Tein Flex Z opinion

[Bramick]

So you're measuring from to top of the boot?

[93Targa]

Originally Posted by Bramick

So you're measuring from to top of the boot?

The bumpstop is under the boot. If you feel for it, you can tell where the bumpstop ends and top of the absorber begins. That's where I measured from.

Again, my first time installing as well but I did get the measurements from the booklet to match up.

[Bramick]

Ok gotacha. You're measure from the bottom of the bump stop. I was measuring from the top

[jawnthen]

A little bit of background, I've had the car for 8 months. The suspension stayed stock for 1 before I had Swift Spec-R springs installed on the stock shocks. I really can't remember all the details of how this car drove stock so my comparison will be based on using aftermarket springs on stock shocks vs these guys. This is my DD and I do a 15 min fwy drive on a really crappy road with tons of bumps and height elevation changes. I also carpool with my wife a couple times out of the week. The performance of the Swift SpecR/stock damper was good for spirited driving on fairly smooth roads and very responsive. I haven't made it out to the track yet, though. On rougher roads, the springs were too much for the shocks and sometimes I would get launched from my seat. The first few days coffee was spilled until I learned to slow down on those bumps. The wife hated it.

The FlexZ are set to the default recommend 7F/8R. Coming from the Swift Spec-R/stock damper combo, the difference is night and day in terms of comfort.
We drove this morning and instantly the wife approved. Minor bumps on the road was no longer jarring and more importantly no coffee spilled. Now that big bump that would launch me off my seat, today I ran through it without any drama whatsoever. There was an audible thud, but my butt stayed planted and the car just ate it up like morning breakfast. With all this comfort, the car doesn't feel sloppy at all. There's a hint of lag when I quickly change lanes but that's being picky. The last thing I tried before heading into work was a couple on/off ramps that are long and sweeping. I especially wanted to try the one I take when I leave work. It sweeps left about 160 degrees and then turns right about 30 degrees before merging with the fwy. It descending with a bump just after the apex of the first turn. I usually take it at 60mph and if I'm on the outside when I go over the bump, the traction control light comes on. That was with the Swifts. This morning I peeked and was doing 62mph, went over the bump, no TC light. The car felt planted the whole time.

So I couldn't be any happier with the switch to the FlexZ. If I had stayed with the Swifts, I was eventually going to find a proper damper to mate up with it but for the price of a good damper, I could get these. As far as comfort on a daily basis I'm happy with the default settings. I'll fiddle around with the settings and see what "lexus/boat mode" is like according to @CSGMike; I used to drive a lexus boat before this, so I can make an educated comparison. As far as performance, there seems to be enough clicks towards stiff I can play with to dial in performance for that track day that I will eventually get out to. Did it live up to the hype? Time will tell. I post more once I've tried other settings. As far as quality, I ran Tein coilovers on my Lexus for over 10 years without any issues.

[Crazypinoy9]

Originally Posted by jawnthen

A little bit of background, I've had the car for 8 months. The suspension stayed stock for 1 before I had Swift Spec-R springs installed on the stock shocks. I really can't remember all the details of how this car drove stock so my comparison will be based on using aftermarket springs on stock shocks vs these guys. This is my DD and I do a 15 min fwy drive on a really crappy road with tons of bumps and height elevation changes. I also carpool with my wife a couple times out of the week. The performance of the Swift SpecR/stock damper was good for spirited driving on fairly smooth roads and very responsive. I haven't made it out to the track yet, though. On rougher roads, the springs were too much for the shocks and sometimes I would get launched from my seat. The first few days coffee was spilled until I learned to slow down on those bumps. The wife hated it.

The FlexZ are set to the default recommend 7F/8R. Coming from the Swift Spec-R/stock damper combo, the difference is night and day in terms of comfort.
We drove this morning and instantly the wife approved. Minor bumps on the road was no longer jarring and more importantly no coffee spilled. Now that big bump that would launch me off my seat, today I ran through it without any drama whatsoever. There was an audible thud, but my butt stayed planted and the car just ate it up like morning breakfast. With all this comfort, the car doesn't feel sloppy at all. There's a hint of lag when I quickly change lanes but that's being picky. The last thing I tried before heading into work was a couple on/off ramps that are long and sweeping. I especially wanted to try the one I take when I leave work. It sweeps left about 160 degrees and then turns right about 30 degrees before merging with the fwy. It descending with a bump just after the apex of the first turn. I usually take it at 60mph and if I'm on the outside when I go over the bump, the traction control light comes on. That was with the Swifts. This morning I peeked and was doing 62mph, went over the bump, no TC light. The car felt planted the whole time.

So I couldn't be any happier with the switch to the FlexZ. If I had stayed with the Swifts, I was eventually going to find a proper damper to mate up with it but for the price of a good damper, I could get these. As far as comfort on a daily basis I'm happy with the default settings. I'll fiddle around with the settings and see what "lexus/boat mode" is like according to @CSGMike; I used to drive a lexus boat before this, so I can make an educated comparison. As far as performance, there seems to be enough clicks towards stiff I can play with to dial in performance for that track day that I will eventually get out to. Did it live up to the hype? Time will tell. I post more once I've tried other settings. As far as quality, I ran Tein coilovers on my Lexus for over 10 years without any issues.

100% agree with this review. I've only had my set on for 1.5 days but the drive comfort on these are awesome. I have them set right now to the stiffest setting and they fantastic. The only issue I had was of my own fault. Didn't think about getting new endlinks (shorter ones). So I had to get a pair or RSR end links from someone to lower the car as much as i wanted otherwise it wouldve hit the LCA.

But other than that I couldn't be any happier with the Flex Z's. time will tell if they hold up or not but for now I'm very happy.

[CSG David]

Glad to see you guys put them to good use already.

[Crazypinoy9]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Glad to see you guys put them to good use already.

Yup! Mike really came through for me on getting them shipped out fast. i was scheduled to get other stuff installed on the car so his quick help really saved me from having to go back to the shop more than once.

[djliquidsteele]

So curious, are end links a necessity with 1-1.5" drop?

[jawnthen]

Originally Posted by djliquidsteele

So curious, are end links a necessity with 1-1.5" drop?

I'm pretty sure I went lower than my old setup (~1") and didn't need end links. I have SPL LCAs if that makes any difference...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[djliquidsteele]

Good to know. I am currently on RaceComp yellows so ~20mm drop and only want to go about 30-35mm drop. I also ordered the SPL arms so great comparison. Everything goes on Saturday. Thanks!

[Crazypinoy9]

My arms are stock which is probably the difference. If i wouldve stayed with the stock end links there's no way I could gone lower than 1.5" or they wouldve hit the arm.

*it was the front i was having clearance issues with. not the rear. rear was fine.

[JGalp]

Has anyone installed the flex Z with the OEM audio + sub in the back? if the sub has the cusco strut bar customization would that be enough for the struts that stick out in the back?

[Bramick]

An easier way to setup the measurements.

[Coastermikey]

So I received my coils, anyone else notice there are more than 16 adjustment settings or am I counting clicks.