I can't really speak for the top guys - they're running big-dollar, sophisticated suspension setups - but I imagine that they have stiff compression/relatively soft rebound, so that they can land jumps without bottoming out and won't launch back up into the air after landing.  I'm sure somebody else can provide a better answer than this, though.

To answer the second part of your post, I usually can't tell after completing a stage whether it was rough or not.  I'm too focused on reading the notes and checking the odo to feel the bumps.  Except for the brief moment of silence, I rarely notice jumps, too, unless the landing was awkward.  However, I certainly felt the incorrectly marked jump at Perce-Neige.  We did a nice tank-slapper and managed to hang on, but others weren't so lucky...

Transits are a different story.  I feel every bump and frost heave in the road, like you do on road rallies.

I used to be able to gauge the roughness of a rally by the amount of neck pain after the event, but since I started wearing a karting neck brace, I don't have any stiffness at all.

Hope this helps.

We generally run two setups - one softer for winter rallies (which tend to be smoother) and one harder for gravel. Think in the range of 350lbs sq/in in the front for gravel and maybe 250 rear, then 250 front and 200 rear for winter. Then shock settings are very personal. I run very soft.

If you want to get an idea, drive behind a leading car on a typical transit. You essentially won't see the suspension deflecting at all, and the car looks like it has the ride of an old Land Rover. It does have the ride of an old Land Rover.

Suspensions are expensive for the high-end, with biiig shafts and remote reservoirs for better cooling.

For a good TSD car I would think you would need at least Bilsteins or similar, and higher spring rates (with no loss of ride height). And Scheible cleaned OWR with a Proflex-equipped Subaru for a reason. You just don't ever have to slow down for the rough bits.

ACP