richardswestie Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 evening all, wife and children in bed and this is literally the first time since buying my westie last august i have had a chance to get on the forum. brief history. bought car second hand back in august. 2007 year plate. low mileage (6,000) when bought. ford sigma engine (although sadly that is about as technical as i get). essentially I was looking for something cheap in price, cheap to run, and most of all fun. i have owned an elise in the past, hired some brand cars such as porsche's, ferrari's, and also hired an ariel atom. my only caterham style car experiences have been a drifting day at silverstone and a track day at castle combe. what these days taught me was that pound for pound these cars are just fantastic. and the best thing about a westfield is that i seemingly get to have the same fun as a caterham but for half the price of one. so anyway, bought it back in august and have never looked back. the car has been superb. i took out limited mileage insurance and have smashed through 1,500 miles in 6 months (and here's an example of how great westfield motoring is - i called the insurance company to ask for an extra 1,500 miles and was charged a mere 17 pounds extra premium!!). have done two track days so far - both at goodwood. one in driving rain and one is sunshine. can't decide which one i enjoyed more. albeit on the wet day it did involve a 3 hour drive back from goodwood to hertfordshire in rain and very cold conditions and to be honest i was pleased to get home and in the bath that night so here's where i need some help please. i know nothing about westies. and in fact despite my love of cars and all things powered by petrol i know nothing about how cars work. i have sat through and watched when i had my westie serviced, so i could now change the oil and oil filter, check the vital fluids, brake pad wear, etc. basic stuff. i have also spent more hours than is healthy learning about LSDs which unfortunately i do not have on mine. what do i need help with? i want to do the following: - replace all the tyres. i suspect the current tyres are the originals which are most likely old, getting hard and past their best. could someone reccommend the best set of bog standard westie tyres. mainly for road use - all weather, but of course some track use too. nothing exotic needed, but a decent set of all rounders. - replace the brakes. most likely the pads and discs. for some reason the brakes are poor on my westie, yet with minimal pad wear. i guess these were originally a very basic Ford instalment, but i fundamentally need better stopping power. - my battery light has a tendency to flash on when i am pushing the car, and when this happens the engine misses momentarily. not disaster but not right. and in fact it could be a disaster if the power cut during a fast corner, so i do need to get this sorted . a new alternator was recommended to me. how do i go about finding what type suits my car and where to buy this? with all westie components (including tyres and brakes as above) where do i go to buy these? are they basic components at somewhere like europarts (where i got my oil filter)? is there a westie website that sells specific parts? and i might as well throw this out - is there anyone local to the hertfordshire/essex/stansted airport area that i could meet up and chat with and seek some one-on-one guidance? i am also looking for someone to service my car at some point because although i have a friend of the family doing it now, i would rather have a westie specialist... - finally on the shopping list is a limited slip diff. i do not have one now and fundamentally believe it would give me more confidence. LSD's make a lot of sense - even to a tech moron like me - i would feel happier when cornering knowing that both wheels were getting some form of power, rather than it being a case of the one with the grip gets it all (like driving on one wheel as it were). however this is obviously a bigger job than simply tyres and brakes. and again, where and what do it look for? and of course if there are any other tips or tech issues i should be aware of i would be very grateful to know these. for those that have been kind enough to plough through this long winded essay, thank you. i do appreciate it. i would love some advice and general pointers. also is there a meet in this area during the summer months? many thanks richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE04* Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Richard and welcome need to know a few details about the car first tyres need to know what size rims you have. What calipers do you have for new pads and what engine depends on which alternator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednop1 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Richard (Alternator) If your engine is a sigma and your battery light is coming on sometimes it could be to do with the throttle position sensor not being set correctly I've had this myself on a sigma car thinking the alternator was on the way out but after speaking to mark walker at Westfield sports cars he told me its the (TPS) that needs resetting and it can be little tickly to get it right but a lot cheap than buying a new alternator but that sorted the problem for me ,if you give mark a call he will have all the info you need . (Diff) First you need to find out what diff you have ,a lot of the sigma powered cars that were brought as complete kits from the factory came with freelander diffs and if it is a freelander diff i think quaife atb would be your best bet but they are not cheap brand new off the top of my head £800 then plus the fitting cost to the diff or if you have sierra diff then secondhand recon units are about a lot cheaper ash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Banks Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Tyres: if you can find them in the size you need then Toyo R1R would suit. However I think they are becoming a little difficult to get hold of. Others will be along with other suggestions. Meets: seems you are not far from us (North London) and Essex. There's plenty going on Essex way and we often try and met up at Noth Weald. There's always someone up for a impromptu blat round here. We also try and get over to the Cambs Area so that's an option. Let us know roughly where you are based and we can tell you where to go to find to what's happening and when Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Richard and welcome! Some excellent advice so far a little more info about the car would help lots. If you're not sure what you have, don't worry, it's not uncommon when cars change hands for details to get lost in translation. Sometimes the quickest way to identify the rough spec, is to pop some photos up, someone will then usually be able to recognise what engine it is, what the callipers are etc. We we have a map of where our local meets are, here. In addition to Andy's North London meet, your also within reasonable range of our Essex Area; Mark