Power Control Arm Damper - Other Use?

[R Leo]

We all know that the 616 flywheel is lighter than the 617's manual flywheel. It's also available and the 617 flywheel isn't so, while driving my wagon, I've occasionally experimented with keeping the acccelerator partially depressed when shifting between gears so that the engine doesn't loose RPM as rapidly, permtting smoother shfts and better acceleration. Doing that with your foot all the time is difficult, unreliable and distracing.

Some of the 616s I've looked at have a piston damper (looks like a mineature gas lifting strut) connected to power control arm on the injection pump. I suspect that this is to help eliminate driver-induced accelerator oscillations in low gear on manual transmission vehicles.

I wonder if this damper could also function to slow the engine unwind between gears on manual equipped 617 turbos that were without the benefit of a heavy (617 manual) flywheel?

Comments? Suggestions?