M Power?????

[mikehreynolds]

It comes out of a hairdressers car?!!!!!!

Wouldnt want to tarnish the image of westies would we!    

an I say            

to all rice rockets anyway!!

[juansolo]

*Light's blue touch paper*

Hairdressers car it maybe, decent road car it most certainly is, fun track car it also is (it'll goon around an airfield all day), built properly and reliable also.  It's also the cheapest to run track car I've come across with tyres and brakes costing nothing and maintenance being nothing more than regular oil changes.

Other than on track perfomance (where the Westie obviously kills it) it has my Westie beat on every level.

If someone offered me a straight swap of a 10 anniversary SE MX-5 in good nick for the Westie right now, I wouldn't hesitate to take them up on it.

Sad but true but most kit cars are nails.

[mikehreynolds]

Dont mean to be picky but surely (in most cases) the idea of owning a westy is so that you can you use it on tracks regularly and for almost permanent wind in your face action, if you want a car that is cheaper to run and has electric hood, aircon, comfy seats and all the other weight adding extras then surely the mx-5 is better suited for you. Only my opinion but you cant really put the mx-5 in anywhere near the same catergory as a westy, both cater for completely different types of car driver.

Mike (westy lovin' mazda hatin'

[DickieB]

I also saw the advert in CCC for the M3 engine and box for only £1500, and was tempted. Would be a cheap way to get 321 BHP if it could be made to fit.  

Maybe another time......

[Nick M]

Mike,

I think you're missing the point of Juan's posts.

The Westy is an all out sportscar with sharp handling and generally a good turn of speed.  But, like it or not, they tend to need constant tinkering to keep them running (properly, or indeed at all in some cases !! ) and travelling long distances to a few trackdays invariably ends in the purchase of a trailer and a suitable tow car.

This is why Juan is suggesting the MX5 - they handle nicely, aren't *that* slow and have the advantage of being cheap to maintain and pretty much bomb-proof.  They're also a more comfortable proposition on the road so the need for a trailer and towing barge goes away.

Juan's argument isn't about the comfort afforded by an MX5, it's about having a reliable, cheap to run and fun track car and, like them or not, the MX5 fits this bill.

Suffice it to say that, when the time comes to ship the Westfield back to the UK I will be on the lookout for a cheap MX5 to use at trackdays and the like.  A couple of toys and a few hours spent removing excess weight and bob's your uncle.

[juansolo]

Nick's hit the nail on the head and got the point I was trying to make.  Of course the Westie is the track weapon of choice, that goes without saying.

Despite all logic I love the Westfield, actually it's more of a love/hate thing most times.  I love it when it works and wouldn't be in anything else.  It's amazing how quickly you can forgive all it's foibles when it's running properly.  I also find it infuriatingly unreliable at times and I long for an MX-5's get in and go...  

To put this is perspective we effectively have two Westfield's between my brother and me and we drive each others as it's rare to have both running at the same time.  This is not coming from someone who has a chip on their shoulder about Westies or kit cars in general, just someone who is a track addict who is becoming increasingly frustrated by missing track time due to issues with his car.  Hence the idea of fitting something Japanese and standard under the bonnet and carrying the transmission and diff though as well.

As for it coming from a hairdressers car I'm not sure it should make you proud that other more frequently used engines are sourced from such motoring icons as the Metro for a K, Mundano for a Zetec, an Astra for a Vx and a Land Rover for a V8.  Basically a shopping trolley, a rep-mobile, a boy racer chariot and a farmers workhorse.  All classy stuff.

...electric hood, aircon, comfy seats

You won't find them in any MX-5 that I've ever come across!  The hood is manual, up until the newest model air-con was only available in Japan and they come fitted with the least supportive seats known to man.

It's also one of the few normal cars out there where the insurance companies don't go mad if you modify them as it's so common for owners to do so.  Wilwood brakes, super chargers, chassis bracing kits, roll protection, adjustable dampers, etc are all available off the shelf.  It's not actually very difficult to bias one toward track usage.

