Prospective purchaser - Differences

[Roger200]

Morning all.

As title suggests I'm looking to buy a 7esque car for track use along with the odd sunday morning enjoyment.

I've searched for the info im after but only seem to find 'debates' on which marque is best.

My question is this: What is/Is there fundamental differences between a Caterham and Westfield (I know there are other marques). Is this an impossible question as each one is different and are only as good as the sum of the components? Therfore i just need to look at the spec. Or is there an underlinig reason why a Caterham would be considered superior (i.e chassis)? Thought i'd post in this section rather than the caterham section

FYI budget is approx 12k so from the research so far i seem to get a lot more performace for my money with a Westfield compared to a Caterham.

Thanks for reading - and look forward to factual informative replies

[FlossyThePig]

Avoiding the "what's the difference" question, but how good is your driving? Your ability could have more of an affect on track driving than a particular make of car.

To sum up:

• Caterham is many years of refinement of a car designed in the 1950s
• Westfield is many years of refinement of a copy of a car designed in the 1950s

[rdodger]

In your position I would find a little bit more money (upto 15K) and get a Caterham safe in the knowledge I would get my money back in years to come.

They are easier to compare in terms of spec and price as many are factory built or very close.

Even a low powered car will be very quick due to the low weight.

An ex academy car may well be your best bet if it's mainly track use you want it for.

[Furyblade_Lee]

What Roger says is good advice, even at 12k you are in decent Caterham territory ( as long as you buy private ) and that buget would buy you pretty much any other used 7'esque on the road today.

You need to be honest with what your main purpose of the car is for, and also consider if you want to seriously get into trackdays or take the car sprinting / hillclimbing. Those factors will help decide engine choice and cc, and do you want full weather gear?

If you want a great road car, occasional track use and weather gear you cannot go far wrong with a tidy Caterham and you should get 99% of your money back if you decide to sell.

But if you want to go REALLY fast £12k buys you a lot of kit car from someone else, you could get a nice Westfield Megabusa for that and have change.

[Furyblade_Lee]

Just re-read you post ( slow dodgy iPhone) and if you are definitely track biased with road blats then you really need to have a look at bike engined cars. Get yourself a passenger ride in one ( you are not too far from me in Oxted, I'd give you a ride in my R1 to see if you are hard enough!! :-) ) and see if you get on with them. They are like Marmite on here, but if you are the type who would ride a motorbike daily I rekon you'd love one. For a rough comparison a R1 level bike engined car will have the acceleration of a R300/400 Caterham and Hayabusa and similar like an R500. If you want to really fast on track they are very cost effective to own and run. Get a ride in a few, and try to vist the imminent Donnington Park show for some inspiration. Whatever you decide, you have a good budget and should get a nice car.

Edited by Furyblade_Lee on Friday 3rd August 15:09

[Roger200]

Thanks for the informative replies guys, really helpful!

Having looked at various cars online and doing bit of extra research I think an ex-acedemy car would fit my needs best. As im only 23 (going from a clio 200) im sure 125hp would be plenty and if after a couple of years i feel i want a bit of extra oomf i can purcahse a different engine (i.e 2ltr zetec/duratec). This would be a brilliant car on track but also able to enjoy on the road....maybe even an odd trip to wales or scotland

[Fury1630]

Roger200 said:

As im only 23 (going from a clio 200) im sure 125hp would be plenty

Very wise words, I've just put a 2.0 Zetec in my Fury, before that it had 104Bhp of crossflow & was a VERY nice drive. Same power / weight as a Boxter S, but with 1/3 the weight.