The Great Fandango Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Hello there and a very warm welcome!!! So we have "anuva suffern geeza" onboard do we? I'm kinda the opposite of you... Moved to and now live in Leeds but originate from Yalding of all places. Maidstone shopping was always pretty good (that's the ONLY thing I miss about Kent!) Well, you're welcome to stop in for a cup of tea and some idle chat about Westfields as I'm no more than 5 mins from the M1, A1, and Leeds train station. I think we're all quite eager to see some piccies of the car you're picking up! (we crave photos on this message board). Points to note (personal opinion only of course and I'm sure someone will slate me for at least one of the following): 1. Would ideally check lights, indicators, tyre pressures, coolant and oil levels before driving off (ie. remember you've bought a working car) 2. Keep an eye on the oil pressure, last thing you wanna do is totally ruin your engine if the unfortunate happens. 3. Don't drive it hard, take it easy 4. If you are going to drive it hard, let it warm up first 5. Wouldn't drive with the wet gear on first. It's a stange feeling, an EXTREMELY restrictive field of view, not as exciting, and your ears will ring after the 4 hours of 96db. 5. Yes, helmet / goggles / ski mask etc good idea if it rains! Anything above 40mph hurts! 6. Check the bonnet is locked / clipped down securely! Flying bonnets are both expensive, embarrasing, and potentially a nasty accident. 7. Anything other than perfect visibility, I would personally think about keeping your lights on even during the day. You tend to find bigger cars never see you (saying that it was a Lotus Elise that nearly killed me once on the motorway - see previous point of "restricted field of view") 8. Take a small jack, wrench for removing wheel nuts,and any other tools you see fit. 9. Anything lightweight such as clothes, gloves, documents, (and in my case wallet) can fly out the top when travelling at over 60mph... Take a ruck sack - then you can shove this in the passenger foot well, or clip it into the seat belt / harness Finally 10. Plan at least a couple of stops en route - 250 miles clinging to the steering wheel makes your hands/wrists ache like hell!!! Best wishes with the new car!!! Quote
Mitchamidilly Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Enjoy the drive, go steady, and some form of ear protection is a must in my opinion. Tyre pressure should be around 20psi which is a lot lower than you might expect but the car is very light and when changing down/braking try and do this in a straight line. Have fun, Quote
hixxj Posted October 13, 2006 Author Posted October 13, 2006 Thanks Fandango, Will definately have the lights on - although it is proper yellow, in fact it might get nicknamed the low flying banana, couple of "gofaster" black stripes down the side should finish off the effect quite nicely... Will have my racing boots and gloves on, os that should help a little with personal comfort, and have already packed the beanie and rain coat. Incidentally, something else I should probably have checked, assuming a decent cruise mpg of 25, how big is the petrol tank? How many stops will the fuel tank force me to make? Quote
peterg Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Petrol tank is only 20 litres (just over 4 gallons) so figure on stopping every 80-90 miles to give you a margin as the gauges are notoriously vague Oh, and don't be surprised if it takes 8-10 minutes to fill it as it'll keep stopping and/or flooding out the filler due to the tight angles in the pipe Quote
studbuckle Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 I'd plan to fill up every 100 miles as a rule of thumb. It'll do more but you dont need to be worrying about that on your first drive Quote
Eastern_Westie Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Make sure you know how to put up the hood.... I learnt this one from bitter experience, when I picked my Westie up and faced a 250 miles drive back home. Within 10 miles of picking up the car, a massive thunderstorm struck, and I got absolutely soaked in seconds. I then had to try to figure out how the hood mechanism worked - they're not the easiest things to put up on the first attempt (or even the 10th attempt, for that matter). I drove most of the way back with the mechanism only half holding the hood off my head, so anything under 55mph had the hood dropping onto my head..... And, don't expect to stay dry even with the hood up - water comes in around the screen, up from the rear arches into the seat - everywhere. You'll be soaked in no time. Apart from that, advice is as above - take it easy, fill up every 100 miles or so and enjoy your motor Quote
The Great Fandango Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 I should stress yet again the importance of being careful with the hood on... IF you have harnesses, you will have ZERO blind spot visibility AND be unable to see 90 degrees right due to the harness pulling you back into the seat. Best driven hood off for the first time. Take care Quote
minisweeper Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 haha. On the 'petrol guage is notoriously vague front' it's probably worth pointing out that it's vaguer than you might expect. I've never seen mine drop below 1/4 full but I'm pretty sure it's been almost empty sometimes. 100 miles is a good aim. I think i got 120 or so on the first drive because i was being very gentle and obviously running for longer periods of time. I have no idea how close to empty it was though and i didnt have a billy can with me (which i now always carry - might be an idea) Come to think of it, I probably should have started a thread like this for my first drive. There's some pretty sound advice in here...stops the learning curve being quite so steep i imagine! (might be worth renaming the thread to something more search friendly (First drive advice) or something incase someone else wants similar information - just a thought) Quote
Asterix Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 what's a petrol gauge? oh, and don't bend the car and don't bend yourself...have fun Quote
adhawkins Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 haha. On the 'petrol guage is notoriously vague front' it's probably worth pointing out that it's vaguer than you might expect. I've never seen mine drop below 1/4 full but I'm pretty sure it's been almost empty sometimes. Yep, we found out that the gauge on my first Westfield didn't go below 1/4 full the first time my wife drove it and it died (due to fuel starvation) on a roundabout After that I used to fill up based on the trip distance. Andy Quote
markcoopers Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 I've never done anything silly in a westfield, no idea where these ideas come from. Quote
hixxj Posted October 13, 2006 Author Posted October 13, 2006 Good idea Minisweeper - how do i do dat den? Gonna take my helmet and a bottle of rain-x to avoid the wet weather shenanigans, and get off the road and have a cuppa if it gets too bad. No point hurrying it anyway - plenty of time... Quote
minisweeper Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 good question - i'm not actually sure with this forum software. It might not be possible. Sorry Quote
peterg Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 I think you might need a bit of help to get it moved to the FAQ forum so ask messers Webmaster or Adhawkins Quote
scruffythefirst Posted October 13, 2006 Posted October 13, 2006 Take a jerry can of petrol with you just in case, at least then you'll know what 5 litres reads on the guage if the worst happens 7's are quite easy to drive, so don't let all the scare mongering put you off, just be aware that it could bite you if you get carried away, then enjoy the drive - its the reason you bought it after all Quote
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