Westfield vs Caterham new kit purchase

[geoffdawe]

I realise that this is a Westfield group but I am not able to physically see or sit in either the new Caterham or Westfield in my area. There are a couple of Lotus Sevens but that's all.

Is there any particularly compelling reason to buy the Westfield kit over the basic Caterham Classic kit such as ease of build, quality of components etc. I realise there is 105 hp vs 135 hp in the Westfield, but are there reasons why you would purchse one over the other.

I guess one reason fo me would be that Caterham has three dealers in Canada and Westfield only in the US. But perhaps I can deal directly with the UK dealer, I will have to find that out.

[jak]

Beer anyone?        

[adhawkins]

I've got some popcorn.

Seriously, Geoff, as I'm sure you're aware you're unlikely to get a completely unbiased opinion here

However, as a comparison of the two owners clubs, why not ask your question on blatchat and see what kind of response you get there?

Andy

[MVS]

Depends whether you want more satisfaction from the build?

Westfields to require a bit more work to build, Cateringvans are half finished when you get them!

[Guest]

for a start he can't post on blatchat ........ unless that was what you were getting at andy ?

hard to answer this from a north american point of view but i would suspect it would be easier for him to buy a caterham as there are more in the states than westfields .

depends what hassle factors you want .

also you need to drive both as they handle very differently .

if it was the uk one make is easier to sell than the other and one make has more consitant build quality due to the more  modular build .

[adhawkins]

for a start he can't post on blatchat ........ unless that was what you were getting at andy ?

You can't? How unfriendly?

Andy

[Guest]

andy you know thats a non issue ........... he also could not place a wanted advert on this site as an owner wanting a car ........

I will also state that an internet forum is the single worst place to get any opinion on differing makes ,

you far better off looking into both and driving both at a dealer

i went through this whole process a few months ago with someone who went and asked on blatchat and on here , i then sat down and asked a lot more far reaching and deeper questions and it was soon very clear which was the more suitable car .

[Boomy]

also you need to drive both as they handle very differently .

In what way mate just out of interest?

I have only been in two pre lit westfields as of yet and never a caterham.

That is a genuine question to someone who may have experienced all sorts btw.

I'm not trying to start off the old debates!.

[jak]

Pass the popcorn, Andy.      

[Guest]

also you need to drive both as they handle very differently .

In what way mate just out of interest?

I have only been in two pre lit westfields as of yet and never a caterham.

That is a genuine question to someone who may have experienced all sorts btw.

I'm not trying to start off the old debates!.

Humm how do i answer this in the most simplistic way .and yes this weekend i had both my westy and a roadsport a sitting side by side in the garage .

now i can't compare the caterham to a prelit westfield as i have never driven one ,

however i have driven many caterhams and westfields .

from a feel point of view a caterham is far more pointy at the front end and feels like the car pivots around a point by the drivers backside .

A westfield feels like a larger car (as it is) and rotates around a point more central to the chassis .

neither of these is good or bad as its all subjective to what you like in the feel of a car .

a caterham is much easier to play with on the throttle , in respect of chassis attitude , however a westfield on track to be quick makes you drive far more presisely , and feels more like a single seater type racer .

a westfield set up correctly can handle and drive just as quickly as a caterham  but it requires a different driving style .

generaly a caterham feels better out the box , however a westfield can be made to handle well .

maybe not the best explination but describing to someone how something feels is a tough thing .

it also depends what else you have driven and how you understand their dynamics , one thing i was taught early on was to drive on track as many different types of car as i could , it improves your overall ability and helps you understand differences , it does not get said here but i hate the old lotus elise analagy it feels like a supercar ......... now to fully qualify that you need to have driven a rarri , a lambo or somesuch to compare ,and if you have then its not something you would nessasaraly agree on , but then the marketing men knew it would be a car driven by someone who had proberly come from a fwd hot hatch ,so to them ..it does feel like "their idea" of a supercar.

and boomy its always an interesting topic , i yearn to try some more historic stuff on track and i am sure there are those here who have an even broader feel for some old cars ..........

scariest thing i ever drove on track was a TR8 ....... just felt very strange ,

most surprising  a twin turbo honda nsx  , a car that made me apreciate that sometimes you need to brake earlier, as it went alot faster than it stopped .

[steve_m]

a westfield set up correctly can handle and drive just as quickly as a caterham  but it requires a different driving style .

Different driving style ?  Wot like keeping an eye on your mirrors in a cateringvan so you don't hold up the rest of us      

[jak]

It took a while, but the usual suspects took the bait.

Calm down & have a beer and some popcorn.  

[Boomy]

Thanks for that harv  

I was asking simply because even though i would enjoy the handling on all types of seven cars no doubt, i will probably never get to a stage where the differences would matter too much to me if that makes sense.Or at least i would never truly appreciate the differences.

It's just nice to hear what they are like when pushed hard from someone who has had experience of them all.

I have to admit that at the kit car live event i went to, the caterhams looked so planted and totally unphased by many of the high speed corners.

While other cars were showing varying degrees of body roll etc (not that this is a bad thing of course as it was still very minimal) the caterham looked almost the same as it did on the straight sections.

All the cars were impressive, don't get me wrong, but i found myself waiting to watch those more than anything else because they just looked so damn  impressive in the bends.

I can understand the driving as many cars as you can part too.

When i left school, at work as a 17 year old i got to drive everything from RWD 325's to FWD gti's etc and even on the road it gave me a much nicer understanding of car dynamics etc.

On the track that would be even more amplified so makes perfect sense.

As for historic stuff, you and me both!. Even if they could be lapped by a pug gti or something, i'm sure the experience would be fantastic  

The TR4's flick my switch as it happens so that would be one of my first choices, along with the early Alfas.

[Guest]

you don't have to be on track or at high speed to feel the diference in a westfield/caterham .......a few corners up the road will show you depending on how you drive .........

its all subjective ..........

[alan dixon]

Bite taken, goodness me this is 'The Westfield site', Westfield is the best and if you don't like it then feck off          

PS, any chance of a free holiday