Depends on what kind of ant your reciever has. I know the older spek can be cut to exactly 3.6" & I have done that give or take an inch many times & kept the ant tube inside the body & you cant feel a range difference, or coiled inside the reciever box with no major problems but it does seem to affect range more than just a bit. The farthest I ever get from my car is 125' with DSM1 or DSM2.Also with either the max safe range for spek seems to be 200' & thats from testing multiple spek systems not just my stuff.
The new spek with coaxial ant can not be cut or bent sharply period. If the wire lenght is changed or the inner wire is damaged they get real random real fast.I learned the hard way & most of the people I run with go back to DSM1 recievers as soon as their ant gets damaged which is pretty quickly as those new wires are FRAGILE.I would not even think of coiling them in my rec box but then I dont like to have them sticking out of the car,again their too fragile.
My solution as said before is take the hit on responce time & use the DSM1 recievers simply for the flexability those antennas provide.
Are all the new coaxial ant the same from brand to brand ,fragile wise? I would assume so but ?