Tein Flex A

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by Mars2

I would never by again Tein Flex Z for spirited tarmac rally style driving.
Like my grandma said "buying cheap is expensive" ( because you will be unhappy and buy something else)

I have play a lot with setting now
the best I found but still far from perfect is:

Rear:
10 mm drop, 8 mm preload and 5 click from full stiff ( Euro Tein Flex stiffer than US)
Front
15 mm drop, 5 mm preload and 7 click from full stiff ( Euro Tein Flex stiffer than US)

With this setup I found back the playful feeling of the OEM GT86, I don't scrap anymore the bottom of the car on B road, and I run less on the bumpstop.
I think it's mostly due to go back to a set up with higher rear like Oem compare to even like Tein manual say. The even set up make it feel like a dead car maybe great for track or show car but you loose all the fun on the B road.

So that setup is less sexy than the lower Tien set up but it's so much more efficient for B road. And anyway when I seat behind my steering wheel I don't see if my car is sexy I just feel if the driving is exiting. I don't set my car for other to look at it I set it up too get Fun efficient drive. Any way I have also RPF1 in 17x8 because they are light but how ugly are those wheel. Ugliest I never got on car but they do their job

I bought this car because I wanted a fun playful car, were i get lot of feedback and excitement at lower speed to avoid ending in prison because I'm way way to fast on B road. The OEM setup with OEM spring was doing that perfectly give me a big smile and feeling so fast at much slower speed compare to my other car. My other car is audi RS2 with lot of power and torque set up to have maximum grip R888 tyre, KW V3, Big Roll bar...... With that car I can be crazy fast on B road but anything slower than crazy fast I mean really crazy fast is so boring because that car have so much grip and absorbe bump and hole so easy. So I bought the GT86 to get this level of excitement at much much lower speed and OEM it did what it promise still well in 3 digit in some of the straight but it's a really fun slow car. I thought that I would get the same kind of enhancement with those Flex Z on B road that with the KW V3 but that is very far from it so only plus of those is how smooth it drive at low speed on small bump like small tarmac junction.... My wife said it much more confortable in town but she said she get out of her Chair on B road.
So if you look fore sexy look and confortable city driving and some track day's on smooth track go for the Tein Flex if you are in to fast B road save your money for something matching better your expectation.

Wow your roads must be terrible over there! I see you cranked up the preload quite a bit, which probably helped your bump stop issue. So I'm clear, you also had ground clearance issues when you set it more than a 15mm drop in the front? I'm currently around 1.2" drop and don't have any ground clearance issues, albeit I have slightly scraped going over one massive speed bump (normal speed bumps are fine).

Anyway if your situation is that extreme, for sure you'd need to invest in a more capable suspension.

[Trettiosjuan]

Originally Posted by Mars2

I bought this car because I wanted a fun playful car, were i get lot of feedback and excitement at lower speed to avoid ending in prison because I'm way way to fast on B road. The OEM setup with OEM spring was doing that perfectly give me a big smile and feeling so fast at much slower speed compare to my other car. My other car is audi RS2 with lot of power and torque set up to have maximum grip R888 tyre, KW V3, Big Roll bar...... With that car I can be crazy fast on B road but anything slower than crazy fast I mean really crazy fast is so boring because that car have so much grip and absorbe bump and hole so easy. So I bought the GT86 to get this level of excitement at much much lower speed and OEM it did what it promise still well in 3 digit in some of the straight but it's a really fun slow car. I thought that I would get the same kind of enhancement with those Flex Z on B road that with the KW V3 but that is very far from it so only plus of those is how smooth it drive at low speed on small bump like small tarmac junction.... My wife said it much more confortable in town but she said she get out of her Chair on B road.

Well you kinda already did what I suggested a bit higher up Mars2, good to read your experiences! I had a similar type car to you before, it was a tuned 123d 270hp 500Nm with AD08, bushings and KW v3, ok not as fast power but it was no fun except driving at 100% which was way too fast for public roads nevertheless. The GT86 is much more fun at much more speeds. Good to hear your wife feels the difference, that is what will sell these (A's) But for the roads you have, which seem very similar to mine, why did you go for the Z? The Flex A should work much better with hydraulic bump stop which will keep you from launching on bigger bumps. But of course no miracle will happen for such money, these are after all lowering coilovers with a limited bump travel and this will show one way or the other. I found the OEM a bit too soft esp in the front springs relative the damping. But also the KW are not perfect, I also ran them om highest setting and the big preload made the wheels lose contact when they extended over bigger bumps. Too bad nobody makes a less track oriented or lowering focussed and more driving oriented suspension for the twins, the Bilstein dampers come close but they lack adjustability and if you want harder higher springs you would have to revalve yourself which I am not willing to invest (time or money). What will you get next?

PS: I hope you never meet that other guy that is convinced nobody else is driving on that favourite road of yours

[Mars2]

My big mistake was listening advise from people here that must never drive in really fast doing trajectory on B road using left side of the road on left curve's and putting that left wheel on the edge of the tarmac.
They are sure great track driver's. different strock for different people;

My second mistake was to think those flex Z would be so good for so cheap!
How could I be so naive. I hate myself

"PS: I hope you never meet that other guy that is convinced nobody else is driving on that favourite road of yours"
At night light is your friend and you can see them come form far!

[DeaconRoc]

I know there's some grumbling about the flex z's on here but remember the thread is about the flex a's!

