[solidONE]

Originally Posted by Trettiosjuan

So, I am disappointed? Do my experiences contradict those of e.g. DeaconRoc?

No. On a fast back road drive on a bumpy road, the Flex A is very controlled and stable over bumps. Impressive. Yet on a simple speed bump that I could take at 20mph on the RCE yellow (not 'comfortably' but without a 'Dang'), the Flex A bottoms flat out at a mere 16mph.

I think I understood why now. The hydraulic bump stop (HBS) does not fuction as a normal bump stop. A normal bump stop is always there. The HBS works with ramping up damping force at the very end of the damper bump stroke. Like damping, this means that the HBS is speed dependent. Speed of the damper. And by deduction, speed of the car.

On a speedbump, the speed is low, the damper is compressed relatively slowly but the compression continues as, bluntly, the whole car has to be lifted up. As the spring compresses, the speed at the end of the stroke will be quite low. Yet if the bump travel is not sufficient, the damper will bottom out, almost as if there is no bump stop at all to my feeling. As I understand now, because damper speed is low.
Is this a problem? I just don't like slowing down for speed bumps, I go over them faster than most people even in SUV's... I could just slow down a bit more. But I have also bottomed out on sharp bumpy turns, too early for my taste, hence why I am changing front springs...

Going 50 mph+ over a bumpy back road, compression is much faster and the HBS works very well. I had some fears it would bottom out earlier than I would like, but it just doesn't on quite sizeable bumps and the suspension is really enjoyable. That said, I haven't dared pushing on really hard - I have a little bridge I like to jump, but that probably no longer qualifies as 'normal use' For me, increasing front bump travel should only make the suspension even more performant when pushing on. Gotta love it.

Sound like this is worth the extra over the Flex Z. I've thrown around a flex-z equipped FRS at 5 clicks out and the damping, particularly in the rear, felt lacking. It would wallow during hard cornering (from lack of damping). With it jacked up to -1 from full stiff it was a little better. If those hydraulic bump stops works as you describe, then it would probably not have the same problem. Although this is the only complaint I'd have. Over the rough stuff and for normal driving it's soooo compliant. I don't think you can get anything better for the $800 price tag of the Flex-Z. that extra $250 for the extra compression damping at the end of the stroke is probably worth it, I think. I'd have to try for myself to be sure though.