I have been finding this year that adjusting the dampening has 3 affects. One is that it mimicks what the flex plates do in that stiffer = less rear bite and softer = more rear bite. Second, it affects the weight transfer, stiffer = less and softer = more. Third it affects the rate of weight transfer, stiffer = slower and softer = faster.
Now the funny thing is that the way this can all make the car drive or "feel" can be very interesting. On low bite for instance a softer rear setup (damper lube and flex plates) will:
-give more traction
-give more steering (because weight is being allowed to transfer thereby transferring more weight to the front end for more steering)
Whereas a stiffer rear setup in the same situation will make the car push while having no rear bite. The stiffer rear setup will seem docile, smooth and easy to drive as it pushes going in to the turn but it may spin unsuspectingly in the middle of the corner because the rear couldn't transfer enough weight.
Now take this exact same scenario but put it in high bite and the car will feel like the opposite is happening. The softer rear end setup will not want to traction roll (as easily) and will drive easier because the softer setup is "absorbing" the load easier. The stiffer setup will feel "twitchy" and want to traction roll because it can't "absorb" the G-forces at a slow enough rate and thus transfers them more instantaneously through the chassis. Of course these are all generalizations but you get the idea. Now if anyone else has found different please chime in as it is more important to get to the truth than for me to be "right". I've been wrong before and if I continue living it will happen a whole bunch more.
Jason notes that you always want to match your spring with your dampening, the flex plates are our rear springs and the damper tubes are our "dampers". Thus if you go stiffer in flex plate you should go stiffer in damper lube and vise versa.
HTH.
I only wish I had learned this stuff a lot sooner than this racing season.
