My Westfield Duratec 230

[Nikos_bugs]

Hi there!

My name is Nick. I'm a track enthousiast and trackday organizer from Athens-Greece.

Here is the story of my Westfield. I hope you find it interesting.

Back in 2007 I bought my Westfield from UK.

It was a Megabird, with oversized pistons and increased capacity, and some engine/gearbox modifications.

I drove the car with my girlfriend all the way back to Greece, without any weather gear (the car that I would buy should had a full roll cage, so no hood/doors), just wearing our helmets and some custom hand made weather-proof clothes. We definitely wanted to have an experience of such a road-trip.

It was the end of October of 2007, and during our road-trip returning to Greece we faced some very bad weather conditions. We drove across UK, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Italy.. the weather was terrible, so it was a very long journey.

Unfortunately it seems that the previous owner of my Westfield "forgot" to tell me that the engine had some oil consumption, so as soon as we arrive to Italy we found out that the engine had run out of oil. We also face some other transmission problems during our trip, but we finally get back to Greece.

I had then made a video of that trip, describing some of our most unforgettable moments with our new Westfield. You can watch that video via the following link:

http://vimeo.com/2625276

The car was fantastic in the track, but less enjoyable (actually a pain in the ***) for road driving.

A few years later, on 2010-2011, I decided to convert my BEC Megabird to a Duratec powered one.

You can find in the link below some specs and a short build diary of the rebuilt. I'm sorry but the texts are all in Greek, but you may find some short descriptions on the title of each post, and of course you can see some photos.

See my blog here: bugs.trackday-special.gr

You can also watch a video of my second run with that layout (Duratec + H pattern gearbox (on my left-hand which is not so convenient for us here in Greece)). It was the beginning of our effort to set-up the car from the beginning, since there was a big change in weight distribution (and a total weight difference of +50kg) and a huge impact on car's behavior and balance.

Nevertheless, we succeed the best lap time of the day on all categories (we run at an amateur category, since Westfield and Seven-type cars do not have homologation for professional racing in Greece, but our lap times was also better than the "pro" racing cars lap times) with a difficult to drive set-up.

Here are some of my Duratec Westfield specs:

Engine: Ford Duratec 2.0 - 198 hp @ the wheels

Gearbox: 6 speed Caterham C400 - H pattern + 3.6 final drive ratio

Diff: LSD 7" tran-x

Brakes: Alcon 4pot 247x20mm + balance bar / Golf rear calipers

Suspension: Westfield widetrack oval A-arms + Protech shocks

Chassis: Westfield BEC, customized with extra rigidity braces

ROLL CAGE: full roll cage by “Custom Cages”

Exhaust Raceline 4-1 header + Simpson Race silencer

Wheels: Compomotive CXR 7x13 (front) | Compomotive CXR 8x13 (back)

Tyres: Michelin 200/54/13 or Kumho V70A (front) | Michelin 22/54/13 or Kumho V70A 235/45/13 (back)

Weight: ～565-570kg

ps. I apologize if I've put this thread on the wrong board.

Sorry for the long post!

Edited April 6, 2012 by Nikos_bugs

[Mark (smokey mow)]

That's a great story, and I enjoyed the first video

You have my total respect for driving the car all the way home to Greece

[Doug Dastardly]

That's a great way to introduce yourself

Car sounds great

Edited to say.......car sounds great in the video

[carbon-nv]

The in-car track footage was excellent too, fast and on the limit!

[Kevin Jones]

Great videos, thanks for posting. Looks like the duratec needs some taming at the rear

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

hello Nick - thanks for posting your story and videos - enjoyed

car looks terrific fun at the limit and very chuckable

[JeffC]

cracking introduction. :t-up:

and respect due for the video, the car seems to be very well balanced on the airfield video :yes:

[pete g]

very nice indeed

[Matt F]

I wish I could drive like that, I'm just not brave enough. How do you find the Caterham gearbox? I quite fancy one as an alternative to a sequential box (cheaper) as the ratios are probably better than my Mitchell Cotts 5 speeder

[Captain Colonial]

Echo all the above and thank you for sharing! Hope you keep coming back and sharing your adventures with us.

[Nikos_bugs]

thank you guys for the comments!

The car is under some suspension tuning right now. Unfortunately there is no budget for some Nitrons, so we're trying to revalve the protech and testing some different spring rates. It's a little bit difficult since the way that the Protech are constructed cannot easily give some good settings for bump and rebound at the same time.

