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Their setup preference is for hard damping with relatively soft springing, which is why the audi's seem to suffer from being harsh over imperfections but will over-wallow in slow compression/rebound situations where the damping is less of a factor. ie the dip after a humpback bridge or the camber reversal when exiting a large roundabout.
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Damping is a factor in all conditions,it's just different 'kinds' of damping.
High-speed damping controls how well the damper reacts to a bump.
Too much will lead to a bumpy ride.
Low speed damping controls how well the body is controlled.
Too little of this leads to wallowing/roll/pitching.
Ideally,you should have as soft a spring as you can get away with,but with good damping control.
Unfortunately,car makers (as with bikes) have to choose springs that can cope with a huge variety of loads and conditions.
With regard to the springs,I would be surprised if the S-line springs were rising rate,at least until the very limit of their stroke (to avoid bottoming).
I think the coil remains constant pretty much all the way.
Like I said before,the fact that the car rides better over bumps when loaded gives me the impression that it's the spring that's too hard.It needs the extra load to start working properly.
Hard to tell really,as it's hard to differentiate between too hard a spring and too much compression damping.Both will give (kind of) the same feeling.
Ideally,cars should come with a minimum of preload adjustment,which can be done hydraulically.
You would have it backed right off for single occupant driving,so the spring works properly.
If you have to take the family and luggage,turn it up so that the spring needs more force to make it work.
Even budget bikes have had this adjustment for donkeys' years.