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As some of you know, my little green car had its MOT June 6th. Well she passed, and we are going out today for some more familiarisation with driving her. We are planning on going to the Coleshill Auto Breakfast Meet Big Day Out on the 29th as that was the last event my dad drove her to before he passed. If anyone is in the Midlands area and fancies joining me, the more the merrier. https://www.coleshillautobreakfastmeet.org/event-details-registration/big-day-out-all-day-event

If you're looking for a bit of light reading the Race and rally car source book by Allan Staniforth has some good suspension write ups.

An interesting thread from the archives here: Rather than take this one too much further off topic.

It’s a really complicated topic, worthy of a thread on its own. It’s not a black and white thing either, many get into the idea of bump steer = bad, must eliminate. The reality is, that it’s just another element, that needs to be controlled, but can also be used beneficially. Lotus for example, often use controlled amounts of bump steer beneficially.

Exactly ! - this is "sight" i have attached to see where this wheel is In Westfield I can see both wheels. In MNR left front not. I've got to say (not to brag or anything 🙂), but it actually works — and I’m really proud of this tuning!

Second trouble-free track day with my MNR Vortx Inboard CBR1000RR. I'm starting to feel more confident in the car. Lots of impressions and comparisons to my track-spec Westfield Aerorace. Ideally, I’d love to drive both cars on the same track, on the same day, and compare lap times directly. Unfortunately, that’s not feasible at the moment, so my conclusions are based purely on driving impressions. Here’s what I’ve noticed: The MNR feels very planted—stable, composed, and smooth over bumps and curbs. It's also easier to control when the rear steps out, especially compared to the Westfield. This time, I tested it on both semi-slicks (Yokohama A052) and full slicks. I also felt noticeably less fatigued after a session in the MNR. On a more somber note, I recently read that Marc Nordon, the creator of MNR cars, is now in hospice care. Really sad and unfortunate news : - ( .

You used to see a few similar mods to the old RAC roll bar, back in the day. Not seen it done since the rule changes brought about the MSA roll bar, so i guess it was no longer compliant?

Yep - I've just fitted one of their quick racks. No problems there.

Its very interesting. I wasn't away of the differences in the chassis, but then I am an old SE narrow. But my understanding of the principle of moving the rack, and I am by no means an expert. Is to reduce the effect to steering angle and maybe toe during the normal suspension travel known as Bump Steer. I understand that in a perfect world the steering arms would be straight at normal ride height and move in the same angles as the suspension arms and so ideally should be parallel to the arms and also pivot in in the same place. In the picture because the steering arms/trackrods are angled down so when the suspension compresses and the arms straighten the arms in relation to the upright lengthen effecting the steering angle and ultimately the toe Of course as always its a lot more complicated that this and there are always compromises with the parts available in a kit car. All just my understanding and happy to be corrected as its a very complicated subject and am very happy to learn and understand better myself.

The chassis re-working for the. Mega S2000 was contracted out to Randle Engineering, who are behind the subtle and not so subtle tweaks and changes to the design. Which was then (initially) manufactured in-house, alongside the other chassis offered, before being made, again, like their other chassis, by an outside contractor - it was Caged, though not sure if they carried on after the factory reopened, or not. (the design changes for the Sport 250 were added to the Mega S2000 chassis in house by the old WSC factory, as far as I know). As a general note, be very careful with chassis mods affecting suspension or steering pick up point locations. Make sure you comply with any local legislation. And if the car is for competition, make sure changing these things is ok in the rigs for whatever series you compete in. (It often isn’t.) In the UK, (not for Westfields AFAIK), but in off road circles, a lot of Land Rover/Range Rover custom hybrids lost their VIN numbers under DVSA crack downs, and I know of at least one Caterham that ended up loosing its vin number and having to be parted out and (I think) the chassis destroyed, for the same reason.

