catflap Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 im not intending to start an argument, I wish to become more educated on this subject, at present here is my understanding, please refine/correct c******m is initially the more expensive car to purchase, its handling is said to be slightly better (but how much?), it has a good following and resale values are apparently very good. To Purchase a c******m that would match my current (soon to sell) I would require at least the 1.8ss version? Westy`s cheaper to purchase, even second hand values are lower, knock on effects mean that resale values will be less. Seem mor BHP? Quality of build not as good? I know nothing about performance? Need you to e aware of context, looking to get either a c******m or westy, had aporx 10k could be more with loans etc, but want a good car for track, but mainly road and fun, MUST BE FASTER than my current scoob, I know this is not the point of such cars as their overall speed will mean they can move around a track faster than such cars, but from my bike days, I love the sheer thrill of acceleration as well. I open this up to the more knowledable amongst you, any recommendations of what to look for, please ? Youll be seeing a lot of similar threads until I have satisfied my questions LOL so please be patient with a newbe who is exited about moving over from scoobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 Westy`s cheaper to purchase, even second hand values are lower, knock on effects mean that resale values will be less. Look at re-sale values as percentages to get a far clearer picture of price compared to re-sale value. I don't think Westfields suffer greater depreciation than c******m's, they're just cheaper to start with. With a c******m you are paying for the percieved value of the car's heritage. If heritage means nothong to you, then it's value is zero, and you'll find plenty of Westfields that are more affordable, and perform better than a 1.8ss. IIRC a 1.8ss c******m has 147bhp, and will cost you 15 grand ish. You will find plenty of more powerful Westfields for around the 10-12 grand mark, and they'll all be excellent examples. A 10 grand c******m will be a 1.7l crossflow, circa 1985........... c******m's have better build quality (for home built cars) because they arrive with the builder over 50% complete. A Westfield is little more than a chassis, and lots of boxes....if you are buying a Westfield then the quality will vary much more than with a c******m for this reason. Performance wise, the answer you got on Blatchat will be the same for Westfields, WRT straight line speed versus involving cornering potential Handling wise, they are too similar to call, unless you are a very good driver who can explore the outer limits of the performance envelope. IMO a Westfield can be made to handle far better than a c******m due to (most) Westfields having independent rear suspension (which is the thing to have) as opposed to a c******m's pseudo live axle de dion set up. c******m owners will disagree with me on this, but, from a purely engineering/chassis design perspective, IRS is the best. The c******m SS kit is also a gigantic waste of money if you want to upgarde the K series engine further than SS spec, 'cos you end up junking all the SS bits......... Final thought. If you have 10K to spend, you will find a more powerful Westfield than c******m, which will satisfy your performance requirements. If you have 15K to spend, you can still buy the 10K Westfield, and have enough change to set about making a very powerful, very well specced machine that, with the right engine (Vx 16v 2.0.l) will have true R500 (£36000 Catertham flagship) beating potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian crocker Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 Performance: have a look to see what type of car holds more sprint and hillclimb records... Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catflap Posted April 27, 2002 Author Share Posted April 27, 2002 Thnx for the replys getting the pic of where things stand. Keep em cooming people Thank you catflap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 Have a look at my car [email=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.jones37/index.htm]http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.jones37/index.htm[/email] this now stands me at £13,127.26 as you see it in the pictures mag wheels R500 type, stack dash,and a tested 162 BHP and weigth of 576kg with all fluids full and a full tank of petrol less 14 miles going steady to the rolling road. Iam at Cadwell on the 1st May, E-mail me if you want to know more. