Flatout Suspension

Hello everyone,

Let me first warn you that I tend to get wordy and go off on tangents...

I received an email back in September from Chris (Ludachris) inquiring about our suspensions. We had a nice exchange back and forth and he urged me to post and let you guys know we existed. Since September, I've been meaning to post and give a little intro. Every time I would try to set aside time, we get flooded with work. We're still flooded with work, but if I don't do it now, when will I?

We all know the suspension world is flooded with options, some aren't so great, some are pretty good, and some are works of art. We try to fall in the middle of the last two, though our custom stuff has leaned more on the third option. A lot of our custom work is one-off rally suspensions. Last month we completed rally suspensions for a Jaguar X-Type, a Mercedes 190e, and a Mini Countryman. The month prior, we had some guy with a Buick Reatta that wanted coilovers and we came through.

Obviously the DSM stuff isn't much in the realm of custom. but it's not really mainstream either. Its pretty niche market like the MR2. I have the data needed to build a suspension for the 2G FWD and AWD. Doing a 1G wouldn't be too difficult, the OEM stuff is out there for reference. I don't personally know the compatibility of a GVR4 to a 1G, but I venture thats going to be the toughest one to build from scratch.

So back to the task at hand, Chris wants us to build suspensions for you and I'm totally on board. Here's the snag...who are we and why should you buy some brand new untested suspension from us?? Fair enough. I posed that to Chris and I think he's identified what we've done and the no cut corners quality of our suspensions. We're also completely open to making these work exactly how you guys need it to. We have basically everything at our disposal.

A lot of the brands out there (talking about the budget stuff, not the custom built Koni/ Bilstein) use a "universal" threaded shock body and throw on some mounts so it bolts on...then throw on 8k and 6k springs and send it. While we make that option available to please the masses (and depending on the application), we prefer to start with a 1-piece shock body measured and manufactured exclusively for the application. We typically do this for the more "enthusiast" applications. Our NA/ NB Mazda Miata is built this way, for instance.

After we have the threaded body made, we send it off to get electroplated. We chose to do nickel over zinc; a) because it looks fantastic, and b) it oxidizes at a much slower rate of 7-10 years. Most of those budget brands use a steel body and then coat it with some sort of black paint. The problem with that is the first time you move the perch up and down, you are taking off coating. Eventually, you are exposing the raw steel...aluminum, raw steel, moisture...well, it usually results in a thread/ post about "my coilovers are seized and I can't adjust them, what do I do?" We'd rather just avoid that all together in the name of quality. It's those extra details that set us apart.

Once the bodies are back, we take it from a tube to a shock. We use a proprietary cnc aluminum piston that weighs in at just 7 grams. Our shims are stainless steel from Sweden. Our oil is either light-duty or medium-duty Amsoil Shock Therapy oil depending on the build. Our dampers are adjustable, so we give it a linear curve at full soft, and a digressive curve at full hard. No one has ever complained about comfort, I can assure you of that.

Final details of the build are the Magnitude Suspension 2.5" linear rate springs paired with a helper spring. On the top side, we finish it off with top mounts with spherical bearings.

Here's a few that we've done:









In the near future, I'd like to work towards building a 2G AWD & FWD for someone here and coordinate a baseline version with an open door to custom tailoring to each individuals needs.

Let the fun begin!

 

It has a floating piston. I forgot to point out these are monotube. It’s an independent single adjustable shock controlling rebound. We do have a shock dyno to ensure consistency and provide on with each build. We do have a 3-way option, but our builds lately have been for rallycross; so they didn’t require the precise shock tuning of a 3-way (their choice - not ours).

 

Thank you! Happy to be here!

In terms of custom pistons (48mm), we don’t/ haven’t used any piston but our own. Not sure how we’d feel about doing that...or, for your wallet, it seems like customizing a cheaper option, like you’ve already done, makes more sense.

For reservoir hoses, I think we have a few options in between 5” and 18”. As you see above, some we just mount directly to the shock body.

Rebuilds are absolutely available starting at $125 for our more basic setup to $295 for our rally stuff. I think that’s pretty standard pricing.

I’ve actually inquired about colored nickels (we really wanted a slight olive color - looks much better than it sounds), but the facility we use only has the standard “chrome” option unless we’re doing significant quantities or if we are able to join on another run - which we can’t count on as availability is inconsistent. As we build to order, 4 bodies at a time is a speck to significant. So, at this time, no black nickel.

edit: you asked about spherical bearing top mounts, yes, that actually is standard on our suspensions and would follow suit for DSMs.

Thanks for your questions!

 

Here’s a shock dyno for a WRX suspension we built a few months ago. He wanted comfort with the ability to turn it up and do a weekend autocross a few times per year. Nothing overly special about this, somewhat “run of the mill” as it is just our base coilover/ non-custom option. This is our off the shelf version, for lack of a better explanation.

 

Hey Nic, thanks for the questions.

1) Our entry model (SR) is $1380. That gives you all the usual fun stuff and has features most people are looking for.

2) I have on a to-do list to test fitment of an EDFC system as I’ve been personally curious myself. As of right now, we don’t offer it - testing will determine which direction we go with that.

 

The fronts can absolutely be inverted on the 1G, though it would be in a higher tier. By that I mean, our base set up is the SR which uses upright shocks....our ST uses inverted struts all around, but the rears get reservoirs on a-arm types (like the 1G). Basically, you'd have the same thing as our ST for the 08+ Impreza.

We might be able to do inverted. We always try to whenever possible.

The eyelet is a high durometer bushing.

As far as modifications for mounting points...what do you have in mind?

 

The way I look at it, we’re not setting our sights on world domination. We’re more cottage industry and like to do the little projects. We have our stuff that keeps the lights on...this is more of an occasional build. We know we won’t get 30 orders per month....a few every quarter is fine.

To me personally, doing this I know will be mostly custom requests (I don’t foresee someone searching on Google for DSM coilovers). I more expect to get a message saying “here’s what I have, what can you do.” To be honest we prefer that. In fact, we’re building a set of beastly coilovers for a 90 Buick LeSabre. I’m not kidding. We just finished rally suspensions for a Mercedes 190e, a Jaguar X-Type, and a Mini Coutryman. That’s the day to day.

Any time a suspension leaves here, it was worth it.

 

Thank you very much, we're excited to be here!

We're going to have 1G stuff soon (maybe first of the year or thereabouts) so stay tuned!

 

On the front, if I understand correctly, you want the mounting ears/ tabs to be longer where they point to the hub so it moves the bottom of the shock inward? I don't know how that angle change would effect geometry or if it would force the hub to push outward creating a positive camber situation.

For the rears, I'm not entirely sure we could do inverted. We've done it on the Mini Cooper (https://flatoutsuspension.net/products/mini-st), so it is doable. But not for every application. Maybe something to pursue down the road.

 

I think I missed your reply...we can absolutely do that for you. It’d be 250/150 because our springs use round numbers...5/10/15/20, etc.