Background- @Greenstreak-Andy D @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman & I started our Euroblats in 2017 with our first trip to Le Mans for Andy's 50th. This was followed by a return visit for Dave and I's 50ths in 2018. In 2019, due to Speedchills (UK based company we'd used for trips to Le Mans), no longer offering the great package we'd used previously, we ventured further to the Alps! We won't mention why we couldn't travel in 2020. In 2021 we had the Not Alps trip of Yorkshire. In 2022 we returned to the Alps with @Stu Faulkner in tow. In 2023 a further trip to the Alps took place and we ventured further into Italy with visits to Ferrari and Pagani. In 2024, the team changed with @Greenstreak-Andy D taking a year out to do the North Coast 500 with his daughter, @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman needing funds for his company car and @Stu Faulkner unable to join due to work issues. New additions were @Si.Dalziel @Jim cunliffe & @Tim.Coles So if you've been following carefully and doing the sums, this will be my 7th Euroblat and 5th trip to the Alps. 6th Europblat and 4th Alps trip for @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman and 3rd trip to the Alps for @Stu Faulkner So we should know what we're doing by now.............Let's see if we did! This will also be our longest trip at 14 days, due to there being only 1 date dictated by the train time table to and from Innsbruck. We've tried different routes to get home- 2019- Alps to Stuttgart (Porsche Museum), to Nürburgring to Zeebrugge- 3 long hot autobahn days. 2022- Alps to UK via France, 3 long hot days on easy but boring roads 2023 -Verona to Düsseldorf by Train. Booked, then train company advised they can't load us in Verona(some excuse about H&S / Training) so we had to drive back to Innsbruck, spending 8 hours driving rather than 2! 2024- Insbruck to Düsseldorf by Train. Here's our Googlemap for 2025, showing both the Austrian, Swiss and Italian waypoints. Improved for 2025 with colours and icons for passes, hotels, fuel etc. We then use this to program the TomTom accounts to be the same. Day 1 - Tue 17th June - Home to Hull @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman @Stu Faulkner & I planned to meet at Tagg Lane Dairy to start our 2025 trip. As we did last year, WSCC Members were invited to join us for any of our run to Hull. Though given our weekday departure date, we appreciate most folk will be at work. You can read up about as far as the Motorist here- Day 1 After we said good bye to @Robin Parker (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO we continued our journey to Tesco in Hull to refuel before boarding the ferry Bagpuss getting excited as we approach the ferry. In we go................ We'd been put on the bottom deck with the trucks which meant a long climb to our cabins but we discovered in the morning, we'd be unloaded quickly and on our way. The first beer of the trip. Don't drink on ferries................that's all I'm saying...................

Great write and photos up on your trip Ian, hopefully this might inspire others to take the plunge and get their Westfield out on these great roads. We had a blast when we did it.

Day 14 - Mon 30th June - Hull to home - via the Peaks I really needed this 'durty' breakfast for some reason....... Perhaps it was something I'd drank 🤦‍♂️ Nearly ready to roll. There's always interesting vehicles travelling with us. ...and we're rolling.... The same Tesco in Hull we fuelled at on our way out. We've driven some great, roads but it's nice to be reminded we do have some good roads in the UK too. Especially in the Peaks. Another nice tradition, the 'Queen of cakes' @Julie Hall - WSCC AO Representative and Glen, met us in Bakewell for a drink and catch up. We had a good natter and then all set off on our ways. Though @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) and I convoyed a little further. Bagpuss safely, home. Time to unload and clean! @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) about to do similar. My shorts will live to serve again. Car washed and back in the toybox.

