Robin Hoods - as good as a Westfield but cheaper ?

[Jan Coombes]

I went for the westfield, because of the car club.

I am glad I did, top car.

I wish they did development work for the narrow cars.

I think the c******m is a better car you do after all get what you payfor.

Unless you go for c******m Carbon Fibre.

[Maid Marrianne]

why can't you write c******m in here (Cat er ham)....suppose I lived in cat er ham ! Seems very childish too me!

[Blatman]

You need to do some research on the Blatchat Vs Boardroom rivalry.

If you find it childish, you're mis-interpreting. It's just a bit of inter club joshing, and it's all done with a smile on our faces..........

[AndrewW]

Some interesting replies, thanks everyone. A few more thoughts/comments

Westfield have never offered a De Dion set up, AFAIK. Westfield's have bespoke, fully independent rear suspension, which is by far and away the best thing you can have.

How is De-Dion different to IRS  ?  several people have told me that a De-Deon is the best sort possible. Academic I know as neither Westys or RH's have it, but which cars do, if any. Porsches maybe ?

Also, why is the c******m number one - are they so much better than all the rest ?

Says who?

Bananaman said it (its the 3rd reply to my original message). - I've requoted it here

I guess you are new to this 7 kit car thing?

There is a definate hieracy which goes somthing like this

1. C*****m    

2. Westfield

3. All other 7 type kit cars *

4. * Robinhoods

This is based on several things such as

Heritage

Quality

Perfomance

Desireability

This all equates to a hieracy of price

Am I misinterpreting what he said or do some of you really think caterams are better ?

[Blatman]

Ah yes. Bananaman also qualified his ranking with his closing statement..................Most expensive/most history doesn't necessarilly equal best, otherwise we'd all be driving steam powered Benz's.........Is the Queen a better person *just* because she is at he top of the hierarchy........

De Dion is like a live axle, but with a seperately mounted diff. IE, the diff is mounted solidly to the chassis, but wheel location is handled by a great big tube.........As with a live axle, what affects one wheel will affect the other. No such issues with fully independent. Put another way, if you were designing a car from scratch, it would have double unequal length wishbone suspension, like a Westfield. It's a no brainer........... c******m's suspension is a case of it works, so it doesn't need fixing. RH's suspension is built down to a cost...........Westfield were motivated to improve on the design, and have done a fine job.

Please get away from trying to find out what's *best*. There is no right answer. Instead, find out what's *best* for you. That is all that matters. If a RH is best for you, then buy one. IMO, Westfield represents the best value for money of any Se7en, and has the best chassis and suspension set up, bar none.

[chazpowerslide]

Andrew, do a search by author on the site, put in Blatman  and read some of his posts, replys to questions ect. I think you'll find that you can trust and respect the advice he has given.

When you have done that you can try the likes of Mark Stanton, Matt Sebrook, Steppen Wolf, Westy (and a whole raft of others) you'll find a common theme emerge.

Have a good look at the build sites in the links section you'll not fail to be impressed. Then visit the factory and have a tour/test drive.

Do the same type of thing on the other se7en manafactures sites ect.

If you still think RH is the way to go, well it's your money and your saftey. I do not think that RH design, material selection, and engineering philosphy is something I,d like to put myself, my wife or my kids in and drive down the road (for all the reasons stated in this thread)

Quality costs. Regards Chaz.

[Steve Kirk]

I get the feeling chaps that we may have a Blatchat wind up merchant interloping in our midst.Possibly a cateringvan driver with the same initials as Andrew W.No , i must be wrong because the person i'm thinking of voiced his dissaproval of non members posting.West is Best!!!  

[Nifty]

Blatters,my dear old friend,

Why change something that works?

De-dion seems to do the job quite well enough

Yours,

Nifty.

[Maid Marrianne]

I spoke to my dad , last night, and I told him , that I had found this site, and they said that Robin Hoods were the worst cars there were.

He was rather upset by this , as the car is his pride and joy. HE pointed out to me , that while he would have loved a c******m, or even an original Lotus 7, he was not able to afford one.

I then told him this was said on a westfield site, and his comments were, "who wants to own a car made out of recycled washing up bottles!". Is that right that westfields are made out of old plastic washing up bottles? If it is I think it's very good they way you all care about the enviroment.

[Blatman]

Well, it was good while it lasted.....................  

[steppenwolf]

Well, it was good while it lasted.....................

Excellent. are we all done now? Actually no .......

This is slightly off thread but having parked next to catering vans on several occasions, I could not help myself comparing the two. A common thought came to me each time I carried out this reflection ...... THE CATERINGVAN LOOKS 'INSIGNIFICANT' NEXT TO A WESTFIELD ..... I wish I could explain why because I know that both are very fine cars indeed but that is the impression I am left with each time ( with apologies to my several friends who own and love them! ).

As for the RH, I have seen some excellently produced ones ( and some real dogs! ) but a Westfield they are not, not even close in design, quality or materials used - a seven type(?) .... yes of course they are ......  

[Aves]

It's washing up bowls not bottles that they're made of .

Actually a guy I know who works in plastics reckons that the BMW Z3 really was cast from a plastic used for washing up bowls.

I thought Formula 27's were the worst "Sevens".

Did that poor guy Daz4? ever get his VX 2.0 sorted?

Poor Sod.

[Blatman]

Blimey, two "real" Blatchatters on this thread  

Aves.

Daz4 I think is getting sorted. He bought a coscast head, IIRC, and we haven't heard much about any more problems, so fingers crossed........

Nifty.

I did actually say just that...........      

Blatchat down again, boys........? ? ?    

[Maid Marrianne]

what is blatchat?

[Paul M]

Buy a westfield.

I too had the same dilemma 3 years ago, I originally set out to purchase a Robin Hood but discounted this a fter a visit to their factory, i found the quality of engineering somewhat lacking.

I dont't want to run the risk of being libelious but I have heard that the standard of customer service form Robin Hood is (allegedly) appalling.

Rememeber, the Westfield is a purposely designed, lightweight sportscar with dedicated suspension components, the Robin Hood uses all Sierra suspension components,  - which is goung to handle better and have a better resale value ?

If you want a budget build go for something like the new Tiger Avon, you'll get a proper sportscar for not a lot more money than a R/H.