and Pete are the AO's there, they're also a nice active area, with plenty of runs out arranged. - if you think you've enjoyed the car so far, just wait till you try some group runs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAFKARM Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Tyres - Opinions are like bumholes, I run Federal 595 RSR's which are track orientated, but great on the road too and deal with standing water etc. Richard - I'm in epping so localish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 On tyres I would recommend Toyo T1Rs plenty of grip over a wide range of temperatures and OK in the wet. Pressures should be about 18 lbsin and they are cheap to buy and wear well. People will recommend super sticky jobs which will earn you some 'respect' but in my experience, tyres like Toyo R888 make the car feel a bit slithery in the wet, cost £100+ each and don't last well. All IMO of course. ...and Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Banks Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Agree with Martin re R888's. Great for the track but NOT for the road IMHO and in my experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onliest Smeg David Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Richard.... you'll get many differing opinions on what to do and what to spend and what's best etc, so look and learn and pick up/ apply what fits to your car and use. Area meets are a good way to pick up 'top tips' and passenger rides (knowing how the cars differ) will help inform you as to your preferred upgrade route. "- replace all the tyres. i suspect the current tyres are the originals" Replacing tyres and a full 4 wheel suspension set up & geo IMO should be your first upgrade, If the tyres are old they'll have hardened and not grip (Agree with Martin - I have Toyo R1Rs and think they're excellent for road and track days). Suspension and 4 wheel Geo will make a massive difference to how the Westie behaves, especially if done by someone who really know Westfields. Your local area members will know best places to get this done. "- replace the brakes. most likely the pads..." Westies do not have brake survos to assist with pedal pressure, so after a regular saloon may feel like not working as well. However after getting used to appying more pedal pressure they are actually extremely good. I changed to Mintex 1144 pads and did find they improved pedal feel and braking. "- finally on the shopping list is a limited slip diff..." As mentioned this is a costly upgrade and IMO probably not of benefit to your car and use. In fact an LSD could give you less confidence on road depending on what you fit and how it works, due to the potential greater tendency to oversteer when it 'locks out' on a corner. re non LSD "the one with the grip gets it all" I don't thinks quite correct - without LSD when there is an imbalance of grip the diff cuts the power to the wheel with grip. Balancing throttle application i.e. not putting foot through floor, goes a long way to eliminating this. If you feel you are having issues with 1 wheel spinning now it may be sorted by tyres, suspension and geo. e.g. I have a 155bhp zetec Westie (for 5yrs ish) and by far best upgrades were protec shocks, suspension/geo set up and driver Instruction. I do over 3000 miles a year on road, do track days and WSCC Speed Series Sprint competition and the only time I've felt potential need for a Limited Slip Diff is on a wet start line when sprinting, but compensate with careful clutch throttle balance and have achieved some better starts than LSD cars. I do believe that the need for a LSD may increase as engine power gets much greater. Hope that is some good food for thought and helps I'm sure someone will be along with differing thoughts soon Enjoy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 "- replace the brakes. most likely the pads..." Westies do not have brake survos to assist with pedal pressure, so after a regular saloon may feel like not working as well. However after getting used to appying more pedal pressure they are actually extremely good. I changed to Mintex 1144 pads and did find they improved pedal feel and braking. Got to agree with this, most modern cars, even the one's that pretend to be sporty, have over assisted, single pot brake callipers. The purpose is to make them snatch and grab, so that when you test drive the car, your first instinct is "WOW, these brakes are GOOD!!!", but what they rely on heavily is the ABS to stop you locking up the wheels. It's uncommon now to find a modern car that has genuinely good, progressive brakes. With a Westfield you have to get used to the feel of the car....... when braking so low to the ground, you don't get that nose dive effect that you get with practically any other vehicle and you actually scrub off a lot of speed without realising it. However it may well be worth changing the pads for the Mintex 1144's, as these will provide more progressive braking (which to some non-Westfield people might seem worse). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darve Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 http://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/nankang/ns-2r/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 However it may well be worth changing the pads for the Mintex 1144's, as these will provide more progressive braking (which to some non-Westfield people might seem worse). On the front only IMO although they tend to squeal in my Hi-Spec ultra light 4 pots. (I have some £10 a pop standard Sierras on the back) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhighlandwhite Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hey Richard welcome aboard son! I am recently a new owner as well. Before spending loads of money on shiny toys and trinkets for the old girl, I'd recommend simply driving faster. As they say, a bad workman always blames their tools, and this is no exception! Maximise the performance by spending a few quid on a driving course (link here) and just learn how to rag it around a bit more. You might need to upgrade the brakes if you thrash it as fast as me LOLZ!! Seriously, MAN UP and just enjoy the old girl in her naked state! Laters, WHW PS Hate to be a pedant but your caps lock isn't working..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin (Mr T) Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Sorry to jump into your thread Richard, but I'm also the new owner of an old Westy, so I read these posts with interest. Prompted me to go and check my tyres and it looks like they've been on the car since '96! So, if I can pose a question inside your thread, when the old hands order tyres online, who do you get to fit them? Probs a silly question, but if you don't ask...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory's Dad Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 My local independant fitter do a take off, fit new tyre, balance and refit for £6 a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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