Day 13 - Sun 29th June - Düsseldorf to Euro port Rotterdam After an uneventful night and uninterrupted journey, we safely drove off the train in Düsseldorf, though as you'll note in the pic above, the cars in front get off quicker than us, as we've got to move all our stuff out of Dave's car before he can get in! Sunday morning traffic in Düsseldorf, isn't difficult! Given we'd not had a proper evening meal and a light breakfast on the train. We stopped for the first 'Fast Food' of the trip. Which ironically wasn't very fast, but was fresh (same slow service as last year). We were soon across Germany and back into the Netherlands. As we've got our TomTom's on avoid motorways, we were taken along some crazy roads. Above shows the cycle lanes either side of the road are huge, the centre lines gone and cars are forced against each other! Even in more rural areas! More of the good stuff. As we did in 2024, again as the Ferry doesn't sail until the evening. We've stopped off at a museum to kill some time-link Luckily they'd got a 'Wheels and Wings' event on- so there were cars as well and military items to view. Given our earlier restaurant disasters on this trip with closures. I'd rang ahead and booked into here. Our 3rd or 4th visit. Great food and attentive staff. De Beren It's only about 20 mins from the Ferry. Another 320kms (198 miles) covered. We'd normally refuel in Europe ready for the journey home, however it's not cheaper than the UK currently so we didn't! Into the ship we go. Luckily we've been put on the lower deck again, which should make for an easier/quicker unloading in Hull. A quick wash and we're soon in the bar to celebrate the end of another great Euro blat.

Day 12 - Sat 28th June - Time to head home- though a few more passes first.......Passo Stalle, Grossglockner Pass and Gerlos Pass We awoke to another glorious view- Blue skies and not a cloud in sight! cars packed and loaded for the trip home. Ready to roll. On our 2024 visit to the Dolomites, @Si.Dalziel noticed we'd always travelled south from the hotel we stayed in (not the same one as this year) and he suggested we go north on our way home. We did and we found some nice roads/passes to drive. So this year I planned to take the same route. I saw the countdown timer on the traffic light and thought 37 secs isn't long to wait. Then I woke up and realised it was minutes! The light is green for our direction only 15 mins every hour. Clearly @Jim cunliffe had two Coffees at breakfast last year, meaning we arrived whilst the light was luckily green. So we turned round and stopped by a lake we'd seen a few mins earlier. @Stu Faulkner allegedly likes 'dropping logs off' in the woods, but this time he wants to climb on them! We were soon joined by some riders who'd probably had the same idea. We got through the traffic lights eventually and were soon back on Austrian roads. Another fill up and we meet two German drivers (Lotus and a VX220). They're also heading to the Grossglocker Pass and ask if they can follow us. Why not! However we lost them before we got to the start of the pass and never saw them again! The toll booth on the Grossglockner Pass- Wiki Link Not the cheapest at EUR 135 for the 3 of us! Rather foggy in places, perhaps another 30 mins later and it would have burnt off. However last year we only just got up the pass before it shut for a cycle race and we didn't want that to happen ( @Stu Faulkner had checked for Austrian and Italian Cycle events prior to us leaving the UK- but whenever we saw more than a couple of riders together we blamed Stu 😉 ). We found a 'Nissan GTR / Skyline Meet' at the top. I'm sure their engines were not enjoying the thin air. Another sticker earned We then travelled down the other side of the pass and headed to our next stop for a leg stretch and a break. Our train wasn't until the evening so we'd got plenty of time. Water world (no, not the naff Kevin Costner film). We'd passed this last year and it looked impressive from the road (as above) but looked too busy, too touristy to stop in our Westies. However Dave did some pre trip research and it looked do-able. Dave had even sensibly brought his walking boots along just for this. I'd got my running trainers. The Krimml water fall is the highest water fall in Austria and the 2nd Highest in Europe. Wiki Link We parked in a payable, barrier controlled car park. I left my luggage in the car, If someone wants my stinky trip washing and running kit their very welcome to it! Can you see our cars? @Stu Faulkner took this selfie with his 'Fisher Price' Phone! Sadly our last pass of the trip, the Gerlos Pass. Very light traffic. Cars drinking the good stuff again. We then headed to a Restaurant just outside Innsbruck that we've used for the last 2 trips. Sadly it was closed for the weekend (yes, just like the Oil Can Cafe- we should have rang ahead and booked!). Cars were treated to another top up of V-Power Racing and we bought snacks in lieu of the evening meal we weren't going to get. We've not exactly starved whilst away 😉 Back at the Innsbruck Rail Terminal- not exactly a surprise to see the same Dino we loaded with in Duesseldorf. The trains are sadly so infrequent post covid. I'd emailed and rang UEX (the train company) after Stu's outbound roof incident to advise all 3 cars were cabriolets, so hopefully we'll be correctly boarded on the lower deck. and we were! You'll note, Stu's not risking further damage and has put his doors and luggage in Dave's car, along with my luggage.

