Differences between Caterham and Westfield?

[Yoda]

bertie said:

Hang on, then why do you own a Caterham acording to your profile Yoda?

'Cos it's a top car. My point was that the heritage of it means very little to me. I've had it 5 years and wouldn't consider selling it. If I had to, then at the present moment the first direction I'd look when buying another would be Birkin. Doesn't necessarily mean I wouldn't buy another Caterham (or something else), though.

Don't think Birkin were around (in this country)in '98 - not that I was aware of anyway! Westfields have never sat quite right with me. I'm also too much of a mechanical numpty to build my own...

With these sorts of cars the differences can be (relatively) very minor when it comes to the looks/dynamics/etc when compared to other kinds of car. When I bought it it was the one I liked the best of those I was aware of. Doesn't mean I'm blind to lusting after other bits of oily metal...

[Paul V]

ehasler said:

Hi Paul, I've owned several Westfields over the last 10 years, and currently race one, however have only limited experience of driving a Caterham, so can't really comment how they compare when pressing on. I can say however that I don't feel like the Westfield wants to bite back at every opportunity, and that's even when driving it at 10/10's in a race. They are very adjustable, so you can easily tweak the car (both Westfield and Caterham) to suit your own driving preferences, so you can change it from a twitchy car prone to oversteer to a more stable car which understeers in just a few minutes. The quality of the Westfield is very good, although a lot comes down to who actually built the car. A well built Westfield will be better than a poorly built Caterham, and vice-versa, so best to judge each car you look at on it's own merits. The other main difference between the two makes is that Westfield have their own independent rear suspension, which is generally thought to be better than Caterham's De-Dion system. I've not compared them though, so can't say which I prefer. If you're still interested in looking at Westfields, I'd recommend Terry Nightingale in Newmarket, who specialises in them. Hope this helps!

Thanks that does help, I spoke to Westfield last week and will arrange go to the factory after Christmas.

[shoestring7]

I've built a couple of Caterhams, and have just built a Westfield. I haven't got any particular axe to grind but generally I feel you get what you pay for. There are a couple of aspects of the Westfield's design I'm not comfortable with - if you can stretch to the considerable extra a Caterham costs I'd do so.

[bertie]

Wirefree said:

Ruby, I have a Caterham 7. It shares no part with a Lotus 7. I wouldn't want a Lotus 7 because they are too slow and don't hold the road like my Caterham does. What does heritage mean to me? Slow..!!

Fine, but have you ever built or owned a Westfield?

If so, speak with authority and give some detailed feedback to the question originaly asked.

If not,then how can you comment?

What you're telling us is your view on a question which wasn't asked. The only person making it like Blatchat here is you.

PS, personaly I find Blatchat fine and very usefull