First drive in a Westfield

[adhawkins]

If the original poster has no objections, I'll move this to the FAQ section and rename it something like 'any tips for picking up my first Westfield?'.

That Ok?

Andy

[peterg]

you may have to wait a while, he's probably en route to Leeds at the moment  

[adhawkins]

And after that he'll be grinning too much to type

Andy

[peterg]

 bet he'll be a bit cold too so maybe not able to type as his fingers are frozen    

[Rory's Dad]

It's a great thread though ...    

Rory's Dad

[Martin Keene]

I've never done anything silly in a westfield, no idea where these ideas come from.

Nobody said you did... It's what you get up to outside the car that scares us!

[Martin Keene]

It's a great thread though ...    

Rory's Dad

It is. A lot of usful information and tips for anyone collecting their first Westfield, regardless of distance.

[hixxj]

I dunno, I disappear for a few hours to pick up the banana...

The miles just whizzed by, and the noise!!!  Those two mini tunnels round the top of the M25      

No rain, and with the doors on, I was toastie, although they do try and crush you at speed don't they.

PLease feel free to stick it in the FAQ section - nice to know my first post will do some good  

I have a couple of qns. alread, so I may be posting those soon (don't worry, I will do some searches first)

Thanks guys - and ...

I'm hooked!!

[skids]

so we will see you at Lydden next year????

[WebAdmin]

Moved to FAQ section and renamed.

[samcooke]

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

Oh, the irony.  

[Crazy Eddie]

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

Oh, the irony.  

Harsh!!  

[Blatman]

Just goes to show though that even those of us who have experience can get caught out. A Se7en needs to be paid the respect it's due.

[Bryan C]

Something not mentioned...

You are a lot lower and faster than most people expect you to be so use your headlights intelligently, watch how you come out of dips in the road and watch lorry blind spots. They just don't see you down there.

Thats experience talking from 1997 when I collected my new Westie from the factory and had a lorry pull out across me as he overtook a parked bus leading upto 5 ways in Brum !

You have to think fast where the controls are in a new car having set off only 10 - 15 miles under the belt !

Good luck and enjoy.

BryanC

[Jace]

I picked up my Westie in April of this year and managed to pick the best day of the summer to do it on!    (I kid you not).

My advice, for what it's worth:

- Avoid the motorway, when I drove mine back I followed A roads and back roads, added another 30ish miles to the journey but it was worth it to drive the car across Salisbury Plain.  

- Know where the petrol stations are on your route and check how much petrol you have before you set off! I only had a half tank in mine when I picked it up and only just made it to a station on fumes!

- Take some extra layers of clothes, it may be a sunny day but you soon notice how cold it gets.

- Strap everything in! If you don't have a support team (i.e. somebody who took you in their car to pick up the Westie) make sure all the stuff you collect with the car is shoved in the passenger footwell good and proper or strapped to something. I'm forever losing packets of cigarettes that I've left on the seat.  

- Remember how low down you are, already been said I know but this is probably a good thing for all Westie drivers to remember. You'd be surpised at the number of times cars/lorries/buses/deer just pull out in front of you.