I'm insanely critical about most cars as anybody who knows me will tell you, it's just that the MX-5 gets a lot of stick that is completely unjustified.  Drive one, if I buy another I'll gladly let you paste it around an airfield.  If you are still of the same opinion afterwards I'd be very suprised.

[Al Yupright]

I've seen some pictures on the 'net of an Mx5 engine and box fitted to a Westfield chassis.

I think it was a Westfield chassis, cant really remember.

It was being done by a bloke in either the states, or Australia, due to the easy supply of these over there, compared to the engines usually used over here.

If you want a Jap motor, I think I'd have a Honda, well suited to a Westy. Much better than this Vauxhall rubbish  

[Blatman]

How quickly you all seem to forget the (class A Speed Series winning.......) Toyota 4AGE engine..........          

[Al Yupright]

Good point! Does it go in with the toyota box, or use a type 9?

One of the recent toyota motors (with VVTi) might be nice too.

S2000 complete with 6speed box for me I think. (if the situation ever arose)

Cheers,

Al.

p.s. whats up with fatchat?

[juansolo]

The S2000 powerplant and box is the perfect engine IMO.  However there's no way it's fitting in my SE not to mention the fact that I'd need a baby Atlas to cope with the power even if it did.  So that would mean building a new car from scratch using a SEiW with MT75 tunnel.  Also S2000 lumps are not the easiest things to lay your hands on cheaply.  Not a cheap option unfortuantely

A CTR is another option being the other engine that spins the right way (1.8, 200bhp boggo *rawr*).  However being designed for transverse mounting that would mean a trip to Pace to make a custom dry sump system for it and then mate it somehow to a type 9.  I also expect supply would be an issue with the Civic Type-R being such a new car.  Would love to see this done though.

Honda's, gotta love 'em.

4AGE is a very, very serious propersition for me.

[Al Yupright]

I think the RAW 4AGE supercharged car was at a trackday I did earlier this year.

It was a blue Fury/Phoenix, with a "KOMPRESSOR" badge on the back.

Cheers,

Al.

[DickieB]

The Toyota 4AGE is a perfect fit in a kit car - it has almost identical dimensions to a XF,and has the inlet/exhaust on the same sides.

You could use the Toyota T50 gearbox, but it is not very good. Raw Engineering do an alloy bellhousing to mate the 4AGE to a Ford box (Type 9, 4 spd etc etc).

And yes it is a cracking engine. You could equally use the 20V version with individual side draft throttle bodies, or even the Supercharged version (4AGZE) which with very mild (cheap) tweaking releases 200 BHP and 200 Torque - awesome.

Richard Brown

Class A Winner 2002 !!!

[mikehreynolds]

Just saw this 4 age engine

looks like a bl**** bargain!!

Mike

[Warren E Smith]

How we all rave about the Toyota 4AGE.  But if I recall correctly, thats what was in my MK1 MR2.  People called that car hairdressers car too  

Especially when 2 wks after I bought it I found about 20 sheets of paper under the drivers seat.... that had wedged a bottle of "head & shoulders" under it & it could only have come from the last owner        

Oh how they laughed (gits).  

So perhaps a "hairdressers" MX5 engine is a perfect option.

The k-series goes into the MGF & now we can REALLY start to talk hairdressers    

[chazpowerslide]

£200 is not that bad but RAW recommend the non TVIS engine as the ports on the TVIS head give about 10 BHP less than the non TVIS engine. If you want a good supplier of 4AGE engines speak to Brian at JAS on 01449677460. They deal in low milage Jap imported engines and quoted me £550 inc with a years warrenty. I looked into the 4AGE option carefully, the power seems to be about 145-155BHP from the stock engine and the bits to run it are a comparible price to the equivlent SBD bits for an XE (carbs, 3D ignition, bell housing and exhaust) plus you have to have the injector holes welded up. In the end I plumped for the XE which for the same cost gives 20-30 BHP more plus more torque which makes it more driveable on the road/track.

IMO the extra weight of the VX over the 4AGE is more than compensated for by the extra power. I also think that the 4AGE will work out more expencive to tune from stock than the VX but that's only my opinion.