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Agree with everything Jen said - useage massively affects tyre recommendation. I feel quite fortunate to have tried a wide variety on my Westfield as I've done a wide variety of driving with it - started out with long tours, then added in some trackdays, and am now competing in the speed series. Car came with 16 year old Bridgestones fitted - massive smiles from lots of sideways action with little provocation but utterly useless otherwise. Had gone hard and were basically lethal. Then fitted some 5 year old Yokohama a048s in medium compound as I started to venture on to track too. These are good once warm (after 2 hot laps on a circuit) but I found them unpredictable on the road, causing moments where there shouldn't have been any and very hard to drive safely in the cold and wet. Next up was SG compound R888 - these I liked on road and track, more predictable than the yokohama's, slightly less warm up time required and generally more consistent. However were also risky in the cold and wet (particularly cold - the grip on these tyres comes from some warmth in the compound and without it, they're pretty solid and therefore slippy). Great for trackdays and the wear rate was decent, even in SG compound. Didn't really like them on the road as they were inconsistent. Medium compound Avon zzr - purely for track day use. Fantastic tyre. Hugely flattering! Much better grip from cold, work right from the pit lane, and give constant feedback and control. Better in cold temps too, although I'm not sure why. Decent wet grip but I didn't use them on the road. Kumho v70a supersoft - tyre for sprinting only. Insane. It will take me a few more years yet to get my driving skills up to the limit of these tyres. Have been tested in wet and performed well, would be happy with a set of medium compound as an all round road\track tyre. And finally, my most recent purchase - the previously mentioned Falken ze912. Available from £30 each in 15" or £50 each in 13". Have done a lot of miles on these, including road in all conditions and some amazing track days. THE MOST predictable tyre I have ever driven. Tells you exactly what it's doing, where it's going and when it's nearing its limits, and when you get to the limit, it maintains control and predictability allowing you to either go wild and drifty or bring it back in safely. Love this tyre. Proper road tread for all weathers but not so hard that it doesn't wear - got nice rubbering on the tread face after trackdays, a sign of a good balance in tread compound. The weird thing is that I keep recommending this tyre on threads like this and get ignored or overlooked, presumably because it's not an r888 or some other "popular" choice. However when I was at Anglesey, while wondering through the pits, I spotted a TVR and a Porsche GT3 both wearing them. Must be something OK about them! I run 18psi rear and 16psi front to allow for the lighter weight of our cars, but that will be a specific setting for each individual set up.

Would you send us a set to dyno - might be helpful to members to see the dyno plots and an independent review? Sounds like a nice product BTW

You will, the organisers are volunteers and have day jobs and families same as the rest of us. However, you are right to check and if you don't get a nod back in the next few days then drop us another email

Just been through the OS settings on this laptop again and some of the GB dictionaries weren't installed properly, so the browser was defaulting to US English. All fixed now. Colour, tyre, antidisestablishmentarianism, all without the red squiggles. Thanks everyone. Jen

I can't answer your question on the Nanking's. However, at 22 years old, the rubber on your Avon's are going to be very hard and are probably responsible for your fear of going backwards in to the nearest ditch. When I got my car it had a set of ten or twelve year old tyres on it and they had no grip at all. Can't remember the model, but they were Yokohama, so a brand with a reasonable reputation. Virtually anything you put on, even the cheapest teflon coated ditch finders will probably feel better! The WSCC forum has lots of tyre discussions and I find them very confusing and hard to get clear answers. This is down to a couple of things. Tyre feel and performance is very subjective, so it is difficult to compare peoples experience. Also peoples needs for a tyre vary. For a dry weather track day tyre people want ultimate grip and enough wear to get a reasonable number of track days out of it. People in the speed series want the best grip, preferably from cold and aren't too worried about wear life. For those of us that use our cars almost exclusively on the road, especially all year round, then our needs are different. This is my take on requirements for a road tyre, based on my experience. You need enough wear resistance that the tyres will last up to five years or so with the amount of miles you do. Beyond five years the rubber will be starting to harden and grip will go down. As you have seen with your Avon's, these cars don't tend to do the miles that most tin tops cover and with their light weight they can get to a great age without wearing out standard hard rubber road tyres. The tyre needs to be able to cope with cold weather, rain and standing water. It should also still have some grip on snow if you are caught out. I am on my second set of Toyo R888 tyres. These aren't available anymore, but there is a similar replacement. These are a track day tyre, but road legal. They are superb in the summer on dry roads. Surprisingly good in the wet and cold, giving good grip and plenty of feel and progressive slip when they reach their limits. On snow they have no grip at all. I was once caught in a sudden and unexpected flurry of snow and on a straight road and a slight up hill the rear wheels kept spinning away. Fortunately I drove out the other side, but if it had carried on I would have had to abandon the car till it melted. R888's have a reputation for aquaplaning in standing water. Never experienced it, but that is probably because I back off a lot in these conditions in compensation. They are good in that their wear rate in the GG compound is about right for me and they come in 13" wheel sizes at a reasonable price. I would be willing to accept worse dry weather ultimate grip for better cold and wet grip and some ability to handle a bit of snow. These would be my ideal tyres for my use. Toyo R1R's probably came close, but I would have to change to 15" wheels. I can't give a recommendation. I am looking for a replacement for the R888's myself when the time comes that meet my requirements above. 14" is hard to find good tyres for these days. I changed from 14" to 13 for this reason on my car with a secondhand set from a forum member. Might be worth looking for a new set of wheels too in a size with more available, 15", or 13"? Wheel diameter is a whole other can of worms though. Jen

