Safety in your Westfield...

[Jimbo93]

Evening all. 
 

Sorry to be a bore but I'd love to hear your opinion/experience on how you feel on the road around other (much heavier) cars. 
 

I'm currently looking for my first westfield and it's not exactly easy to ignore the fact that you are very vulnerable on the road. 
 

What's your experience with it? Does it take some enjoyment away from the drive or do you simply avoid busy roads? Have you had incidents/close calls that stopped you using it? 
 

The idea of getting one is very exciting, but this is always in the back of my head, particularly thinking about family at home and whether there's a selfish aspect to it. Probably a bit dramatic but you know what I'm getting at. 
 

Cheers 

[Davemk1]

I drive my Westfield like I ride my bike. I'm a life-long cyclist and I've never been hit by a car and part of the reason for that is that I have a certain mindset when I'm on the bike...I assume that no one will see me - ever. That means I can rightly expect drivers to pull out in front of me as if I wasn't there. It means that when they pass me that they will not give me an acceptable amount of room. It means when they finish passing me that they will pull back into the lane in front of me and effectively cut me off.

 

I also never ride my bike through the center part of my city and I find routes that will see little traffic but might be slightly longer. I spend as much of my cycling time on nearly empty roads with good sight-lines. And lastly......I always wear bright colors and use a tail light to make myself annoyingly visible.

 

I drive the Westfield the very same way. I assume I'm not going to be seen and given room, I always choose my routes carefully to lower my risk, and I always drive with my headlights on and my car is bright orange.

 

The Westfield has fantastic active safety...it can stop and turn to avoid a collision better than most anything else on the road but that puts the responsibility in your hands to see the guy pulling out in front of you like you didn't exist. Done this way I feel an acceptable level a safety. Driving a Westie like it's an SUV and it won't go that well.

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

dave

[Euan Hoosearmy]

Have you tried one out? See who is around your local area who would take you out for a trial blat.

 

I'm an ex-motorcyclist so the Westfield is quite enclosed compared to a bike. The thing i love about it is the openness of it. I drive without doors unless the weather is filthy. Being able to look at the road going past just next to you is brilliant.

 

It is a small very low car and can be missed by the unobservant. Keep lights on and drive defensively, keep to the sensible assumption that pretty much every other driver out there is an idiot who is trying to kill you. A noisy exhaust helps draw some attention to you.

 

Find empty twisty roads, put your foot down and suddenly it'll all make sense...

 

 

[Captain Colonial]

The honest answer from me is that owning one makes you a safer, more aware driver.  No, it’s not as safe as a full blown tin top from an impact viewpoint but in 24 years of ownership, I’ve only learned of two fatal accidents (not sharing details) and one of those was a test drive by a completely inexperienced driver.  However, I’ve read of a few dozen accidents in that time, a couple very serious, where the driver walked away.  The tubular frame is far more effective than one might anticipate.

 

Having said that, I give lorries and buses a great deal of respect and plenty of room, and I assume I’m invisible to everyone else on the road, including bicycles.  I’m not afraid while driving mine.  I think the first month or two of ownership is educational and as long as you take it easy and get to know the car, you’ll be fine.  The handling can be confidence inspiring but push it too hard in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong conditions and you’ll be calling the RAC and testing your insurance.

[Andrzej]

Maybe it is because that 7type cars so rare here in Poland , that quite contrary what I was expecting starting to drive on roads - other drivers pay in fact  more attention to me , so they are aware of this car, so seems to be more safe. Visible colour also helps. 

That is in daylight, night driving on not lighted roads is not comfortable, partly due to mine small but beauty headlights. 

Other fact is that it is not much fun to drive in traffic hours, not un-safe, but not fun. 

What possible dangers I have experieced during 2 seassons on roads with Westfield - "blind" turns, and blind in Westfield is with good visibility in normal car -  some highier grass on side of the road can blind visibility through turn. 

From that short experience I confirm first months was quite unpleasant with trucks , buses , SUV's etc around, but then part of fun such small _proper_ car with those monsters around:)

And what is important to have plenty of twisty, empty roads in close area to really use Westfield as it should be without fears and smell from other cars exhausts on our head hights. 

 

edit - and before I bought first - track Wesfield I saw this, quite encouraging in terms of safety in rollover:

 

 

 

[Stuart]

If you're bothered about it then be sure to buy a brightly coloured one. I've had 2 very near misses in 35,000 miles both people who didn't see me and pulled out in front of me. But mine is racing green so blends in with the hedgerows. Always used headlights since. 

As Scott says they are pretty strong. I also had a massive aquaplane off in 2004 which resulted in me broadsiding a clearway sign. Ripped the offside rear wheel off and bent the chassis. Pretty hairy but I walked away without a scratch. 

[neptune]

Agree with what others have said 100%.

I'd suggest visiting your local group and take a passenger ride out for a group blat. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how many other road users notice you, especially when there's a group of cars.

I use mine on motorways and am very aware of other vehicles especially hgvs .

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

I can only echo what others have said. Drive assuming no one has seen you and give enough space and distance. It can be intimidating on motorways with HGVs towering above you but same rules apply. I’ve driven mine around the M25 in rush hour and it’s quite ok. I was more worried about overheating than having a crash!
 

They are lightweight rear wheel drive cars (duh 🤣) so need to be driven with respect; it’s easy to get caught out as I know from experience having visited a ditch once in mine, fortunately with no significant damage except a big dent to the ego. But, once used to the handling and grip then as has been said, that is normally enough to get you out of any trouble; last night heading home someone was playing silly b*****rs trying to undertake me completely unnecessarily.  A quick prod of the throttle and I was three cars ahead and out of his way.

