Damping is a curve, not a number
A damper does not have "a" damping force. It has a force curve plotted against shaft speed, and the shape of that curve is what you actually feel from the driver's seat.
Two very different events produce very different shaft speeds:
| Input | Shaft speed | What the driver wants |
|---|---|---|
| Body roll entering a corner | Low | Firm control, no float |
| Expansion joint at speed | High | Compliance — absorb it |
A damper tuned only for one of these ruins the other. Tune it firm enough to control body motion and it hammers over sharp bumps. Tune it soft enough to be comfortable and the car wallows.
The knee point
NDP valving is built around a deliberate transition — a knee in the force curve.
- Low shaft speed — damping is kept low. Small road inputs and gentle body motion pass through without harshness. This is where ride comfort lives.
- Mid shaft speed — force rises sharply through the knee. This is body control: roll, pitch, and dive are caught firmly and predictably.
- High shaft speed — the curve goes digressive. Force is deliberately reduced so sharp impacts are not transmitted straight into the chassis and the occupants.
That third stage does double duty. It protects ride quality over sharp-edged inputs, and it protects the damper itself — peak loads through the valve stack are limited, which extends service life.
Those curves are measured on the electromagnetic damper dynamometer in Gimcheon, then checked against a lineup of conventional shock dynos in the same lab.
What it feels like
Sharp body control without a punishing ride. The car stays flat and predictable when you lean on it, then goes quiet again over broken pavement. Balanced feedback at the limit rather than a single compromise setting.