One of the 4 cyl project turbo diesels I worked on was limited to 1800 psi max, per the mfgr. This was an emissions reduction project and we had full authority electronic control over injection timing and quantity, exh backpressure, etc, while also always monitoring cyl pressure in real time, etc (dedicated analog scope). Depending on injection timing and such, there can be a noticable step as the cylinder pressure transitions from primarily compression pressure to heat release pressure. One can also readily hear the change in how the engine "hammering" sound changes as the pressure curve changes shape. I sat there for many weeks at a dyno cell and tuned this particular engine for power targets, NOx + HC emissions tradeoffs etc. And of course no, diesel combustion is not detonation An interesting topic, sorry to stray off the orginal damper topic for a moment...