A ride in the new Westfield Honda S2000

[Rednop1]

here's a picture of mine coming along nice now should be on the road just in time for stoneleigh

 

 

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

Well for me the highlight of the Yorkshire Area's trip to the Westfield Factory yesterday was a ride out in the new Westfield Honda S2000 

 

and here is proof of our slightly mad Yorkshire AO Martin Van-Clutch braving the aeroscreened Mega S2000 test drive in freezing temperatures with no hat or helmet   

 

[Rory's Dad]

Martin that was my thoughts exactly  too, not sure why Westfield wants to cheapen the brand with that fake Carbon look stuff its horrible , I would rather it was black plastic or even a painted gel dash body coloured  than that stuff. not sure what they charge for it but surely wouldnt be a lot more to go for proper carbon as standard. and yes that roll bar isnt good. A few quid extra on those few bits would go a long way to upping the image imho.  Im not the biggest fan of the honda engine and box but I do believe its the way forward for Westfield fitting it in the cars , quite surprised caterham hasnt gone down that road. 

 

I can't think why they do it.  Might have been OK/forgivable when they were selling 100s a year - but not now.

 

Rory's Dad

[Pistol Pete]

I understand its quite a heavy engine/ gearbox combo, caterham have always put a priority on the weight.

[Norman Verona]

And costs. When the K series dried up they went Duratec. Not bad performance and CHEAP.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

As Pete said, it's heavy and worse, bulky. (Though a fine engine). Westfield are using there widest tunnel option, if I recall what Simon was telling me last year correctly - it's the T5 tunnel, and even then needed the mods at the front/scuttle top section, to get the box in. Don't forget how much smaller the standard S3 Caterham is than an SEiW.

 

the killer blow though is the S2000 went out of production in 2009, plus as I understand it, Honda won't supply engine/box only to other manufacturers. So it would be impossible for Caterham to supply as an all brand new turn key car.

[lloydox]

You can buy the engine and box new from the dealers I got a quote for the box at £6000 plus vat . they said it could be here next day

So even though the car is out of production the part will be available for sometime yet

[M444TTB]

Do manufacturers not have a legal obligation to keep sufficient parts (inc. engine and box) for 10 years after the end of production? If i had funds to rebuild my car from scratch I'd be very tempted by an S2000 engine although I'd be interested to know how much a Ford/Volvo 5 cylinder would weigh in comparison. While it would be loads more expensive (given this is pure theory so doesnt really matter) I'd love one of those reconfigured to run n/a rather than a turbo. Something along the lines of the old Volvo BTCC engines.

[Norman Verona]

Under EU anti-competitive laws the car manufacturers must charge the same prices to all customers whether buying one engine or 100.

 

Most have companies set up to make the engines and transmissions and sell to themselves (the manufacturing part) and others who want them in bulk at much better prices than the dealers will offer.

 

I supplied a computer system to an extinct taxi manufacturer and they bought Ford diesel engines at 75% less than dealer price. But they weren't bought from Ford but it's engine manufacturing company.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

There's a big difference between you or I going to a dealer as a private individual to buy a replacement engine/box and a manufacturer wishing to buy multiple engine/boxes for resale though.

 

what we're talking about in the case of Caterham (for example) supplying new cars with the power unit is completely different to just buying spares.

[Norman Verona]

That's the point Dave, Ford are bound by law to offer the same terms to you as they offer the dealers. Large components like engines have 0 to 15% discount to dealers. If Ford were to let you purchase direct, no matter how many, they must not offer more discount than the dealer gets.

 

It's designed to keep the discounts the same for the smallest dealer and the largest group. They get around this by offering a volume bonus which, of course, the large dealers qualify but the small dealer doesn't.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

It's not just about cost though is it, there are warranty factors too.

[Norman Verona]

Usual arrangement is for the manufacturer buying the engines to bear the warranty.

 

The most profitable company in UK history was Datsun UK owned and run by Octave Botner. Reason was he bought the cars with no warranties. The average warranty cost per car was £4. When the new Cherry was introduced (the 100A FWD model) The retail price was £1995. He paid £400 each for them and paid himself £1000 bonus for everyone sold.

 

Another dodge was to dock at Guam and, on paper unload and load the cars thus making the import from the USA with no tariff to pay as on other Japanese imports at the time.

 

In the days of stock relief he would buy all the cars on allocation to the dealers back for 24 hours so his ending stock was sky high then it fell to next to nothing on the start of the year. They paid no tax on the difference in the opening and closing stock.

[Dommo]

the killer blow though is the S2000 went out of production in 2009, plus as I understand it, Honda won't supply engine/box only to other manufacturers. So it would be impossible for Caterham to supply as an all brand new turn key car.

 

Do Ariel use the S2000 engine or is it the civic engine?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Good point, but it's the Civic engine.