What Westfield

[Tonyash1]

Hi, I am new to westfields and am looking to purchase a full kit for building and fun weekend driving. I was wondering if anyone has advice on what kit to go for (megabusa, ford engines, Honda) etc. I am primarily buying this for the build experience and fun day driving only so any experiences or advice would be welcome. I am unsure if this matters but I have a good mechanical hands on background so am not afraid of any challenges with what goes with building this type of car, I have had both fast bikes and cars but am not sure where to start here from a driving experience point of view ? Any advice would be very welcome, thanks, tony.

[darve]

Don't forget Mazda mx5 sdv. Im sure Mark will be along shortly....

[Welly Jen]

Hello Tony,

Is it possible to get to a club area meet from where you are? Westfields are all very different and seeing a few different cars and chatting to their owners will give you more of an idea of what you might want to build. May even be able to get a few passenger rides. People build and develop their cars in to anything from road cars for cruising and blatting, to fire breathing track and race monsters.

Jen

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Don't forget Mazda mx5 sdv. Im sure Mark will be along shortly....

I'm here i'd just popped out briefly to get some pop corn before i settle down for a BEC/ CEC debate

First off, welcome to the club Tony

Car engines (CEC) and Bike engined cars (BEC) are two very different beasts, so it's difficult to compare the two. General concesus seems to be that if you like track driving then a BEC is better, whist if you drive mainly on roads then go for a CEC. Naturally one of the BEC brigade will be along shortly to say that they drive there car to the shops everyday, and i'm sure a CEC owner will tell you that bike engines are best left in bikes and make you go deaf

My advice would be think about how you plan the use the car, road/ track/ touring/ with partner/ etc and try and experience a passenger ride in a couple. There's a very active Group of westifeld owners in Scotland although at this time of year many of us in the club have taken our cars off the road for upgrades.

Don't forget there is also a very good archive of information accessible by using the search function and there is also a couple of good FAQ's for beginners in the FAQ's section of the forum

Happy to help with any questions

[darve]

I think you've fueled the debated with and error in your CEC v BEC paragraph .......

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

hello there and welcome

if you are near Cambridgeshire we have Julian and Simon from the factory down to our club meet tomorrow

would be worth the trip as there will be a few westies there plus the new factory Honda s2000 powered car

hope to be there in my motor :-)

where abouts are you?

[Mark (smokey mow)]

where abouts are you?

Going by the location in Tony's profile i would say a very long way from Cambridge assuming it is the Newtonhill in aberdeenshire

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I think you've fueled the debated with and error in your CEC v BEC paragraph .......

Oops now fixed ta mate.

We both know that the best engine is a Mazda one

[darve]

We both know that the best engine is a Mazda one

Oh naturally

Of course we all know 1.8 is better ......

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

on the phone app so did not see location ;-)

[Young Pretender]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to the club. Going by your comments I would imagine that you will get enjoyment out of any of the many options available to build but it's good advice to get to a meet to find out which sort of car would suit your style a bit better.

If in any doubt, I'm generally considered very knowledgeable around here. JUst check out all my stupid questions in the newbie section lol

Mark

[D7PNY]

Hi mate, I'm in Rothienorman so you're welcome to have a nosey round mine (redtop powered) although its away to get sorned the end of this month as I have a few jobs to do on it over winter.

As said above, BEC and CEC are very different beasts but both great fun. At the risk getting flamed I would say its more to do with gearboxes than engines that means BEC's tend to be track biased more often than not. Yes, BEC's lack torque but still plenty to pull a westfield along a public road. It's the sequential box that's a pest on the public road.

So in my opinion, the BEC's biggest advantage on track becomes its biggest disadvantage on the road.

Cheers,

Dave

[alex07715]

I came from the same background and if you have had fast bikes and cars my recommendation would be to get a car engined car with at least 200hp as that's enough for the road but still not enough for the track in a Westy which will weigh about 590kgs, Caterhams are a bit lighter at around 520kgs so don't need as much in the engine room.

As for engine, a lightly tuned Duratec is the best, throttle bodies and cams will get 210bhp with standard internals. Far more is possible if you want it and have the cash.

The S2000 engine is an alternative but is a taller heavier engine though it's 240bhp standard. Mega S2000 kits are an option now from Westfield.

Bike engined cars are good for the track but bad for the road, not pleasant to drive and have a habit of blowing themselves to bits in a car as they have oil pick up problems and the gearboxes are lugging around over twice the weight they where designed for.

If you where going bike engined go at least Busa for the torque.

P.S. don't forget top spec brakes, wide track, LSD, and Nitrons..................you won't need any of that if the car will never be on track.

These are only my views.............................what do I know!!!!!

[Terry Everall]

For cheapness and performance you cant beat a blade engined car IMHO

The sequential box is fine on both track and road and the engine noise is addictive specially at 13000rpm

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

If you want a complete kit, it may be worth talking to Simon at Westfield to find out what is available and the sort of costs you are looking at. I purchased the Special Edition kit (zetec based) and have been very happy with it. With retrospect I may have had throttle bodies from the beginning but that's about it.

I did enjoy the whole build process even though it was very frustrating at times.