It appears that I’ve owned my Westfield for 6 months! It needed re-taxing the end of last month. I’ve been on this forum almost as long. I have damper oil in my blood now and have worked for Dynamic Suspensions on very shinny stuff (part of Multimatic inc.) and Woodhead shock absorbers (now gone). I joined Spax back ~15 years ago, I became technical director about ~10 years ago and 9 months ago Managing Director. I’m primarily a straight engineer type and definitely not into the dark arts of sales and marketing. As some of you may know, Spax has manufacturer adjustable dampers for over 60 years now. We are an Original equipment supplier to the likes of Morgan Motor cars. Over the years we have made massive leaps forward in quality and performance, most of which has been my hard work. I know we don’t always have the best reputation often based on past experiences. But there are a hell of a lot of Westfield’s running about on 25 year old Spax dampers. Mine was one. Spax are now free from any supply agreements with Westfield or any of the Westfield Specialists. I have made a decision to deal direct with forum members offering trade prices and a more personal service. I have created new part numbers and mostly ignored the dampers of the past. These part numbers will not be available else ware. All dampers have 304 Stainless steel ride height threads on their bodies. They don’t corrode like plated steel or aluminium threads. “More” SVA friendly curved and radial drilled adjustable springs seats apposed to the traditional castellated ones. Main bodies are blasted, phosphated and powered coated. Fully synthetic damper oil. Dampers gas pressurised reducing cavitations, and increases the damper sensitivity. All dampers have tethlon banded pistons and shaft guides (low friction and very constant sealing). This is much better in every respect to tethlon banding. or steel piston rings. Dampers valved to suite a Westfield direct from the factory. No need for 3rd party re-valves or balancing. Front damper. Standard Track £99.99 inc VAT each · Open 325mm · Closed at bumpstop contact 270 (no packers) · Closed cell bumpstop, progressive rate, · 12 mm of removable packers to limit suspension travel for low sumps on the road, but still leaving the opportunity for much lower ride heights on the track · Rebuildable/ Revalvable Rear based on SEiW Sierra Diff £99.99 inc VAT each · Open 355 · Closed at bumpstop contact 280 · 40mm Closed cell bumpstop, progressive rate · Some trick valving in the piston to allow the wheel fast recovery after going over bumps, raised humps in the road · Rebuildable/ Revalvable Rather than rely on historical information I have based on fresh information. From your details I can also supply dampers for, live axle, wide track, other models… . I just need a little information from you which I would talk you though so there’s nothing to be scared about. Damping… The valving, supple enough for every day holy roads without over stressing the occupants and car, but still stiff enough for track days. The damping adjuster will be set on a guide setting from the factory these can be adjusted to your preference. I’m assuming most people will be using ~ using 250-350 lbs/inch springs on the front and 175-250 on the rear. Colour… By default all the dampers are SPAX yellow, we can also supply in BLACK, Post office Red, British Racing Green, Royal Blue and Silver. Additional cost £ 5 per damper If you have any Special requirements such as your using significantly different spring rates or Spherical bearings on the dampers, different lengths, these can be catered for. Contact me Direct any questions etc. Tony_Shakeshaft@Spaxperformance.com

First short shake down run of the year! Fantastic! Forget how quick and fun they are! Missed the rain and hail too by about 5 min.... Perfect New shox and plays kool arb's all working well. Proper setup at Blink on Friday. Fingers x'd the rain and snow holds off! Andy

Well I unpacked my aircraft today and the quality is amazing. The drone, controller and all the accessories certainly do not look cheap or flimsy and the documentation is very good also. I have not flown it yet as the batteries are charging. It was picked up from the supplier in the USA on Wednesday at 18.56. It then went to New York, flew to East midlands airport, was put on a truck to Bristol where it was given to the courier to bring to Hereford. It arrived with me on Friday at 12.03. How brilliant is that. A big thumbs up to SLR HUT.

I would have thought the long pole was a far better option. You imagine trying to survey a building on a busy street. There will people and cars to deal with. All the TV cables, phone cables and power cables to contend with. Trees in peoples garden etc, etc. If you were looking at cracked brickwork or loose flashings, then I don't think the drone would get close enough and if it did I think it would be very risky. For me the camera and pole wins every time as there are no major issues to deal with unless you were close to power lines.