 

If very concerned then you could consider a roll cage with side protection. I prefer mine lighter and easier to get into and normally drive with only half doors, or nothing at all in summer. I do have a decent roll bar with the triangulated supports rather than just a simple hoop, and use a 6 point harness as I feel much more secure with that.

 

My wife does not share my love of the car. She calls it ‘the Pencil Tin’ and after her one and only drive to date said ‘it’s nice when you get out, isn’t it?’ 🤣🤣. That said, I doubt I would make a good Westfield passenger so do understand. One day I will take her on a nice relaxed drive on a hot summers day and see if I can convince her 👍

 

In summary, the open and low nature of the car only adds to the experience and is a big part of what I love; the rawness, noise and sensation of speed, even when within the speed limit are hard to beat and always put a big smile on my face.

[Jimbo93]

Thank you very much everyone for your input, I didn't expect so many replies. 

 

It’s very interesting to hear your experience and it makes a lot of sense. I have not yet tried one but I am planning to soon, so that’ll be helpful.

 

The biggest attraction for me is that you are forced to learn how to drive properly. Modern cars are essentially ‘point and shoot’ which just has no appeal to me. I imagine a track/experience type day is the best way to learn.

 

I know I would naturally be very aware of everyone else around me and I’d take it very gingerly as I got to know the car, I guess that removes a fair chunk of the risks involved.

 

Reading your comments has put me more at ease about the idea, so thank you. I hope to meet some of you in the near future 😎

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

1 hour ago, Jimbo93 said:

Thank you very much everyone for your input, I didn't expect so many replies. 

 

It’s very interesting to hear your experience and it makes a lot of sense. I have not yet tried one but I am planning to soon, so that’ll be helpful.

 

The biggest attraction for me is that you are forced to learn how to drive properly. Modern cars are essentially ‘point and shoot’ which just has no appeal to me. I imagine a track/experience type day is the best way to learn.

 

I know I would naturally be very aware of everyone else around me and I’d take it very gingerly as I got to know the car, I guess that removes a fair chunk of the risks involved.

 

Reading your comments has put me more at ease about the idea, so thank you. I hope to meet some of you in the near future 😎

@jimbo93 I see you are in my area. I’m in Crewkerne but we have plenty of members on the area, including one in Dawlish. We meet in Cullompton once a month and will start more activity as the weather improves. If you want to see a few cars then I’m sure we could sort that out at some point fairly soon, possibly one of the Saturday breakfast meets if you are prepared to travel a bit. Drop me a PM, or check your mail as you should have received one from me recently to check whether you want to stay opted out of email comms.

 

cheers,

 

Stu

[Mighty Mart]

As others have said above you need to drive as you would a motorbike.

Extremely rewarding to drive, but be very aware of your ability and know your limits.....if you have an 'off' it likely won't end well.....

I've nearly been put into the armco twice on dual carriageways, so you need to be very observant when overtaking in the outside lane.....looking for idiots that cannot use a wingmirror properly.

Get in the habit of triple checking indicators aren't left on too....

Drive with lights on all the time too.

One more observation...when driving on undulating roads, it can be difficult to safely overtake....you are sat so low down, visibility ahead us nowhere as good as when sat higher in a tiptop.

Awesome fun though....you won't regret it!

[SteveB21]

I would agree with everything above. My only additional thought would be to either get one with a high level brake light on the roll bar or add one - people tend to look over the car and if they're too close in a Chelsea tractor they won't see your brake lights coming on...

[jaykay42]

49 minutes ago, Mighty Mart said:

As others have said above you need to drive as you would a motorbike.

Extremely rewarding to drive, but be very aware of your ability and know your limits.....if you have an 'off' it likely won't end well.....

I've nearly been put into the armco twice on dual carriageways, so you need to be very observant when overtaking in the outside lane.....looking for idiots that cannot use a wingmirror properly.

Get in the habit of triple checking indicators aren't left on too....

Drive with lights on all the time too.

One more observation...when driving on undulating roads, it can be difficult to safely overtake....you are sat so low down, visibility ahead us nowhere as good as when sat higher in a tiptop.

Awesome fun though....you won't regret it!

Yes to what all the above posts say.

To add to this one and the very valid point about sighted corners (or lack thereof).

Might only be me, but I've learnt that I need to pick my moments to go for it. At other times it's surprising/frustrating that overtakes are not possible: despite all the power and little weight - the lack of visibility ahead and a generous sense of wanting to survive means you might stay behind slower traffic.

At those times getting into a flow of driving smoothly and without touching the brake pedal, judging the momentum just right, is very rewarding.

 

Night driving: that is very difficult. My pretty but small dominators barely light up the road enough and before you know it, there's oncoming traffic. With its headlights, even on dipped beam, shining exactly at your eye level. 

 

Best is - as always - empty roads...

 

 

[Paul Baker - Bristol Bath and Cotswold AO]

Interesting topic this, I would say that if you love driving then go buy a Westfield (or similar) as it’s the best version of driving you can get.
That said, you do have to drive in a different way to a family SUV for example, and as others have said, most of the other drivers on the road are well aware of your presence and you’ll get lots of admiring looks/boy racers trying to keep up BUT I will tend to drive as if other drivers haven’t seen me, particularly when going on the occasional motorway/dual carriageway trip.
Have to say I’ve never really felt unsafe in the 5k miles I’ve done so far in mine.

And totally agree with the above - empty B roads, that’s where it’s magic

[Jimbo93]

Really interesting to read about everyone's joint experience, thank you, it's helped a lot. I don't think I'd find myself on dual carriageways/motor ways very often and would try to go out when it's quiet anyway. Really look forward to finding one and getting stuck in 👍

 

slight side note - tyres. I think I saw someone refer to Toyos as ditch finders. Is there a general go-to for road use? I don't want to start a whole new discussion as I know it's a broad topic!