[chaoskaze]

Originally Posted by Mars2

My big mistake was listening advise from people here that must never drive in really fast doing trajectory on B road using left side of the road on left curve's and putting that left wheel on the edge of the tarmac.

They are sure great track driver's. different strock for different people;



My second mistake was to think those flex Z would be so good for so cheap!

How could I be so naive. I hate myself



"PS: I hope you never meet that other guy that is convinced nobody else is driving on that favourite road of yours"

At night light is your friend and you can see them come form far!

That's very good to know. Cuz Oem suspension is so fun on B roads darting left & right. But it just sucks really bad on straight away & even worse on bad Tarmac.... (Aka most of American roads) I wonder what suspension gets the best of both world.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Mars2

My big mistake was listening advise from people here that must never drive in really fast doing trajectory on B road using left side of the road on left curve's and putting that left wheel on the edge of the tarmac.
They are sure great track driver's.

Try hanging 3/4 of the tire over the edge of the road.

[DeaconRoc]

I decided today to take my favourite B road test route on my way home and pay particular attention to the sort of speeds and how the suspension reacted.

In terms of speed I can say I wouldn't want to go faster on that sort of road unless it was a closed stage with medical crews in attendance! I would estimate a speed around the UK national speed limit +20mph would be comfortably achieved, not that I'd know for sure obviously (;-))

In terms of suspension reaction I realised it's the way the flex A's control the car after its hit the big bumps and yumps that make it so good. There is a section where the road literally drops away from you into a dip which is then immediately followed by a large yump - the suspension extends and compresses fully I would suspect in both cases but the motion is bought swiftly under control and it's this which I think the Flex A does so well.

I honestly can't see how anything this side of rally suspension would do a better job at dealing with pressing on on bumpy roads. The gt86 is never going to be the best - the low slung design and short dampers are always going to hinder anything but a fully rally prepared 86 but working within the constraints there are I think the Flex a's do an amazing job (especially when the cost is factored in). I honestly don't think I could expect better without spending mega money (and I'm a picky bugger!)

[chaoskaze]

@DeaconRoc
Hey got a few quick question, Your upper mount for Flex A is front pillowball & rear rubber like it says on tein website right?


Some vendor (not onsite) told me they don't come with upper mounts, so I looked up japanese site and the only Flex A doesn't come with upper mount are for estima/noah/vellfire.........=.= they are all vans in the picture below...


what is this guy trying to sell me??? =.=


Funny thing is he also told me he sold a few like that.............so to whoever brought those....good luck??

[DeaconRoc]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

@DeaconRoc
Hey got a few quick question, Your upper mount for Flex A is front pillowball & rear rubber like it says on tein website right?


Some vendor (not onsite) told me they don't come with upper mounts, so I looked up japanese site and the only Flex A doesn't come with upper mount are for estima/noah/vellfire.........=.= they are all vans in the picture below...


what is this guy trying to sell me??? =.=


Funny thing is he also told me he sold a few like that.............so to who ever brought that....good luck??

Yeah they definitely have upper mounts - front pillow ball and rear rubber as you said.

[Trettiosjuan]

So I was so curious about the HBS and the positive reports, I now have the Flex A on my car since Saturday, here are my impressions.





First the baseline: I had RCE yellow springs for over a year on light wheels, and rate them very high. But I wanted an upgrade in damping. I have the non-US version of the Flex A, and I'm running at recommended height (approx -1"). I don't track, but like to drive close within the limitations of grip, the flexibility of the law and decency. Which is not very much in town, but can get fairly exciting on an empty back road with open sight lines...





First the positives: it's a nice piece of kit for the price, and I'm impressed with the damping, with some speed it starts to do its wonders. At low speed, the higher spring rate does make itself felt a bit, but nothing intrusive.





The HBS works well, but I noticed quickly it has it's limitations: it cannot compensate for the lack of front bump travel. On bigger bumps and speedhumps, the front bottoms out a lot sooner than the RCE, and does so more violently. This is confirmed by my calculations, front wheel has approx 38mm bump travel, rear has 64mm. This is not entirely unsuspected, this is a problem with all lowering coilover kits that run short shocks and springs in front to be able to go down 2" or more. Surely the Flex A is impressive at that height. But at 1" lower which allows for more speed over bumps, this is a limitation which I tried to overcome by choosing the Flex A. Alas, the HBS can do no miracles. Luckily it's easy to change springs and adjust damping, I'm trying to source a 7kg 15mm longer spring that will have the car sit higher in the shock and allow some minor preload, again increasing bump travel and together should be good for 54mm bump travel. Will report how that goes.

[bfrank1972]

Did you add any preload to the springs you have already? There is room, and you might need just a bit


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[Trettiosjuan]

There is no room to spare, measured space between coils, it is the same as total shock travel. Any preload and the spring will bind and load on full compression.

[shattered_memory]

Does anyone know if these coilovers have less suspension travel vs stock? I'm interested in getting these and setting them at a very mild drop (.8 to 1 inch drop all around).

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by Trettiosjuan

There is no room to spare, measured space between coils, it is the same as total shock travel. Any preload and the spring will bind and load on full compression.

I find that hard to believe - why would Tein manufacture a coilover with separate preload adjustments where you will coil bind before you hit the bump stops. Sounds weird - maybe give Tein a call about it.