Now that you have both rupes and flex and have used both, can you comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each machine and what you find each one better for. For me, the technique aspect of rupes was just something I couldn't get the hang of (stalling on vertical/curvy panels) and therefore went with the Flex and haven't looked back. Any comments appreciated as your work looks awesome.
Thanks, even though this is the Rupes section I think its quite fitting to give my personal opinion and experience with both the Flex 3401 and the Rupes BigFoot LHR 15 ES. Based on my last pic above I wanted to keep things fair and used foam pads, FG400 and the same hood side by side to keep all things equal.
Flex 3401 VRG: After my normal free float DAS 6 and long throw Rupes, the Flex initially caught me off guard. It tugged at me, had a noise from the gearhead, rattled and clunky sounding(naturally being gear/direct/forced driven).It grabbed, skipped and fought me even with the LC 4" BP and 5" Orange LC Hybrid pad. It kinda feels like my crazy front wheel drive drag car, torque steers. It also runs considerably hotter than my other 2 DA's, once again a natural force driven trait. Feels and behaves like an old school hotrod push rod V8 muscle car or a sledgehammer but took all of one section in the test to learn its characteristics and keep it from walking on me.
Rupes BigFoot LHR 15 ES: If the Flex felt like a thundering V8 hotrod, the Rupes feels like an S Class Mercedes or precise as a scalpel.It feels and sounds more sophisticated, no need to fight it or keep it on a leash like a pitbull, just guide it or steer it, let the long throw do the correction, hardly any pressure needed to remove almost all defects on the test section. It corrects effortlessly.
The Flex 3401 is John Rambo, the Rupes 15 BigFoot is James Bond 007.
The Rupes had/has the KB washer mod as I find it corrects faster and stalls far less this way, just to be clear. Without the mod the Flex corrects noticeably faster, with the mod the gap narrows considerably.
The Flex generates more downward force thus more heat to the paint surface so needed 2 passes less to break down the polish.
I studied the paint surface for 15 minutes after, under differing lighting and both had levelled defects equally and I could not tell much difference in the finish either. Biggest difference was the journey/experience.
The test was done before AG sent my Rupes UHS pads and Polish. The UHS pad paired with an aggressive compound(Foam vs Foam)cut faster than my Flex with the Orange Hybrid.
The Flex with the LC Blue Foamed Hybrid Wool cannot be touched in ability and speed of correction.
They both so different its not fair to compare, both give you an enjoyable/different journey to an almost identicle finish.
I love both machines and am not afraid to state that both are at the top of their game.
