Ground Clearance

[peet]

Had my first guard scrape Saturday at a local petrol station! Small looking but full width speed hump was only doing 5mph but ugh what a horrible noise!! Hope I dont get many of those!!

[Quinten]

I had it the afternoon I came home after collecting it on one of the speed bumps in our estate...  am now wondering if I will be able to clear the sleeping policemen at my office's carpark 

 

<stupid question alert> Can ride height be adjusted at all?  Or is there a limit to this, without replacing parts?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

It's not a stupid question!

 

Most Westfields are fitted with dampers that have adjustable spring platforms. These allow the ride height to be changed within a certain range. Occasionally for all sorts of reasons, you find a car has been built with funny length springs, or funny length dampers that make it really hard to get the right ride height. So if your unlucky, you might need to swap bits.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Obviously, there's only a limited range of adjustment possible before handling gets really compromised, but it's usually possible to set them ok for all but the worst obstructions.

 

Note, suspension geometry including ride height, really needs to be set with the simulated weight of a driver - you! on board. 

 

With a car that's new to you I'd always recommend having the geo set up by an experienced Westfield specialist anyway, that way you know not only is it sorted, but you can discuss with them how you plan to use the car and the sort of driving style you prefer.

[dombanks]

i used to live in an area festooned with bumps, the hoop underneath has taken a battering. on the choc block type ones i would just line the car up so one wheel would go over a bump. the ride height isnt that bad. you can have alooksee at the weekend.

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

I find the problem with standard speed bumps is that the natural slow speed we approach them makes the timing perfect to catch the hoop on the bump as the front suspension is compressed. I find that with the worst bumps I almost stop as the front wheels drop over the far side to allow the suspension to compress and then return to its normal height thus giving the necessary clearance.

 

At least speed bumps are predictable, its other rubbish that can be found on the road that is a bigger issue, I put a big dent in the passenger lowered floor when I didn't spot some rubble on a dual carriageway it was big enough that it just caught the standard passenger floor putting a couple of little dents into it, I dread to think what would have happened if it had gone under the driver's side as the brake and fuel line run across there. 

[Norman Verona]

Rhett, the fuel and brake lines shouldn't be in an "impact area". I would move them if they can be crushed or damaged by something on the road.

 

 

Our local town installed sum ramps to slow the traffic coming into the town. I went along the road the morning after they had istalled them but before they had painted the "sharks teeth" markings. I hit the ramp at about 40 mph and thought the front suspension of the Audi was falling off. Next morning the white sharks teeth had been painted. I now slow down to 15 mph to go over it. Funny thing is that the other roads into the town, one from the dual carriageway do not have any ramps. They must have seen me coming into town

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

Rhett, the fuel and brake lines shouldn't be in an "impact area". I would move them if they can be crushed or damaged by something on the road.

 

Norman, It is something I have thought about and was something that I also wondered about at build time, it seems to be the standard route though and the pipe lengths as supplied would make it difficult to route differently. As they are at the same level as the chassis in front of them hitting them would seem to be difficult, having hit the rubble I did it does show it is possible though. I think it may be worth me mentioning to Mark at Westfield as they ought look to change their design and build guide. 

[Norman Verona]

They normally go alongside a chassis rail, on the inside. Can't comment on a Westfield but the Caterham pipes are well protected by the chassis.

[stu999]

Sadly most modern Westfields don't... :-(

[peet]

My pipes are clipped up inside the transmission tunnel.

[Norman Verona]

As are mine. They are on the top rail and enter the bulkhead into the engine compartment at "shelf" level. I moved the fuel pipe lower down to get into cooler air when I thought I was suffering from fuel vapourisation. But they're still within the tunnel.