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 If you have asked the same question on blatchat they will all come out in a horrid rash Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catflap Posted April 28, 2002 Author Share Posted April 28, 2002 LOL yeh ive asked it there, and on scoobynet aswel LOL They were actualy pretty cool about it, as have been all the post here Hay just shows even if you at opposit sides of the coin, your all still a good coin if that makes sence LOL Still got a million questions, but im saving them till youve all fogot how much of a pest im becoming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Young Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 Catflap, I've owned both a c******m and a Westfield. I have just upgraded from a 1600cc x-flow live axle c******m to a 2.0 litre dunnel zetec SEIW Westfield. The problem I found was that whilst the c******m was great at first, upgradeitis soon sets in and I did some rough calcs as to what it would cost me to turn the car into something really nice. Needless to say it was a lot. It's always cheaper to buy performance 'on the car' rather than add it later. I've only driven the westfield once (on the trest drive) and don't actually pick the thing up until next week but first impressions are that the ride is much better even with 16" rims and 45 profile tyres on it compared with my c******ms 13" rims and 70 profile tyres. When I went looking for a new car the things I wanted were:- Independant / semi independant rear suspension K- series / zetec / VX XE Engine History / Bills My advice would be go and drive as many cars as you can (or at least be taken for a drive). You will find plenty of owners of both makes of car willing to scare you to death. Regarding your budget I would imagine that you could get a very nice Westfiled for £10K with either a zetec or a VX XE engine. If it were my money I would avoid a x-flow at this price. Don't get me wrong x-flows are great engines but you need to make sure that it has 'all the bits' and receipts for rebuilds / work done. Hope this helps. Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edo Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 I am new to all this, having only had my Westfield for a few weeks, but agree that you should test drive and make up your own conclusions, and drive the car that suits you best. Everyone has different tastes, and what is right for one person, may not be for another. My own personal opinion having searched for a cheap summer toy, was that the c******ms were considerably more expensive for similar power & specification machines. As Blatman says, build quality is likley to vary more, given the higher level of build required, but if you find one that has been built well, there is no reason why it shouldn't be just as good as anything else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 and just in case no-one has mentioned this to you, all C*terhams until last year were 'narrow-bodied' (they have now got a wider/longer cockpit version as well) whereas Westfields have been doing wide-bodied cars since 1990 so if you're a bit tall or wide you'll fit a Westfield better - the designations are SE, SEi, SEW and SEiW where the 'W' is for Widebody and the 'i' is for independant rear suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Podmore Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 I considered a c******m and Westfield back in 1996. My conclusions were that: 1. A c******m was more money for less 2. A c******m did not require so more input from me to build. 3. A Westfield is used for motorsport more often. I bought the car to build from the ground up and to enjoy driving. I have had my car 6 years, it cost me £13,000, and I don't know what it is worth now, and frankly I do not care. It is not for sale! Neither do I intend it to be in the future. It is my car and I enjoy driving it.=Therefore what importance is resale value? Especially if you consider the extra cash that would be tied up in a c******m for all those years. Still a proud Westfield owner , but what's happened to the sun shine? Have those Southeners pinched it again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 but what's happened to the sun shine? Have those Southeners pinched it again? I don't think so...... judging by the drenching I got getting a sandwich at lunchtime and my wife has had to drive form our home in West Sussex to South Wales today and it took her nearly 6 hours 'cos of the rain/wind etc. and she's got to do it again tonight coming home (lucky she was in a Saab not a se7en! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juansolo Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 It really depends what you want. If you do not care about the badge or the 'heritage' then you get a lot more car for your money with a Westfield. I wanted a Caterfield purley for trackdays, don't give a stuff about the above and I got myself a Cosworth powered Westie for a smidge less than £9000. Since then I've spent an additional £2000 making it the car I wanted. £12000 will get you a nice Cat Classic... Last week we added a second Westie to the family in the form of a Blatman green Vx XE built in 2000 with only 2000 miles on it. All for the princely sum of £9500. Once again, upgrades are planned (prolly cost a shade over £1000) but this is a REALLY nice car and once complete it'll be a stormer. Just waiting for my friend (who stores the above cars and helps work on them) to sell some land then we'll be on the lookout for an SEiGHT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catflap Posted May 3, 2002 Author Share Posted May 3, 2002 AWSOME Whats the cozzy bhp? and the vx bhp they look stuninig whats this is the sort of thing im looking for. Whats your opinion on the seight? is it any good? cost of running etc MORE MORE MORE MORE INFO i love this stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Blimey Juan, when you said our garages were looking similar, I had no idea............. I'm not painting the Cossie purple though............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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