Fat Tony Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Hello all, am I too tall to drive a Westfield comfortably? I'm 6' 2", not exactly slim (think boiled egg on stilts) and my budget precludes me from buying anything but an early X-flow car. Will I fit one of these? I don't know anybody who owns one so I cannot try one for size. Over to you....... Thanks in anticipation, Fat Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE O Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 6'04" and ahem... 16 stone - no problems at all. Get a widebodied car, floor mounted pedals, race covered seat- mounted direct to the floor and a removeable steering you will have no probs. Dave o. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Hi Fat Tony, where do you live? All, how do you tell if it is a wide body or not? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonR Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 AFAIK If it has detachable rear arches it is definitely a wide body. With fixed arches if the body moudling has an indent by the drivers upper right arm it is a wide body, on a narrow body this part of the moulding is straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Mines a wide then thanks, god, how narrow are the narrows?!! Did they make any SEiGHT's in narrow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 The narrow body is (I think) about 4 inches or so narrower and shorter. Makes quite a big difference. I'm also about 6'2" and could just about drive Studbuckle's SE, but my SEiW is pretty comfortable. Could do with another inch or two from the seat, an upgrade to race seats could solve that (but I'm tight ) If you let us know where you are in the country, I'm sure someone would be able to help you out with a try in a car for size. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Navin Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 I to am around 6'2" and slightly rotund ( LEAVE IT BARNEY !!! ) I fit, it has to be said quite snugly into my narrow bodied x-flow car. I belive the secret is getting the seat position just right and having a play around with the pedals. I moved from top hung pedals which were crap to nice floor mounted ones and I can now drive the thing without having to dislocate my hip. Having driven a couple of wide cars they are more comfy but take all the seats out of a narrow car and sit on the ally and its fine for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the bear Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 I am also told the wide body rear lights cut into the moulding where the spare wheel would sit. I am not tall but not exacly a racing snake, my SEIW is plenty wide enough, I did try a narrow and bits poked over the sides. I'm sure one of us can let you have a sit in, where do you live? As far as a crossflow is concerned 1700 with 40 webers gets you 110 - 150 bhp depending on tuning, thats plenty quick enough, mine still scares me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stew72 Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Floor mounted pedals, does this mean changing to a hydraulic clutch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE O Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 No cable clutch still works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 I am also told the wide body rear lights cut into the moulding where the spare wheel would sit. Spot on...... That is by far the easiest way to tell a fixed arch wide body from a fixed arch narrow body. Did they make any SEiGHT's in narrow? Not as far as I'm aware. There *may* have been one or two conversions by intrepid owners, but I believe all "proper" (ie factory produced) Seights are wide bodied...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felters Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 A shade under 6'4" and err... big boned. Oooeeerrr... The red jobbie in my Avatar is a 1988 narrow body with IRS, and one of the trick's is to use bench seats/cushions. Although I an also looking at some of the "shell" racing seats. Jason/Blatman are on the money in terms of spotting the differences and the cockpit width (with carpets in my car) is 15" between the gearbox tunnel and the side of the car. I'm just about to fit a removable steering wheel as well - it makes a HUGE difference to getting in and out and at about the same price as an immobiliser is a very effective security device The carpets have just been binned... one way of making a low powered car faster (mine is only about 130bhp) is to reduce the weight. Throwing things out doesn't cost as much as getting more power either. They all corner at pretty much the same terrifying rate whatever the power. I took my brother out in mine a while ago - he said it was the worst 15 minutes of his life. Try and get to an area meeting. You don't need a funny handshake to get in and you'll learn more about Westfields in an hour or so than is healthy. Then go and get one of those x-flows... Cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Tony Posted October 26, 2003 Author Share Posted October 26, 2003 Wow! thanks to all for the replies, you time and trouble is really appreciated. I live in Matlock, and if anyone could let me have a sit in, that would be fantastic. So it looks to me like aim for a widebody. I'm not too concerned about the b.h.p. (I'm old and slow) so I guess a X-flow would be fine, or would a CVH be better? Whilst I'm here, do Westies have any 'known' faults, like the infamous L*t*s chassis rot, or is it what you see is what you get? Does insurance differ greatly? I had what I thought to be a reasonable quote from Adrian Flux - should I try anywhere else? One more question to Mike - did you really post at 10 past 5 Sunday morning? Again, thanks to all. Fat Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu999 Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 Tony, try a board search on 'insurance', and maybe Adrian Flux too. Will be quite informative..... Westys *can* suffer from chassis rot, especially earlier cars, but in general, it is as you say-what you see is what you get. Look at the build quality around the car. If it looks right, then it probably is. Remember, every car has it's own personality (the builders influence), so specs will alter dramatically. Will you want a car for dashing dirty weekend blats with the missus-or do the idea of trackdays light your fire? If it is the first choice, no boot space, aeroscreens and seriously sticky rubber will be low on the list, whereas second choice means that you probably aint gonna need heaters, weather gear etc. Ohhh, decisions decisions.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 do Westies have any 'known' faults, like the infamous L*t*s chassis rot, or is it what you see is what you get? No "common" faults spring to mind, although far more Westfields are built buy owners, asopposed to caterhams, which arrive all done, except for connecting the battery.......Westfield powdercoating appears to be *far* superior to what Caterham offer, so corrosion between what ally there is, and the chassis, is relatively rare, IME. Does insurance differ greatly? I had what I thought to be a reasonable quote from Adrian Flux - should I try anywhere else? I wouldn't touch Flux with a bargepole. Others will disagree. However, with something as fundamental as insurance, it's worth paying a little more for good quality service. Do a search of this bulletin board for MSM and Hill House Hammond. Both will be competitive, with Dave Spragg at MSM being particularly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.