The car is not as balanced as it should be, in order to be efficient in terms of lap timing but it is for sure fun to drive!

I'm also testing some used 23/57/13 Michelins (instead of 22/54/13) and shortly some 24/57/13 (due to lack of 23/57) but I need to buy a set of 9,5" or 10" CXRs for the rear. (more money, and as you may know, our economics here in Greece are not so healthy ).

Caterham gearbox is terrific in terms of ratios and feel. (The 6th gear ratio is 1:1) but it seems that I can't get used so easy on fast/track driving due to having in in my left hand (here in Greece we have left hand drives cars).

If money is the problem, then a 6-speed Caterham gearbox is a way cheaper solution from a sequential one (I would love a sequential... but who doesn't?). Of course the Caterham gearbox it's more expensive than a 5-speed type-9 case with some altered gear ratios (i.e. tran-x, BGH etc) but I thing that it worths the extra cost, especially for races who do hill climbs)

I'm also going to rise the rev limit of the engine for about 400-500rpm (now it's limited to 7.800rpm, producing 198 wheel horse power) since the power curve is still coming up while the limiter hits. (we had set the limiter to 7.800 due to my fear for the crankshaft, but as I read in several sources, the crank is capable of 8.500 and even 9.000rpm (?))

I'll post some in car footage from Athens circuit, chasing a Radical SR3 SS (actually trying..)

[JeffC]

I'm also testing some used 23/57/13 Michelins (instead of 22/54/13) and shortly some 24/57/13 (due to lack of 23/57) but I need to buy a set of 9,5" or 10" CXRs for the rear. (more money, and as you may know, our economics here in Greece are not so healthy ).

I can prob save you some time there, Ive tested the 23/57/13s on a duratec on a 9" rim and they cause the car to understeer due to the grippy nature of the rear tyre,at the time I had 20/54s on the front, I did wonder how a 22/54 on the front would have managed as they are a stickier compound.

I couldnt get any 22/54 s over here so on my current car at the mo im running 20/54 rears on 8" rim and 16 53 on a 6.5" rim and that works really well

I also rate the Caterham 6 speed box in my car, Im running a 3.9 diff and am considering a switch to 3.6 for better road use. your car in the vid still seems to go through the gears quick with the lower diff Ive had the same box on a 3.3 diff with a 2.3 duratec and that was great but fair bit longer in the gears :t-up:

[Nikos_bugs]

Thank you Jeff for your advice.

Regarding the gearbox, in the video the car runs in 3.3 diff (with 235/45/13 Kumho which have a diameter of about 540mm)

I have now replaced it with a 3.6 which isn't better under all circumstances. In Serres circuit (a 3.2 km track with fast corners) I had to upshift before I totally exit the corner. In Athens circuit (tight turns) the car is considerable better. But I have know switched on 23/570 rear tires (instead of 22/54) and in some turns the diff seems long. It's all about the nature of the circuit as you know.

The problem that I have with the car is that the Duratec torque made the rear more "happy" so when it's time to accelerate in the exit of the corner I have to wait more (to have less steering input) until I push hard the throttle pedal. Switching to 23/57/13 Michelins the rear end became more grippy (but still needs very smooth movements if it is time to accelerate). I suppose that helped not only the increased tread width but also the higher profile of the tyre (570).

We are still setting the car with shocks and spring rates so we will try to make the front better at the tight turns.

You have a good point the for grippy rear tires though, in comparison with the front, when on tight turns.

I'm afraid that the 20/54/13 at the rear will not produce enough traction at the rear axle, while exiting the corner.

How do you find the car with the 20/54s and 16/53s front, in terms of absolute amount of traction (and not only as balance/behavior) ?

Thank for the advices. I appreciate all the suggestions.

ps. Sorry for my English, if they are not so well.

Edited April 7, 2012 by Nikos_bugs

[Terry Everall]

What spring rates are you using?

Presumably you have front and rear ARBs fitted.

The adjustment of the ARBs could well help the handling. In your case softening the back bar might help as long as it doesnt generate additional understeer

Another tip is to keep an eye out for cracks developing around the rear diff mounts now that you have a very torquey Duratec fitted rather than the bike engine

[Young Pretender]

Fantastic story Nikos, really enjoyed both videos

I hope the difficult times over in Athens aren't threatening your enjoyment too much! Are there many Westy's (or seven replicas) in Athens by the way?