SteveF Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 This may be a bit of a contentious topic - but no one has yet convinced me either way as to which is the better option for me. The car is going to be a mixture of maybe 75% road 25% track day, and will be fitted with a Honda (F20C) engine and gearbox - so none of the standard engine + gearbox mounts / set-ups will be appropriate straight out of the factory The few I’ve thought of so far are [+SeiW] - availability of the alloy front uprights for the SeiW – which may have been on the ‘future’ upgrade list - body options – detachable rear arches [-SeiW] - Cost - Availability of some spares / parts – cortina uprights, allegro steering column [+SDV] - All the parts can come off a single readily available donor - Cost [-SDV] - ‘performance parts’ may not available – according to salesman - lack of options on body – detachable rear arches, ducted nose, vented bonnet Lets have some reasoned debate (argument ) Steve Quote
Blatman Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 Steering columns can be made up from proprietary metal tube/bar. UJ's can be sourced easily enough too. Some of the UJ's aren't espeacially cheap, though, but it's still do-able. Would/could the factory be persuaded to fit the Sierra column tube to an SEiW chassis? It's gotta be worth asking, IMHO........ - ‘performance parts’ may not available – according to salesman Nice. Nothing like promoting your new products with a decent sales pitch....... Quote
darthurs Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 - ‘performance parts’ may not available – according to salesman - lack of options on body – detachable rear arches, ducted nose, vented bonnet Both are rubbish. You may have to pay a little extra but they are available. I have got the detachable rear arches on my SDV. Which performance parts were you after? Dan Quote
CedricTheBrave Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 does the SDV not give you an age related plate from the doner vehicle? mind you I'm not sure thats good or bad at least you have no problems passing emissions Quote
SteveF Posted March 1, 2004 Author Posted March 1, 2004 the main 'performance parts' I was considering were upgrading to alloy uprights, and wide track when finances allowed. There is also a likely need for the vented bonnet to go over the rocker cover on the Honda engine. I think part of my problem has been encountering a $h1te salesman - who felt he had better things to do than answer my questions after I'd driven 100 mile to visit him! Still - lets keep the debate going - at the moment the SDV is coming out on top Quote
DavidC Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 If you go to wide track, can you not then fit the alloy uprights? I would have thought the SDV chassis and SEiW chassis are the same and just the wishbones/ball joints different. Not that I know cos I've not had a close look at the SDV yet, just guessing DC Quote
deano.1 Posted March 1, 2004 Posted March 1, 2004 does the SDV not give you an age related plate from the doner vehicle? mind you I'm not sure thats good or bad at least you have no problems passing emissions As far as the donor car age related plate is concerned as far as i understand the emmision laws if the car is an amatuer build it only has to pass a smoke test anyway, im not sure how you stand with a new build with a new reg though. Quote
Blatman Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I would have thought the SDV chassis and SEiW chassis are the same and just the wishbones/ball joints different. Not that I know cos I've not had a close look at the SDV yet, just guessing That'd be my guess too. I can't imagine they would have redesigned the the whole of the front end (or anything else on the chassis) just to fit different uprights. This means that the inner ends of the SDV/SEi wishbones would match, so converting to wide track would mean having to buy either Cortina or ally uprights. Why not ask if you can have an SDV with widetrack and ally uprights as an option? I can't imagine Westfield would want to turn away customers, so I'd be asking them for absolutely everthing you want, and seeing what they can do for you. I'd also let them know that maybe one of their salemen needs to have some product awareness training........ Quote
darthurs Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I'd talk to Holly at Westfield. She was really helpful with me, and even sat down and advised me about the different trim colours. Dan Quote
Bananaman Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 I'd talk to Holly at Westfield. She was really helpful with me, and even sat down and advised me about the different trim colours. Dan Do they do matching Shoes & Bags Quote
darthurs Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Do they do matching Shoes & Bags Don't know... didn't ask. I can find out for you if you want? I didn't know you were that type of guy??? Quote
BRGWESTY Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 The factory told me that the SDV may handle slightly better than the SEiW as the track (as standard) was wider, being gullible I believed them and am now building one. All the parts from the factory are really good quality (so far). The cost difference between the starter kits isn't great but being able to use so much of the running gear from the Sierra to get it on the road saves money. Upgrading can happen later. Just my thoughts... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.