Height Problem

[Westfield456]

Just a quick question to all of you.  I am 6.3 tall and was reading a review about Westfield SEight which commented on the fact that they are fairly small.  Now I obviously know that there will not be as much space as your usual people carrier, but are there any of you out there who are tall, with a rugby build, and if so how do you find driving your Westfield comfort wise?  Many thanks.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I beieve the SEight is narrower in the footwell area than the Mazda SDV to accomodate a larger transmission.  I'm 6ft2 and fit easily with leg room to spare and but Ive got the build of a whippet.  The Westfield sports seats are comfortable and supporting enough for me but I can see that the larger driver may find the fit a bit tight in them but there is plenty of other alternative seat options available from Westfield and others which you may find would fit you better.

[Mark B]

I'm 6'3" & with a few small mods to the car fit very comfortably-

Remove the seat runners & bolt directly to the floor this moves you lower & further away from the bse of the steering wheel.

Fit a removable wheel with a spacer, makes access easier & the spacer moves the wheel away from your knees.

Raise the steering column with a couple of spacing washers either side, again moves the wheel in a better position.

Buy some karting boots, not only lets you fit in the footwell better but also effectively makes the footwell longer due to the very thin soles.

You should be fine at that.....

[brindle]

I'm 6'2" and 20 stone.  The fit in my SEIW is 'snug' but comfortable - the main problem I have is my knees on the steering wheel - but this is not a big deal.  you wouldn't want to use it as your daily drive, but a track day this year with a 70 mile journey either end was fine.

[Westfield456]

Thanks for all your comments they all make me feel a lot more comfortable about buying my Westfield.  Once again thanks.

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

I have the lowered floor in my duratec and you do feel like you are sitting in the car rather than on it ...

I am 6 foot 2 inches with size 12 feet ... I still have a problem with knees on the steering wheel ... I am planning to fit a steering wheel spacer or one with a bigger dish so that the steering wheel comes further into the cabin by an inch or two ...

I also tend to remove my right shoe when driving .. i am on the lookout for some sensible driving shoes that do not look too stupid when you get out of the motor ... anybody got any ideas?

[Mark B]

I also tend to remove my right shoe when driving .. i am on the lookout for some sensible driving shoes that do not look too stupid when you get out of the motor ... anybody got any ideas?

There are some puma shoes about at the moment, have a search on here as someone posted about them recently, pretty sure they go upto size 12's  

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

thanks for the tip off ...will have a look later

[stantman]

I am 6'5" and have a SEIW with Type 9 box. Slight knee steering wheel problems, but ok apart from this. Changing standard roll bar to RAC for extra height, could do with lowered floor but will have to wait. You may want to consider an aero screen as the windscreen surround comes straight in my line of site.

Friend has an SEiw with aero and lowered floor, much better head clearance bellow roll bar. But he has an MT75 gear box with wider transmission tunnel, makes a lot of difference to room for the feet and clearance for the knees. Worth trying the two if you get chance. (Check out the discussuions on gear ratios and gear box strength.)

Haven't tried teh Seight so cant comment, but if the tunnel is as wide as the MT75 one, it will probably have the same drawbacks.

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

6'- 2", 6'- 3", 6'- 5", 20 stone, size 12 feet......f*ck me ....have I stumbled into the land of the giants  

[Labrat]

I'm 6'4" with long legs (36" inside) but only 12stone and have had to resort to carbon fibre seats set as low down and far back as possible to get a comfy driving position.

There is an added benefit to this, that I can see through the windscreen rather than looking at the frame, and my head is well below the standard height RAC rollbar.

I have an R380'box, which requires a wider tunnel than the T5 and leg room is a bit tight side to side. The only other mod I have had to make is a wedge shaped pad to support my leg behind the knee a bit.

Can't say how comfortable it will be on a drive yet as it isn't quite finished but it has been comfortable to sit in for prolonged periods whilst sorting out the wiring behind the dash.

Luke

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

6'- 2", 6'- 3", 6'- 5", 20 stone, size 12 feet......f*ck me ....have I stumbled into the land of the giants  

they do say that all big people have small cars and the same in reverse ... I have noticed this it has to be said ...

The main things is that you don't look stupid by sitting too high in the car ...

[Mark B]

I am 6'5" and have a SEIW with Type 9 box. Slight knee steering wheel problems, but ok apart from this. Changing standard roll bar to RAC for extra height, could do with lowered floor but will have to wait. You may want to consider an aero screen as the windscreen surround comes straight in my line of site.

Friend has an SEiw with aero and lowered floor, much better head clearance bellow roll bar. But he has an MT75 gear box with wider transmission tunnel, makes a lot of difference to room for the feet and clearance for the knees. Worth trying the two if you get chance. (Check out the discussuions on gear ratios and gear box strength.)

Haven't tried teh Seight so cant comment, but if the tunnel is as wide as the MT75 one, it will probably have the same drawbacks.

The current Seight chassis I believe is based on/ uses the MT 75 chassis, most of the chassis's of any SEIW car engined westfield manufactured in the past 8 years or so are MT 75 type aswell, westfield standardised them a while back, so if you fit ok in an MT chassis, you will fit ok in a V8.....

[stantman]

QUOTE

Land of the Giants

Well to be fair, I am 6'5", SWMBO is 6'1" my ex wife is 6'0" my youngest at 12 is 5'10", my friend with the other Westy is 6'2" and his wife is 6'0".  Always thought that was normal sort of height.    

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Land of the Giants

Well to be fair, I am 6'5", SWMBO is 6'1" my ex wife is 6'0" my youngest at 12 is 5'10", my friend with the other Westy is 6'2" and his wife is 6'0".  Always thought that was normal sort of height.    

   

I bet it's cold up there  

And I'll also bet you've never heard that one before