Have your input to Westfield product development

[juansolo]

caterham 21 ring any bells.....sounded then and still today a good idea, best ask them why it flopped.

It flopped because it arrived at the same time as the Elise but cost more and wasn't as good. If it had have been better and cheaper we could well have been laughing at the Elise now.

Funnily enough, my brother was in the market for a 21 when it came out and we went to the motorshow to have a poke around at it.  Caterham's people at the time were so uninterested it put us off them immediately.  I'm sorry but you want my money and you're rude to me, you can get f**ked if you're getting it.  So we never even found out if it was any good or not.  It's all well and good having a product but you've got to at least show some interest in it and the people who might want to buy it.  It's going back now but I think we approached a Caterham bod, asked about the 21 and uncerimoniously got pointed at it...  That was it.  We sat in it (it was very small), looked at the fogged up lamp covers and moved on.  He still has the Elise S135 he bought instead and when he had a seven it was a Westfield...

[James]

It flopped because it arrived at the same time as the Elise but cost more and wasn't as good. If it had have been better and cheaper we could well have been laughing at the Elise now.

It was largeley down to the fact that all the body pannels were aluminium with nice curves meaning they were all beaten by hand forcing manufacturing costs up.

They also designed it on the existing 7 chassis which meant it was a crampt so not many customers found it comfortable. (was a buger to get into as well BIG sill)

[moomin]

QUOTE

It was largeley down to the fact that all the body pannels were aluminium with nice curves meaning they were all beaten by hand forcing manufacturing costs up.

having spent quite a few hours working on one, this is not the case, it is GRP. they did a one off in aluminium, I beleive.

moomin

[FW500]

As has been said before Carbon Fibre! Bring back the Carbon Aeroscreen for a start. I've heard whispers that this is already a possibility but nothing concrete from the factory.

[mr-rad]

As has been said before Carbon Fibre! Bring back the Carbon Aeroscreen for a start. I've heard whispers that this is already a possibility but nothing concrete from the factory.

I rang the factory to ask about a carbon aeroscreen because it's still in the parts catalogue. I would like one but was told they aren't making them and the parts geezer wasn't sure why it was still in the catalogue. I would be a happy puppy if Westfield started to produce them again.

Other Carbon products would be nice, wings, nosecone, rear wheelarch protectors, sill protectors and dash etc.

It has been said before in this thread but a rollbar that is not cosmetic should be standard. It would be nice if this would still allow weather gear to be used.

[Bazzer]

I thought the reason the factory stopped doing carbon is the cost. Everyone said they wanted it until they were asked for £800 for a nose cone !!!

Cheers

Bazzer

[mr-rad]

£800?? geeeeeeeeeez thats expensive.

[CedricTheBrave]

I agree with the bodywork, I will say that having built 3 westfields over a period of about 10 years the bodywork has also deteriorated in quality.

Carbon fibre options would be good including chassis panels.

[pistonbroke]

I would 2nd the bodywork , my SeiW was re tubbed last year , the replacement tub has more ripples in it than a cadbury's  flake .

Perhaps the molds are now past there sell by date  

[Fat Albert]

JuanSolo & Others

Back in the 80s Westfield built 6 Lotus 23 clones based on Formula Ford running gear.

There are at least two 23 clone builders in the market plus a third who makes 'real' new ones. All of these are essentially track cars and are compromised for road use.

Westfield already have a VW/Audi engine/transaxle from the XTR4, an engineered for the road 23 with a chippable upgrade route would be quite attractive, especially if it was available in kit form for self build.

[juansolo]

JuanSolo & Others

Back in the 80s Westfield built 6 Lotus 23 clones based on Formula Ford running gear.

FA - Oh yes, that would do nicely

[Westy1700]

Good to see the factory listening......

i already did the online survey so the best ideas are there and i added my name so you know where to send the jacket.....size large..

thanks in advance..

ps....improve the online parts catalogue/web site and you will sell more from it..

[stu999]

Westfield have never had a 'halo' car like the R500 or the Supercharged Arial A(u)tom(atic), so have lacked the press attention this brings. Of course, a halo car nowadays would have to significantly outperform both the Atom and the CSR260 and I don't know how realistic that is.

Oh but they have - and it has already been mentioned in this thread - the FW400 - here.

[samcooke]

But when it came out the FW400 wasn't significantly (any?) quicker than its rivals and the motor noters seemed to prefer the drive of the Caterham.

When you create something like the FW400 it needs to be *much* better than the established competition to win respect and sales.

The XTR2 is a great car and a great concept, but against the radicals, it's an also ran.

How you build something that's much better than a 300bhp Atom or a 330(!)bhp Caterham and actually manage to get the power down is another question.

[steve_m]

How you build something that's much better than a 300bhp Atom or a 330(!)bhp Caterham and actually manage to get the power down is another question.

Well Dax have worked it out, surely Westfield could do the same if they chose to ?  

I'd like to see a few of those Cateringvan 330's do their thing on a few track days before we all say how great it is, Cateringvan don't have a good reputation for reliability and longevity unlike Westfield, which is perhaps more important to most purchasers.

What's the point of having a fancy car if you're always worried about it breaking and never have the confidence to really rag it sensless ?