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Thinking of a change


Ary

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Scott,

I've said many times before why I think they are crap as a road car - the weather gear is s***e and impossible to get in if your big. The windscreen wipers are poor. Car leaks like a sieve. Handling is poor in wet, ride is choppy and uncomfortable. No interior space… I could go on for ever!

P.s. Do you own a Westfield?

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Just to add my personal opinion...

I am 16+ stone and have a really bad back (on pills for life)

I commute in my Westfield providing it's not raining.  I have a choice of routes to work (about 2 miles further than the A to B direct route).  I do about 4,000 miles per year.

The Westfield has about 185bhp and that's plenty IMO, so plenty of smiles for me.  I'm also really comfortable in the car and have gone to some lengths to get the right seat in the right place and at the right angle.  It's fibreglass and has no cushions.

The best idea is to get along to your local meet and blag a ride or two before you commit yourself to a particular car.  Getting out is, for me, more difficult than getting in.

There is plenty of room in the club for polishers and for those like me who see polishing as a nightmare.  All my suspension in well coated in a spray-on rustproofing product which works really well.

Good luck

Rory's Dad

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That is an extremely clean car, unfortunately that's it's downfall ..... you'd never want to drive it fast anywhere <!--emo&???

You've obviously realised that and want to get in and DRIVE a car and a Westfield is going to put a smile on your face everytime :)

Trouble is if you are a hefty bloke like me 'getting in' and driving the thing becomes a pain in the  :arse: .

Once the novelty wore off I now can't be bothered going for a drive in mine as the fuel tank is small (140 miles) so you need to put fuel in everytime you go out which involves getting in and out of the contraption. Its effin uncomfortable and cramped and the roads are too busy to enjoy it.

When you go and look at a Westfield I'm sure you will be 'blown away' quite literally but just say to yourself - once the novelty has gone will I still be using it? (Probably less than the Cosworth?)

If you pick a windscreen the car tears your nostrills off at anything above 50 and if you have an aeroscreen you have to wear a helmet and look like a right plonker on the Queens highway!

I would tend to suggest that unless you plan lots of trackdays something else will suit you better - IMO a Westfield is a crap road car but an OK track car.

On this forum you will get very biased answers  ???

Shan't respond to all that drivel, as it is just that IMO and I'm sure many others!

Yours a happy Westfield owner after 14 years and counting, for a car used for everything from sun to rain, to sprints and a track.

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How fat are you Nikpro!!!!

I am 43 years old 6'5" & weigh 16stone 8 and love every minute of my westfield. My co owner has cancer in the spine, drove to Llandow in his Porsche in agony then had agreat time in the Westy on the track (said it was more comfortable).

No they aren't perfect in fact far from it, and at my height I can neevr decide whether to look over or through the windscreen, but they do (if set up correctly) drive well on a track and teh rear wheel drive light weight combination allows for great fun.

Only 140 miles before filling up, well how far do you want to drive in a specialist sports car in one sitting.

Great benefit of easy to source parts and lots of room to tinker.

If you dont like Westfields why do you stay on  the board room?

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*methinks........... I'll need a really big tube of pringles and a couple of crates for this one*  :D  :D  :devil:  :D
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I do about 6k a year in my westy - ok using the car does not always go to plan when the heavens open and you have to re-arrange things

but nothing I have driven (and I have driven/owned) some fun cars in my time gives you such a buzz

yup they are noisy, uncomfortable, difficult to get in and out of blah blah blah - do they look like they are not any of those things ? no not really, so to state these as points as negatives as to not liking them are not relevant IMO

the smile on yer face and other peoples when you drive past keeps most of us coming back for more - get a good set of bends and watch enthusiastic tin top drivers disapear in your mirrors and the smile gets bigger - out accelerate all hot hatches and many supercars - oh you get my point I am gushing  :laugh:  :blush:

they are not for all though so do your homework and try some cars and maybe even get on a driving experiance day before you buy

most importanlty dont let the negative vibes of a few put you off investigating a Westfield or other 7 style

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*methinks........... I'll need a really big tube of pringles and a couple of crates for this one*  :D  :D  :devil:  :D

Please don't any more yet, I need to go to the shops ... I've run out of beer and munchies :D:D

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Once the novelty wore off I now can't be bothered going for a drive in mine as the fuel tank is small (140 miles) so you need to put fuel in everytime you go out which involves getting in and out of the contraption. Its effin uncomfortable and cramped and the roads are too busy to enjoy it.

