# The FLEX BEAST, Supa BEAST & CBEAST - 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*The FLEX BEAST, Supa BEAST & CBEAST - 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers*

*Currently there are 3 versions of the FLEX BEAST available.*

_From left to right,_

The Supa BEAST, the BEAST and the CBEAST










*FLEX XC 3401 VRG*


480 RPM and 9,600 OPM.
Comes from the factory with a 6" Backing Plate.

The FLEX XC 3401 VRG is the original corded *BEAST*. The word BEAST is spelled with all capital letters. This is an 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher. It's easily identified by the visible aluminum shroud at the head of the polisher.

*FLEX XCE 10-8 125*


430 RPM and 8,600 OPM
Comes from the factory with a 5" backing plate.

This is the newest evolution of the original corded BEAST. I call it the *Supa BEAST*. The word *Supa* is short for *super* and only the first letter in the word Supa is capitalized and the word BEAST is all capital letters. Like the original BEAST, this is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher. I personally use and recommend swapping out the factory 5" backing plate and installing the optional 6" backing plate. This enables you to use larger buffing pads and thus take full advantage of the power this tool offers with a larger footprint.

*FLEX XCE 8-125 18.0*


380 RPM and 7,600 OPM
Comes from the factory with a 5" backing plate.

This is the CORDLESS BEAST aka the *CBEAST*. The word CBEAST is spelled with all capital letters and the letter C before the word BEAST simply stands for _*cordless*_. Like the original BEAST, this is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher using Lithium-Ion re-chargeable batteries.

The original FLEX XC 3401 VRG 8mm gear-driven orbital polisher.










The FLEX Supa BEAST










The FLEX CBEAST










*Body Design Changes*

They are all roughly the same size and weight. In these pictures you can easily see the exposed aluminum head on the original 3401. The new design of the Supa BEAST and the CBEAST incorporate the handle into the head of the tool with a rubber overmold. With the original design, if the tool is dropped, it's possible for the handle to break. By removing the handle, breakage is now a non-issue.



















*Brushless Motor Technology*
The newer Supa BEAST And CBEAST use FLEX brushless electric motors so there's never any brushes to wear out or replace. If you have the original BEAST an need to replace the brushes, here's a how-to video that shows you how to do it yourself.

*Backing Plate Swap - Maximizing the ability of the Supa BEAST*

After using all three of these tool extensively, my own personal preference is to invest in the larger 6" backing plate for the corded Supa BEAST. Being a corded model it has TONS of power and turning and churning larger pads is no problem. So, might as well take advantage of the power and of course, ZERO PAD STALLING and use larger pads that enable you to tackler more real-estate to get any detail job done faster.



















My take on the three different BEAST options?

I get asked about these three different variations all the time. Here's my take,

*The BEAST*
If I REALLY want to bust-out a job and plow through it as fast as humanly possible I use the BEAST. The extra RPM and OPM are a huge increase over the Supa BEAST - BUT - if I'm in a hurry - I'll take full advantage of the extra speed.

*The Supa BEAST*
If not trying to hit Warp Speed - I grab the Supa Beast, much more enjoyable to use. Amazing tool. Compared to the original BEAST, it offers these 4 benefits.


Smoother
Quieter
Lighter
Cooler

*The CBEAST*
If I have an easy job, that means the car has only light swirls, scratches and these defects are shallow then I'll use the CBEAST. This also means I've done a *TEST SPOT* and found the paint corrects easy meaning the paint hardness is in the medium to soft range but definitely not what I would consider hard paint, then the pleasure of not hassling with a power cord cannot be understated.

I hope this sheds some light on the differences between the three different BEAST options as well as my take on them.


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

****Placeholder****

As I type it's Friday, October 16th, 2020. Next week on Thursday, October 22nd, Yancy and I will be shooting a LIVE Detailing Class at 3:00pm Eastern Time in which we will take an in-depth look at these three tools.






While this will be a LIVE Detailing Class, the above video will be available on the Autogeek YouTube Channel. So this post is for the future.

:buffer:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

****Placeholder****

As I get time, I'll include buffing pad options for all three polishers here.


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## neil b (Aug 30, 2006)

Another great write up Mike , can’t beat the flex beasts , then you have the little pixie for the areas the beasts can’t access 👍🏻.


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Great information that VRG would spin the car round given the chance, my buddy used his in the roof of my car was so impressive. The UK market will have these at @£300+ so regular guys using them twice a year on the vehicles they own may this a financial commitment for some. 

Great machines...

John Tht.


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Great write up Mike.

I love my VRG, it just does!


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Here's the FLEX BEASTS video from yesterday's LIVE Detailing Class






We do these every Thursday at 3:00pm Eastern time.


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## LeeH (Jan 29, 2006)

Apart from the slightly dodgy music, great video! I’ve subscribed. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

LeeH said:


> Apart from the slightly *dodgy* music, great video! I've subscribed.


Dodgy is a good word. I like it. That would be Yancy's artistic contribution.


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