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Hi I'm new to this forum, I've just purchased a 1998 SEiW project. This is my second westi, I owned an 11 (XI) previously, and I've owned a few Lotus cars. I'm looking at getting my teeth into this project. I've started a restore diary if anyone is interested? Thanks

I quite like them

Been to sunny Blackpool today to collect the new addition. Can't wait to get some dry weather to get it out for a run then get it ready for next season in the speed series.

Neptune This is the sort of feedback the SSOT want to hear ; from someone who doesn't currently compete, but the fact you have taken the time to comment may mean your keen to give it ago. Target times were (after a "change over year ") introduced in 2010. There is evidence that in the couple of years after they were introduced there was a drop off in the number of folk competing, particularly in the road going classes so its fair to say that the introduction of target times may have played a part in this, which is unfortunate but without going into detail there were sound reasons for introducing them as a scoring system. We are now 8 years on now so Im no longer convinced that the scoring system is a big barrier to attracting new competitors. In fact other successful clubs use a class record based scoring system. This year we (the SSOT) have evaluated various different scoring systems in the background (including reverting to the old scoring system) and those used by other clubs but it didn't matter what we looked at there was always a problem making them unsuitable for the Speed Series. If nothing else it confirmed that there was no perfect scoring system and we will stick to the class record based scoring system. There has been a push in the last couple of years particularly to encourage new competitors to the speed series and we looked seriously at whether it was the scoring system that was putting folk off. Your feedback though does seem to confirm confirm what we suspected in that it is'nt necessarily the scoring system that is putting folk off. Its is clearly, combined with the longest recession for many many years , the double whammy of the MSA rules has had a significant impact on attracting new people. Clearly the cost of kitting yourself out to compete in the first place isn't cheap, but if you did wish to give it a go there are plenty of second hand legal race suits are available on the bay of e and Playskool Motorsport were offering a hire service of suit helmet and gloves to Speed Series competitors a couple of years ago. (Ring Luke to see if this is still available). Of course its not just about the competing its about the social aspect too, so I would encourage you to take part in the Blyton track day in July and come along to the Shelley Event, which is also non competitive and take your car up the hill.

If its too wet, too cold or you just cant be bothered , watch this and dream.... http://www.kidston.com/kidston-news-item/221/A-Winter

I have a T shirt that says "Life is too short for a hybrid" but when the i8 came out , I stopped wearing it

Hi Everyone Thanks very much for this wonderful response it is really appreciated! Please carry on getting friends and members to register their interest. I am in the process of compiling the information pages and will publish early in the new year when you will be able to formally book your place! Thank you for all the offers of support on the day which will be gratefully received and I will be in contact as the detail unfolds. In the meantime while you are in the loft finding the christmas decorations please have a look for any pictures, video or even super 8 footage of any of the SS events since 1998. It does not matter how embarrassing it is we will use it sensitively! Many thanks in advance and have great festive season! Best wishes Graham (Glutey)

Thanks, hopefully not too cold though as the weather is against me...Might post an update next week as long as we don't see snow;o) Thanks

Absolutely as Dave said ^^^^ for some the height of the RAC bar is fine, but for others with padded seats on runners it's just too low. IMO the biggest hurdle to attracting newcommers to the sport is the MSA's regulation changes of the last few years that has added considerable additional expense for those wanting to compete which would be off-putting for the occasional competitor. I know the SSOT had been looking at other alternative option to the MSA such as the Javilin series but I haven't heard the outcome of this research. @John Williams - WSCC Competition Secretary is there any feedback from the SSOT working group on this?

As someone who has never participted but would like to try sprinting and enjoy some of the legendary circuits, I hope my comments are useful First and foremost my car is a road car used in all weathers. I like my full hood. Due to msa rules i understand i cannot participte without and approved roll bar, which means I can't use my hood so my car becomes less attractive for its main purpose. Swapping bars is a p.i.t.a. and a half hood doesn't appeal to me. Costs for new rolbar, approved helmets, clothing , new seat belts all become significant just to participate. So I like others i have spoken with, will choose other less stringent and more pay and play oriented events to dip our toes in the water . Perhaps I will get hooked and then be confident to invest. My reason for commenting is that by virtue of the MSA association, SS is unable to offer a low investment taste of the sport . It isn't the TT's or classes that are the barriers to initial entrance even though they may be barriers to folks coming back for more ...

Collected today kev will be back on the hill at the shelsley Walsh event.

Totally agree with Smokey. No matter what the SSOT do to the Speed Series Regs there is no getting around the MSA rules I still think that is would be good to lower TTS for all to take away the perception that they are made of unobtainium

If we think the challenge is to get newbies to try competitive motorsport vs track days, Is there Merit in the organisation of a specific newbies class for westfields within the javelin series?

Hi Both Andy and I have just fitted cages from Luke at Playskool and they are a fairly easy fit. Just double check the door bar length, as on both of ours they were too short so we had to weld in additional chassis bars. Luke is aware of this, and the cars are both wide body although 10 Year’s apart in age. hope this is useful, unlike the “Facebook” comments !!