A power run at a rolling road will at least quantify the current output and remove subjectivity from the equation, as one man's "pretty quick" is another's slow. FWIW, my 1700 Kent Crossflow with 2 x Weber DCOE 40 carbs makes about 100 bhp at the wheels (estimated at 110 bhp at the flywheel) and it would easily keep up with a Prius. From the spec you say you have, 130 bhp seems like a reasonable number to be expecting and will be more than enough for most to describe it as "pretty quick" in a half tonne car. There are a few things to check before you book in though, i.e. are you getting 100% throttle, is the timing OK, check spark plugs for whether the jetting is too rich or lean, do a service, check fuel pressure, service the carbs, etc. These are all tasks for the home mechanic and will save you £s over paying someone to check over and fix these things as they are simple but time-consuming. HTH, Bill

Thing is, the OP is saying he has a feeling he is lacking power, so before we get too bogged down with suspension set ups, maybe worth checking the engine is running properly first

Sup regs and entry forms downloadable at the bottom of the page. Sprint Entry Form 2016 MIRA.pdf Sprint Regs 2016 MIRA.pdf

Is this it?

Good turn out last night, great to catch up with everyone again! I'll remind everyone again nearer the time, but please note, next months Cheshire meet WILL NOT BE AT THE WHIPPING STOCKS! They're going to be doing some decorating/renovation work for about three weeks in April, this means they'll be completely shut for a few days right at the start, including our normal meet day, so even the car park may be fenced off! Instead, we'll meet up at the Swettenham Arms, and if the weather is favourable go on a shirt run out, before returning to Swettenham. http://www.swettenhamarms.co.uk This will be for one month only, and we'll be back to the Whipping Stocks the following month.

Looking good Quinten. Hope to catch up with you this Monday.

Once the shocks and springs were sorted, one of the other parts I'd been putting off ordering was the exhaust expansion chamber. I'd had it drawn since the summer, but I'd been holding off placing the order until I was happy that there wouldn't be any interference between it and the roll hoop. What looks like a simple enough design proved difficult to find a manufacturer as rolling the small diameter cones from stainless steel isn't as easy as one might think. I owe thanks to John Danby Racing, who have helped me in the past with various parts and who eventually sourced a fabricator to make the expansion chamber. I only picked it up on Friday, but it didn't take me too long to fit it to the car next job is to make a bracket to support the end of it.

Doors fitted, test drive done, happy days now need to go for a good run with them on. Great quality

Yes, but I think pilots normally wait until they've taken off before they wear them

I was extremely disappointed with my recent interactions with a main Ford dealer. When I called them to arrange test drives I couldn’t have made it more clear that I was a Petrol head (emphasis on the word Petrol) and I had money to spend and I wanted an ST something and pretty much wanted it now. As it had been a bloomin cold night and I was worried about road conditions I drove to the dealer on the test route I had in mind (the B4632) to check it out. And it was a mess and the fact there was really varied sunlight / shadows meant road conditions were not only bad, but utterly unpredictable. Even the Mundane on full winter Dunlops was struggling in some places. So when I arrived at the garage I said, “There is no point in a test drive, roads are too bad, lets just talk money and buying options and I will take them for a taz later” I got the reply “Oh don’t worry, take it on the bypass, that’s perfectly OK” – so take a Focus ST, which it is obvious I am buying to hoon around corners in, for a run on the bypass… This was not looking good but I wandered over to the Focus for a look see. As we walk over I comment “how amazed I was that the DERV was only 6kg heavier than the petrol so the 60/40 weight distribution would effectively be the same”, he looked at me and “you really know your cars, I hate cars” And then we get to the car which had Goodyear Eagle boots on it. Full on summer tyres on a mega torquey car in winter with extremely dubious road conditions. I went out and came back 2 miles later, what was the point. It accelerated and it stopped, that about all I could figure out. Didn’t even bother starting the engine on the Fiesta… I know I was expecting too much, but I was REALLY looking forward to testing a few cars and cheering myself up by buying one. And the dealership experience really upset me, they didn’t care if they were selling cars, bananas or hair extensions, they were just items… So I went home, phoned Grizzlee up and shouted at him about the whole experience for about an hour. And he wouldn’t stop laughing, which really didn’t help. The more he laughed, the angrier I got which made him laugh more. Note to all – he is a total git…

I've decided to keep the change to my Avatar comment - it can serve as a permanent reminder that the WSCC forum is effectively a police state, which Scott treats as his own private fiefdom... We might as well be living in North Korea, we would certainly have more personal freedom to express our opinions..! Can you tell I'm a sore loser..? BTW - Diesels are still ****e

Besides the idiotic vandalism, there's a bigger point - the fact hospitals charge doctors and nurses to park at their own place of work, if there's any space at all, and don't lay on park and ride schemes. More great caring by NHS beauracrats.

Good . Get back to work.