gixermark Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 once you conclude your research & test drives of the various CECs, you will then see the appeal of teh BECs and start looking/testing them... warning though - they are addictive in all seriousness - its a buyers market, and there are vastly different spec'd cars out there, I'd suggest you get along to your local meet and chat to teh guys and see the various cars before parting with anything also - don;t go by year - certainly not on its own anyway - these cars are relaly valued by the spec... I'd have a 10 year old westy with the high spec engine, box, brakes, suspension, wheels, uprights and proper history than a home built std 1.8 or 2.0 kit.. you may also find a std 1.8 or 2.0 doesn;t really get your heart racing - they didn;t do it for me..... but ecah to their own - folk buy these for so many different reasons.. good luck and enjoy the search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Umm Bike Engines. I read that they are brilliant on the track, but on the road they can be a bit of a nightmare due to the lack of torque low down and always having to change gear/hard to keep within the speed limits? So that is why I was going down the CEC route first, as my first Westie, then was going to buy in a few years time a all out BEC track car, of some description. That is the plan anyway! Whether or not it will happen is another matter especially with the expense of having to build/buy a trailer and then storing it somewhere and eugh, sounds like a lot of fun, but very expensive! I would agree, Personally, I would rather have a high spec'd car over a std car, because it means I have to spend less money on it, but at the same time, a low mileage example with fuel injection for £8.5k screams bargain to me when a year ago it would have been worth over £24k. So, that is my dilemma, either way, both cars the 2007 model with EFi or a tuned 10 year old model are going to have similar power, but the power delivery will be very different on the tuned engine and that is what makes the grin factor. I joined the WSCC (well applied) last night, so hopefully should get my membership through this week and try and get to some meets later on this month and March before I go to sea (I am a engineer (in training) on board cruise liners). So, unless what I read about BEC cars is untrue, I am not sure they are for me just yet, and would quite like a car that just does what it says on the tin, is very fast, has the adrenaline rush, but it is not going to kill me at the tender age of 21! Cheers G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Reid Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 So, that is my dilemma, either way, both cars the 2007 model with EFi or a tuned 10 year old model are going to have similar power, but the power delivery will be very different on the tuned engine and that is what makes the grin factor. I might be wrong but stardard ford efi will give you standard ford power (about 130bhp) After market electronic injection or carbs will give you a much happier 170+. You always welcome to the Thames Valley meet... Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 So, that is my dilemma, either way, both cars the 2007 model with EFi or a tuned 10 year old model are going to have similar power, but the power delivery will be very different on the tuned engine and that is what makes the grin factor. I might be wrong but stardard ford efi will give you standard ford power (about 130bhp) After market electronic injection or carbs will give you a much happier 170+. You always welcome to the Thames Valley meet... Link Yeh I need to find out if it is the standard EFi or upgrade... Thanks! So the next meet is this weekend? Unfortunately I am away (Valentines Day and the Mrs calls!) so I guess the next meeting would be March? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Might be worth putting up another post asking members if you could come and have a look at their motor If you were more local you would be welcome to come and look at my machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 My Girlfriend lives in Grantham, I will be up there this weekend, if you are in Peterborough, I don't think that is far? Only problem would be it might be very late Sunday evening (6ish) depending on when I can get away and I couldn't possibly give you a time. Its up to you, but thanks awfully for offering! Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brindle Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Might be worth putting up another post asking members if you could come and have a look at their motor If you were more local you would be welcome to come and look at my machine I'm in Basingstoke if you wanted to shoot a couple of junctions up the M3 some time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Might be worth putting up another post asking members if you could come and have a look at their motor If you were more local you would be welcome to come and look at my machine I'm in Basingstoke if you wanted to shoot a couple of junctions up the M3 some time I am liking this forum more and more! You guys on here are absolute legends! If that is OK I will definately take you up on your offer, I can't this weekend, but I am not as busy next weekend on Sunday 22nd Feb but then I have basically 4 weeks off between Mid March and Mid April before I go to Sea, so could always do something then if that is more convenient? Up to you, but thank you so much for the offer! That will definately concrete how a Westie should behave and what I should be looking for and will be tremendously useful. Unless you are free on Friday 13th at some point? Thank you!! Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixermark Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 seems to be a myth that BECs have no torque - on paper they are much lower than CECs but most engines will pully happily from 2k up in whatever gear really.. But - i woudl have to say, unless you expect the track day bug to bite - or track is your main aim, a CEC will probably be a more forgiving entry, and even a moderate CEC will put a serious smile on your dial.. take the advise of as many on here as you can - and get a run in as many types of car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazpowerslide Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Hi Graham. Welcome to the WSCC. I know that you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket at the moment but as some of the others have said it's a buyers market which means that you'll get a lot of bang for your buck and should be in a good position to haggle a bit on the asking price. I know from what you have said so far that you have been seriously looking for six months or so but it may help you vet out the unsuitable cars if you deciede on a minimum speck that you want (ie RAC rollover bar, sports seats ect) and then only look at the ones that fit the bill. If you do buy an older high spec car the seller will have taken the hit on all the upgrades so in effect you'll have less of an issue with it loosing value during your ownership. You'll find that a 2.0 Zetec with carbs will give around 160ish BHP, the 1.8 around 10BHP less, on aftermarket injection the power will be similar but, and it's a big but the delivery should be smoother with no flat spots (more like standard production engine) On carbs, how ever well set up the motor will feel cruder and the low speed part throttle responce will not be as good as the injection. The yellow car at the dealer is running standard injection so that means around 130bhp but the motor will feel very similar to the standard one. The Zetec is a good choice as is the Vauxhall XE, the XE will give between 20BHP to 25BHP in standard trim more than the Zetec (either on carbs or aftermafket injection) and some motors (STU999 who posts up on here as an example) give almost 200bhp on injection from a stock motor. I personally think the only downside with the XE engine is that they are not as plentyfull as they once were and hence command a premium price. If you run a stock Zetec and it goes pop you can get another good used motor cheaply enough (I paid 125 pounds for a 50k miler from an auto Mondeo) As far as the driving experience goes the Zetec and XE will be similar all be it you'll certainly notice the extra power of the XE. Both are easily tuneable to Circa 200BHP but you'll need ever deeper pockets to to extract more power. As the others have said, don't pay too much heed to the age of the car, an enthueastic owner, plenty of paperwork and a big file of reciepts will not only add value but give you piece of mind too. If I had the cash to spend that you have I'd be looking at a Zetec (either a 1.8 or 2.0) with throttle body injection and then as much of the kit you want specked in (RAC bar, nice seats, good wheels brakes ect ect) Bear in mind also that bits you remove to make way for upgrades can be sold to help finance the said upgrades. And lastly, much has been written on the subject of how much power you "need" I have about 165BHP and it's more than enough to get into trouble with, most cars which belong to the regulars in the Cambs area are of similar power and we don't find them exactly lacking in the speed department. I'd be more interested in a car that's been developed along the lines of light weight and upgrades to the handling, gearbox, brakes and saftey than a 200BHP monster with standard bits in the spec. Chaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Chaz, after reading your post I had a look at Pistonheads again and found these ones which look interesting, what do you think? http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/855537.htm I like the Lotus colours on this one! http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/736668.htm This is not the widebody version of the car, but it has well over 200bhp, so someone spent A LOT of money on it! I am not sure if I like the paint scheme or not, it is quirky and very me, but not sure on re-sale...but it is cool! Throttle bodies though and racing engine... Certainly the Redtop seems to generate more power, never really looked into it before, but now I have looked at them, its like umm...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 My Girlfriend lives in Grantham, I will be up there this weekend, if you are in Peterborough, I don't think that is far? Only problem would be it might be very late Sunday evening (6ish) depending on when I can get away and I couldn't possibly give you a time. Its up to you, but thanks awfully for offering! Graham I should be about on Sunday night - wont be able to promise you a ride out in it as we still have snow on the ground ... but if the roads are dry I would be more than happy to take you for a blast Whatever you can have a good look around it, sit in it, make sure you fit etc .. Make sure you bring a hat and some specs as I have no weather geat at all If you PM me once you know what you are doing we can exchange numbers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 PM sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 replied ... hope your not an axe murderer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbduo Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Only on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You are safe...Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday are used to put the bodies in the acid bath. Friday is my day off, for everyone needs a day off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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