist and thus stiffen over small deflections on road surface irregularities, the top rubbers can deflect rather than the damper resisting. This allows the tyre to follow the rough road surface for grip and at the same time achieve good ride comfort.
* Dampers can be and are of course tuned to provide optimal damping for each vehicle considering mass, ride, handling, friction in the suspension etc.
* Indeed monotube dampers (eg Bilstein & others) can be tuned to give the optimal force/velocity characterisitc for ride & handling in one application that is very difficult to achieve with adjustable dampers where the emphasis is naturally on making the damper more suitable for a wide range of applications.
* There is so much friction/stiction in the sliding pillar/hub front suspension (even with good pins and bushes) that the amount of hydraulic damping required by the front damper will be less than expected compared to a sports car of similar mass with suspension with less friction, such as ball jointed wishbones. However it is possible, not easy, to match the damping required from the tele damper with the friction in the system to give what damping characteristic is required for good ride and handling.
* IMO There is no real reason why there can not be different makes and types of damper front and rear. After all the rear leaf springs, if well lubricated, have less friction than the front so damping levels will be very different anyway. Also what one feels through the seat in terms of vertical bumps is mainly from the rear suspension (you sit close to the rear axle). Getting the front suspension to work majors on keeping the front tyres following the road for good grip and control but also to stop the pitching (like a nodding dog as the nose bobs up and down) that causes the uncomfortable pitching as the seat back slaps you in the back.
* Rear dampers. Due to the significant range of weights on the rear suspension IMO I would still go for an adjustable damper (in bump & rebound) on the rear to cope equally well with one lightweight occupant as well as two larger people with lots of luggage, damping needing to be adjusted to suit. Maybe we need a rear damper that has extremes of damping to meet the lightest and heaviest weaights and no more than that? I am not yet convinced that the available Bilstein rear dampers are optimised for ride as well as handling - more work needed on the ride side of things.
Regards PJB.
PS. Gambalunga you say:- "..I have had several discussions and some correspondence with the designer of the system", well you (and others) have now had contact with his test driver and consultant/development engineer ;-)
