[Badmojo]

Originally Posted by Msquared

This is true. However, that still doesn't change the fact that neither springs nor dampers can change the lateral or longitudinal weight transfer of a car during any direction of acceleration.

Springs, dampers, and suspension geometry control how the chassis moves relative to the tire's contact with the road. The stiffness and dampening of the system control the movement dynamically. Imagine the direction of the car's center of gravity (CG) during a corner. The position of the CG influences the tire load distribution based on vehicle weight and g-force, which constantly goes forward during braking, rear during acceleration, and left/right during cornering. Dampening speeds or slows down that movement. An ideal suspension system maximizes the tire load across all four tires since the friction plateaus at a specific load point.

Shock tuning alone isn't a miracle, and it's a small part of the overall system.

Grassroots Motorsports had a recent article (probably in the last 18 months) testing the degrees of stiffness of a suspension and lap times. Even racecars need some level of compression and the ability to absorb curbs, uneven surfaces, and transients to maximize grip on all four corners. Otherwise, the fastest cars would have go-kart suspensions without springs or shocks.