Kev Bamber's old car and was a known quick car

Before I retired the company had the coupe as a trade exhibition car, with the addition of a little vinyl. I took it to the NEC and borrowed it for the odd weekend. It looked nice in my garage, but is it as nice as the, work in progress, Westfield? I agree with others, apart from the scissor doors, which amazed everyone, the thin tyres and 3 cylinder motor let's it down. Inside, apart from the good dashboard, blue in comfort and red in sport mode it was like most other BMW's The noise was OK in sport mode as it played through the speakers, blipped the throttle and popped and crackled going down the gears. Sorry Julie, I remember the BMW warranty terms mentioned no cakes inside the car as it messed up the complicated electronics, and absolutely no ice cream. If I had the money would I buy one, no, there are better cars around for that sort of money.

Good lad, looking forward to following your antics next year, well done.

My other half knows better than to buy me whiskey these days - I'm known to "over-indulge"! It's just so darn tasty!! I'm genuinely intrigued as to what Mr C will bring this year without my usual car/racing related hints!

TBH I never ask for car related items. This year some rather nice single malts were 'hinted' at!

Collected

Agreed, whilst you are on there watch the summer's tale as well. very nice for differing reasons.

No fixings , just laid them flat , gravity did the rest

Really enjoyed watching that. Mind you I thought your 'treatment' of the mug was a bit harsh Nice car for £2.5k BTW!

Snett 300 is a great circuit - you won’t be sitting on the limiter like you do at Bedford on the long straight Defo worth a trip

Far from it Stephen. The ROPS on my single seater was hommolgated and meets the current MSA ROPS regulations. The relaxations for historic vehicles are such that I could have legally run with the original 1" diameter unbraced hoop but in my mind that would have been dangerous. The problem for me then was that because I wanted to improve the safety and therefore Increase the tube diameters the new ROPS would no longer have been period defined and consequently it has to meet the current regulations. Happy to help if I can. There's only two issues I see with the RAC bar. The first being that there are at least two different types available, either with fixed or removable backstays and then there are wide and narrow varrient. Each would need simulations carried out by MIRA and likewise the MSA fee paying for a homologation application (total cost of MIRA and MSA is about £1500 for each). The second problem is the MSA have an aversion to rose joints used in ROPS, this however could be overcome by replacing with a more compliant adjuster but it all adds additional costs.

I used 8x4 sheets of 12mm ply over a concrete floor . good surface & insulates from the cold as well , been down fr 10 years or more now still good as new

I agree with the cap for events with no target where points could vary rather wildy depending on who's in class on the day, but other than that I think 101 cap is quite harsh when the vast majority of times are pretty settled.

There is also currently a likely occurrence of an unrepresentative score with a small entry and the adverse condition 1.6d or 1.6e rule being used. What we see is that against real targets (class records) when bettered are rarely bettered by more than 1%. So the 101 cap is used to prevent a unrepresentative score from occurring in all cases. Also even now, after several years of using Class Records wherever possible there are "soft" target/records there. Yes, each year they reduce in number as competitors focus on them. Why?.....Because the British weather is very variable and the level and number of drivers varies across classes.

I'm always happy ian and love the crack more than most anybody that knows me well will tell you that but this went straight over the top of my head . But i just cannot get my head around why people post for no reason at all.The post hasnt helped the person who started the topic in anyway and is no way constructive.I see people put cars for sale in the for sale section and people just post "glws" and i'm sitting there thinking whats is the point in posting that its in no way constructive or in anyway helpful to the person selling the item.

Makes it worth organising when everyone has a good time!

Adam The cap was brought in when we had target times and some of them (although records ) were easy Beating them could cause a massive score at just a few events and if it happened early in the season it ruined the class and championship. We have had caps of 102 and 101

@Dave (OnliestSmeg) - Manchester AO - the roadgoing debate is an interesting one - if we're not defining a road going Westfield by the fact it has tax, MOT and insurance, how are we defining it? I think you run a risk of excluding more cars than you would be including if you started stipulating things like full screens, carpets etc. Would you only allow padded seats over lightweight GRP? Would you ban fuel tanks below a certain capacity? My personal opinion is that it's crazy to try and argue that one Westfield with tax, MOT and insurance is "less roadgoing" than another Westfield with tax, MOT and insurance. Don't forget we've already been there a long time ago and moved away from it to include more cars. In spirit with a popular movie at this time of year, "let it go" Key for me is offering more taster opportunities for people to get the bug and then decide what level of investment to make. If people are worried about being competitive because of the cars they see in the magazine, they need to be assured that those are the top end of the sport and that every Westfield has a place and if driven well, can be very competitive, as you yourself have been. I do agree with Martin and some of the other comments that having a separate Novice championship is a massive draw to the club, I've discussed this at different events with different competitors (lotus club members, mini club members and some FF members) and they're all blown away that we offered this and think it's a great way of getting people in. It certainly lured me in! I'd like to see that come back.