Day 11 - Fri 27th June - Passo Giau, Galleria Passo San Boldo and meet Mattia. Let's head for the bright blue bits! Ready to roll. Forecast is favorable! We'd been updating the WSCC FB Social group with our travels and Simon had said he was in Cortina. So we suggested saying hello as we drove to meet Mattia @mTT97 He'd suggested a location in Cortina and we were aiming to meet at 9:30am. He wasn't in his Westfield but was on holiday with his family in the area. As we got closer, we realised it was looking unlikely we'd meet. Simon advised he'd got stuck in traffic and we couldn't wait as we've got a long day ahead and had made plans to meet Mattia at 10am. I was running two Whatsapp live locations and well as guiding Dave and Stu! Here's Mattia location. We'd agree to Meet at the start of Passo Giau at 10:00am. We met Mattia as planned with his brother Samuele (he's got a 5L Mustang- which is only good for making noise and doing donuts- Mattia's words not mine 😉 - he was told he couldn't bring it!). Mattia led us along Passo Giau. The great action shots above were all taken by Samuele, many thanks! The brother of @mTT97 Mattia suggested this as a good location for some pics- https://maps.app.goo.gl/FV9vuifrmmMM4Jzm6 Here's Mattia with a L& D Tour 2025 hat courtesy of @marcusb as well as a WSCC Torch. Some great drone shots from Samuele too. All four cars having a drink of the good stuff. Mattia took us to a nice restaurant. Angry Pasta (Pasta Arabiata). Sadly Samuele couldn't get his drone to function at Galleria Passo San Boldo- We suspect the area locks out drone, as is done near airports etc. So he filmed as best his could with his phone. As can be seen it's not the fastest of passes and there are traffic lights to control movement due to the very narrow tunnels. We made a quick visit to Mattia's house for some nice cold water before we headed back to our hotel. Just as we were about to leave, his mum arrived. I asked her which car she liked best, expecting a lady to say the pink one and she's pointing at here own Fiesta. Lesson learned. 🤦‍♂️ As we were passing Cortina on our way back, I thought we'd have a second attempt to meet up with Simon. However he was up a mountain somewhere and the traffic on Cortina was horrendous! A cycle race was planned to start at 11pm and hence the traffic was all the riders/spectators etc arriving in advance. ...the cars needed a drink and sadly it's the start of the journey home tomorrow so we're best starting off full. Another great 329km (204 miles) done. More stickers too! A nod to @Jim cunliffe & @Tim.Coles back at our favorite Pizzeria. more Schnitzel about to be processed............

Day 10 - Thu 26th June - Man Vs. Machine, more passes (Gardena - again) and cloud dodging. The cars, looking ready to go on another blue sky day As the hotel provided free use of bikes (Stu had used them on previous days to visit the shops), Stu kindly decided to join me on my early morning run. It was nice to have some company! Cars ready to roll. We'd not picked up any fuel on the way back to the hotel last night, so a quick refuel at the start of the day. Note the traffic (red/amber lines) on TomTom. An Italian Traffic Officer, stopped us to tell us he liked the sound of our cars or something similar 😉 @Stu Faulkner proudly showing off his Fridge Magnet, bought at the top of the Passo Gardena Time to head for the hotel, the Forecast was storms, so we'd stayed fairly close to the hotel. We still covered 182kms (113 miles) by 1pm. Is it too early for 'vital replenishment ' fluid? Cars covered up We'd decided at breakfast not to eat in the hotel tonight (you need to order dinner from the daily menu at breakfast) and had booked a table at a Pizzeria 20 mins walk/swim away. Not the best decision, perhaps............ We set off with brollies and coats but got there without getting wet and continued our mission to process Pizza! A dry walk back and the cars hadn't floated away! We'd made plans to meet our Italian WSCC Member Mattia on our way to Galleria Passo San Boldo in the morning(I drove it in 2024). He advised his brother was joining him and bring a drone. I thought only fair to set him a task! Wikipedia link I sent him the above pic and asked for the drone to be static and to take a shot of my car in 3 different places to enable me to photoshop it to look like 3 of my cars on the pass etc. Lets see if he can do it.........

