Sport 250 Review on Top Gear site

[DonPeffers]

A further bit of info regarding the Caterham narrow S3 model; there is nowhere to place your left foot in the very narrow footwell of the Caterham S3 so the options are hold your foot above the clutch pedal or on long touring drives slide your left foot under the clutch pedal (top mounted).

There is no left footrest as in wider cars.

S3 ok for drivers up to about 6 ft 2 inches tall but the seat width can be a problem for larger drivers.

[shrops-paul]

This one is £35k! Yikes. That's a lot of money for not much car  

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201709089111744

 

[Mark Stanton]

Hate to say it but Plato said it all ................. we could build it better in our own garage  and what's wrong with that .... nothing ....... its a kit car we all love....... that allows us to put our own identity and upgrades into  using tyres etc of our own choice ............... give any of us the budget of purchasing a factory built car and we could all possibly build a car that would get better reviews ................ but we don't have the overheads with rent rates and wages to pay and profits to make   If journos have an agenda they will always be biased be that good or bad ..... they can find fault in anything

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Exactly. A journalist whether print or TV will tell the story they, or their editor wants to tell, you're just a stepping stone in the process.

The best you can hope for, is to pick a journalist and publication, whose ethos is in line with your own.

[DonPeffers]

I think Westfield would do well NOT to follow the mainstream car makers approach of more power, costlier cars, bigger brakes and tyres, wider cars and more weight so mainstream can now be 1.5 tonne which may accelerate and corner well with huge power, twin turbos and very wide, expensive tyres but the Chapman ethos was performance thru lightness.

Can there really be a case for a lightweight kitcar capable of 140 to 150mph other than a track car?.

Agreeing with Dave's post earlier, Westfield could IMO simplify and just have one body style, a track and a road version, one engine in say three power levels and possibly fast steering rack and track ultra fast rack.

Might simplify build and keep costs down.

[Thrustyjust]

4 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

 

The best you can hope for, is to pick a journalist and publication, whose ethos is in line with your own.

So, we have Top Gear, who dont like 'modular cars' , I guess Noble and Caterhams are not included in the list or Total Kit Car, who depend on Westfield advertising in the mag and give a massive biased review from it. So, who do we believe ? GRP Monthy ?

[frubpato?]

On 10/09/2017 at 13:58, DonPeffers said:

 

 

[DonPeffers]

21 hours ago, Thrustyjust said:

So, we have Top Gear, who dont like 'modular cars' , I guess Noble and Caterhams are not included in the list or Total Kit Car, who depend on Westfield advertising in the mag and give a massive biased review from it. So, who do we believe ? GRP Monthy ?

How about best of three so we just wait for another mag to do a review?

Regarding 'belief'  the definition is "an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially without proof".

Your have proven experience of your own suspension which alerted you to a problem which thankfully is now sorted with an improved set-up.

Only speculation, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that the springs suppliers quality is not what it was. If enough members have the same problem then no doubt the factory will be looking into it.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the fitted weight of a Mazda vs Sierra in lsd form is? (Just curious really, and looking for differences between Justin's set up and others, that could exaggerate his rear end issues).

[Thrustyjust]

21 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the fitted weight of a Mazda vs Sierra in lsd form is? (Just curious really, and looking for differences between Justin's set up and others, that could exaggerate his rear end issues).

Its a long time since I picked up Ford diff, but dont forget Steve had a Ford one in his and found the back end not right too. Sometime when I see you next, you are welcome to have a go and see what difference it makes Dave, with the different springs.

[Steve (sdh2903)]

And I used Faulkner springs not the Westfield ones. 

I had a very in depth chat with Matt at procomp regarding the issue and he had a chat with protech also. They too had also heard of similar complaints and the verdict was that over the past couple of years (different chassis suppliers?) Where the shock pickup points on the rear were not in the same location on a few rogue chassis.  This caused the shock angles to be ever so slightly out and also because of this the shocks were running out of adjustment. The general fix was to go to a longer spring with a slightly higher poundage either a 210 or 225. 

Now I'm no expert by any means and this is the only westy I've laid my hands on but am just passing on some info from people far cleverer than me in the world of suspension. It obvioulsy be that because I'm a bit of a fat b******* that firmer springs were required.

But I will say that my previous car (A gkd) was better feeling in the handling of the rear of the car and that was a much more rudimentary chassis than the westy.

[DonPeffers]

On 9/12/2017 at 12:57, shrops-paul said:

This one is £35k! Yikes. That's a lot of money for not much car  

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201709089111744

 

The advert shows the following upgrades:-

Carbon effect stone guards £102.35,    Upgrade to FW rear body £400.00

Digital dash upgrade £495.00,   Front anti roll bar £275.00,  Rear anti roll bar £250.00 ,   Heater kit £275.00,  Upgrade to Wide track wishbones £225.00

Upgrade to Sport Turbo seats £350.00,   Upgrade to Limited Slip differential £895.00

Upgrade to MSA half cage £185.00,   Upgrade to Westield Race front and rear caliper £750.00

Upgrade to 8" rear wheels £50.00 and Upgrade to 205 width T1R tyres £95.00

Gives total upgrade costs as  £4.347.35 by my reckoning.

So car for sale at £34,995 would be £30,647.65 without the £4,347.35 upgrades. 

Still a wallet lightener.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

22 hours ago, Thrustyjust said:

Its a long time since I picked up Ford diff, but dont forget Steve had a Ford one in his and found the back end not right too. Sometime when I see you next, you are welcome to have a go and see what difference it makes Dave, with the different springs.

Yeah, be very interested to see. 

I've got Playskool ARB's on mine as well, which do make a significant difference, too.

[Thrustyjust]

There maybe a 'slight' twist to this thread, but you'll have to wait and see if it comes to fruition...................... watch this space 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]