You've got to be kidding me?

I weigh 16st, 6ft, have carbon half doors and an aero screen so by your reckoning I'd hardly be driving it?

Why then have I just notched up 15,000 miles in 18 months?  in fact, I think I've been to work more times in my Westy than I have in the tin top.

ride is choppy and uncomfortable.

That's normally "user error" - i.e. setting the dampers too hard.  just because the dampers have 24 clicks doesn't mean you have to use them all!  the first or second click is usually enough.  I find mind very comfortable, good enough to do 200miles in one go (and I don't need to stop to refuel as i have a long range tank :-).

If you pick a windscreen the car tears your nostrills off at anything above 50

Sidescreens.

and if you have an aeroscreen you have to wear a helmet and look like a right plonker on the Queens highway!

You don't HAVE to wear a helmet.  I regulary go out with just a good pair of sunglasses.

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So.............can all the people that are telling me a Westfield is a cracking road car explain why all the main stream motor manufacturers have gone wrong?

Maybe they should follow the Westfield Formula and sell thousands of road cars to the general public that are just like a Westfield!

No, I think if you started thinking with your brians rather than your rose tinted specs you would all have to agree that a Westfield is crap as a road car!

It's about as practical as a motorbike - yes you can go hundreds of miles in one and you can commute daily in one - but would you really choose to do so?

Face facts - we are as Clarkson says beardy wierdo's  :D

I love my Westfield as a hobby not as a car - I hope that makes sense?

I just feel there are better specialist road cars out there that can give the smiles per mile and be more usable - Elise/VX etc.

If you want a hobby that eats money and time then a Westfield is cool, if you want something to drive lots on the public road another option may be better.

As a trackday toy they represent good value for performance - but again there are better options.

(P.S. i do know how dampers and suspension work thanks combatsapph  ;) )

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So what would be a better trackday car than a westie with an XE, or Busa? :oops:
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It's about as practical as a motorbike - yes you can go hundreds of miles in one and you can commute daily in one - but would you really choose to do so?

I commute on a motorbike. If there was no rush hour, I'd commute in the Westfield. It would be far more practical, even without a roof, and the "choppy ride" is easily sorted. You should know that... :p

Comparing a Westfield to a bike for practicality / weather proofing is always a lost cause. The bike loses every time. BUT, to stay dry in an open topped car, you need to dress like a biker ;)

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Scott,

Do you own a Westfield?

Not presently; But I have owned; and driven plenty of miles (roadgoing) in five SE/SEi and SEiWs since 1988.

I appreciate your comments are your own opinions (and valid ones for you).....But to others they make great roadcars.....And I assume you know some people even use them as an only car?!

The Elise/ VX are not without compromise either. Both are tricky to get in/ out of  with hood on (yes the hoods are much  better than W/F factory offerings....but they can still leak), their ride can be spine jarringly hard; and they can both be a challenge in the wet.

All but one of my Westfields have been intended as a toy. I may go back to one sometime.....But for now I have 165 horse, a turbocharger and jet drive to get my adrenaline fix :cool:

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So what would be a better trackday car than a westie with an XE, or Busa? :oops:

..............erm, for a direct comparison.............a Caterham.  :devil:

Cheeper - Sylva Pheonix/Fury etc - better suspension design and are faster.

Really Cheap ........ a Mk1 1600 MX5.........can drive to the trackday with good weather gear, heater that works and is comfortable then lap faster than a similarly powered westfield all on budget tyres  ;)

(Plus, there not as nailey!)

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for a direct comparison.............a Caterham.  :devil:

(Plus, there not as nailey!)

Would that be one of them their Duratec engined Caterham's?   ???

[/innocent]

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