Day 9 - Wed 25th June - Passo Fedaia & a road recommended by Mattia one of our Italian WSCC Members @mTT97 Ready to roll. ...More fuel........ 301kms (181 miles) covered today The hotel's having a BBQ in the garden tonight, so we'll join in (no Pizza or Schnitzel tonight then!). The Hotel owners sons, also work there. Did I over do the salad?

We had booked the barbecue ages ago and we said what ever the weather it's going ahead. So we did.🤪 The weather was awful but the sun did come out in the end.

Day 8 - Tue 24th June - Tre Cime di Lavaredo & Passo Gardena again. Another early morning trot round to explore our new location. More great views and light traffic ahead. We visited Tre Cime di Lavaredo in 2024 and went to revisit, however it's no longer possible to drive to the top without prebooked tickets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tre_Cime_di_Lavaredo Hence we turned round as we didn't know and hadn't prebooked. As we'd failed to reach our intended destination, we stopped here for a brief leg stretch. Here's a couple of German cyclists talking to Stu about our cars. Another nice location for a cold drink and a leg stretch. It's never a problem to drive through tunnels, just for the soundtrack! Back at our hotel Vital replenishment fluids going in after another great, but warm day. ....more pizza processing..............

Day 7 - Mon 23rd June - Time to move to the Dolomites - via Passo Costalunga, Sella & Gardena Car loaded up, sun's up and we're ready to leave our VIP garden carpark. Stu kindly sharing his 'emergency' flap jacks with us. More pass stickers earned. .......more high octane fuel............... Not unusual to get interest in our cars where ever we are. He's a lady taking a pic of her husband sat in my car. He works for a company making forged pistons. The Dolomites are distinctly different looking than the Alps. ....more high octane fuel................. Our first beer in our Hotel in the Dolomites. 'Terrible' view from our room. My shorts still need drying out Another Schnitzel processed..........

Day 6 - Sun 22nd June - Umbrail, Stelvio (again), Gavia & Timmelsjoch (in the reverse direction) - passes. Given the heavy rain as I arrived back at the hotel, it was too late to put the cover over my car. I'd hoped it would dry out over night. I was wrong! The sun was already out and we were soon moving and smiling again! More great views. ....and more fuel............ We then drove up the Umbrail pass. We normally drive down it from the top of Stelvio and then back up again. However this year we were heading to the Gavia pass and drove up the Umbrail pass and down half of the Stelvio pass again to get to Bormio before we had to the Gavia Pass. We'd been warned by @Murraymint who'd toured the Alps just before our trip that it was rather narrow.............. The road down from the top of Stelvio towards Bormio. The start of the Gavia Pass. Phil was right, full of bikes and very narrow. When cars meet on this mainly single track road, rather than wait for them to find a way though, the bikes swarm in and make it's even trickier! Further on, when then end up stuck in a jam on a hair pin bend. Dave got moved by some ladies to being next to me, to free up some space behind but then puts him in a crazy position and for cars coming up, they're bound to wonder why on earth is he there! This took circa 15 mins to clear! ....More fuel........... Given the slow progress along the Gavia pass, it made no sense to drive it in reverse to get back to our hotel, so we drive the great Timmelsjoch pass in the opposite direction that we drove on our first day in the Alps. The end of another great day a 456km ( 283miles) covered. My shorts soaked from the day before, haven't ran off, whilst we were out today. ..........back on the Pizza processing..............

Day 5 - Sat 21st June - Kaunertaler Gletscher (Private Toll Road) & Alpine Coaster + Furkajoch & Alberg Passes Given I drive a light weight car, I need to ensure I stay light too! Hence whilst the rest of the team practised their Olympic standard snoring, I crept out of the hotel early and went for a trot. Just like most things in the Alps, it involves altitude! The hotel is somewhere near the arrow in the valley below. After a shower and breakfast we were soon ready to roll again. More great views and great roads. The toll booth at the start of the private toll road. It only goes to a Ski Resort via a beautiful nature park. https://www.kaunertaler-gletscher.at/ Parked up at the top. Equally great views on the way back down. We've normally had issues on this road with the output of these other 'road user's but I'm not going to fight with one head on either! Disappointingly @Stu Faulkner had purposely not brought his pikachu Onsie thisyear! Another of my work colleagues based in Germany was actually born near our next destination and we'd arranged to meet up during our trip. Here's Klaus before he got a ride in my car. Cars drinking more of the good stuff! Klaus enjoyed his run. Further to a recommendation from @Brad Stone we then travelled downhill without petrol power on the Alpine Coast nr. Imst. Alpine Coaster Here's Stu and Dave about to launch. Here's me about to go! A great way to travel down hill, but even less padding than my JK Fibreglass seats and I regretting having a tender back as a result of the Alpine coaster over the next days when driving. Thirsty cars again. Skies is looking moody! My German work colleague and Alps Tour guide about to ride in Bagpuss. It's his last opportunity and we're about to get very wet! I'm impressed my Toyo R888R's leave tracks behind on very wet tarmac! (shot with the rear lens on my Insta 360). He's heading south tomorrow to Lake Garda for the next part of his hols.

Day 4 - Fri 20th June - Stelvio & Maloja Pass As in previous years we persuaded our Hotel host to allow us an early breakfast to enable us to leave early to Reach Stevlio before it gets too busy. Cars nearly ready to escape the garden car park and the sun's out already. Always great to see it from far, nice light traffic as usual on these great roads. We had a great run up. Another pass sticker earned. We then headed down the other side of Stevlio into Bormio and toward a pass we've not driven before recommended by Harry Metcalfe (of Harry's garage fame), the Maloja pass, in Switzerland. It's always great to see routes like this ahead on the Satnav! We couldn't make a circular route, so had to drive the pass again in the reverse direction. Such a hardship 😉 Here's the cars back at the hotel still in glorious sunshine. A UK colleague who snow boards often in Austria had recommended a local speciality called a Tiroler Gröstl. So the night before I'd asked our host if the kitchen would be able to make 3 for us. It was very nice. Recipe

I'm ok slow speed impact and a 4 point harness kept me secure. The front of his ford Puma is a mess, broken bumper, various plastic bits fell off and the bonnet is bent. I think my roll bar ate his car.

It's fascinating how many people are convinced that EV's can't work 'for them' without having tried. Is it easy to jump from an ICE car to an EV and use it in exactly the same way? No, it isn't. You need to be comfortable with satnav route planning, install apps, learn where the fastest, cheapest, most reliable chargers are dotted around all over the country and learn what the car is capable of and what works best for it. Or buy a Tesla, which is infuriatingly well catered for in those respects. For example, for long journeys it isn't even enough to navigate to a charger location. The car also has to KNOW it's going to that charger, as well as knowing what the charger capacity is, and it needs to know that more than 30mins beforehand because this lets it condition the battery (heating or cooling) in preparation, otherwise it won't hit peak charging speeds.

Well spotted eagle eyes! This was loose fitted before it came off the stands and under its own weight - now 16 bolts all torqued up to 40N/m and marker penned 🥰

Rear suspension & fuel line / filters replace/refurb’d nearing completion Before: After: Removed & not replaced front & rear ARB’s and then fitted new Protechs & Springs, powerflex bushes, powder coated wishbones & brackets, new gates fuel lines & filters + general clean up & paint touch up. Next up MOT & back on the road 🤞 PS anyone after powder coating / soda or shot blasting, aluminium welding in West Midlands give me a shout. Excellent rates & service from a new start up business less than 0.5 miles from home - just wanted to promote a local service if anyone needs his service.