RE: Driven: Westfield Sport Turbo

[Oddball RS]

Well i for one think it seems like a good compromise between an Elise and a Caterham, and as for performance versus the lighter caterham, i think you would be hard pushed to notice on the road, plus i am sure the silencer can be doctored if so desired.


Reminds me of the 111R vs VXR turbo debate - broadly the same, one was the looker but it was very easy to make the other quicker.

[DPX]

the dash is just plain ugggh / reminds me of a caterham 21 dash that was ugly also

[.Adam.]

The exhaust is the size it is because it contains all the cats and gubbins from the Corsa exhaust.

[Herman Toothrot]

bales said:

300bhp/ton said:

Marf said:

hbwold said:

That exhaust silencer looks hideous. I'm not sure about this car, too heavy and I'm not sure a turbocharged Westfield/Caterham is a good idea with the turbo lag, think it would be a bit unpredictable on/off the boost being such a relatively small light car, just a thought really as I've never driven a turbocharged one.

Look at the specs, full torque at 1950rpm, anything above that RPM and the boost provided by the turbo will be nothing more than a function of the throttle pedal, hardly laggy or on/off.

That's boost threshold. Lag can happen at any rpm when you induce a turbo stall period. Most often by lifting off the throttle and then back on it again, there's a lag before the exhaust gas flow is sufficient to spin the blower to make boost and a lag while the turbo re-pressurises the intake system. This could happen at any rpm 5000rpm, 6000rpm.

The 1950rpm is just the point when then engine produces enough exhaust gas flow to power the turbo, below this point the turbo doesn't make boost and can't suffer lag, but this area of rpms aren't lag.

Hope this helps

Semantics? I'm am pretty sure Marf knows what he is talking about.

If your going to be really pedantic what he said is correct as 'lag' purely means a time delay before an expected response occurs, therefore if you put your foot down at 1500rpm there will be a delay between pressing the pedal and getting any meaningful acceleration....i.e lag....

Hope this helps

Edited by bales on Thursday 22 October 14:49

I think it looks a fun car. Talking about lag is silly, petrol turbos these days are very responsive, you get more lag from fly by wire throttles than turbos slowing down these days.

[Pat H]

Sam_68 said:

It's got to be said... Westfield seems to be losing its way badly since Chris Smith sold up.

The 'FW' bodywork is a bad, bloated pastiche of the original FW and 650 kilos is just not trying...

I really don't want to agree with you. But you may be right.

The MX5 based Westfield was an inspired bit of design.

A well engineered, cheap, honest sportscar that was a wonderfully logical way of redeveloping the old Westfield chassis.

And I will always love the Westfield Eleven for being a superb facimile of the original Lotus.

But this latest offering doesn't set my pants on fire.

The reintroduction of the Eleven proved to be something of a success. Maybe Westfield ought not to lose sight of their roots.

Making a really basic, simple, well engineered, affordable interpretation of the Seven was the making of the company and they should not forget it.

[XTR2Turbo]

Pat H said:

Sam_68 said:

It's got to be said... Westfield seems to be losing its way badly since Chris Smith sold up.

The 'FW' bodywork is a bad, bloated pastiche of the original FW and 650 kilos is just not trying...

I really don't want to agree with you. But you may be right.

The MX5 based Westfield was an inspired bit of design.

A well engineered, cheap, honest sportscar that was a wonderfully logical way of redeveloping the old Westfield chassis.

And I will always love the Westfield Eleven for being a superb facimile of the original Lotus.

But this latest offering doesn't set my pants on fire.

The reintroduction of the Eleven proved to be something of a success. Maybe Westfield ought not to lose sight of their roots.

Making a really basic, simple, well engineered, affordable interpretation of the Seven was the making of the company and they should not forget it.

I think times are now very different to when Chris ran the company. IVA is now £500, the UK in recession, the pound weak. Aall 'kit car' companies need to target the European customer to maintain sales.

[grahamw48]

Well, let's hope the European customers are blind.

That particular blend of colours (as illustrated) is IMO quite revolting, and totally destroys the original lines of the seven. IE...a big shapeless blob of colour at the front, and a big shapeless blob of colour at the back.

The bonnet cut outs are ugly too, and the poor car is now given a silly face.

Back to the drawing board boys.

Whatever its good points may be, the car now looks horrible, and I wouldn't be seen dead in one even if it was free.

[.Adam.]

I like the FW bodywork, but I think it's got to be in the right colour, and the one reviewed isn't in my opinion. My mate has a blue one which I think really suits it:

[custardtart]

grahamw48 said:

Well, let's hope the European customers are blind.

That particular blend of colours (as illustrated) is IMO quite revolting, and totally destroys the original lines of the seven. IE...a big shapeless blob of colour at the front, and a big shapeless blob of colour at the back.

The bonnet cut outs are ugly too, and the poor car is now given a silly face.

Back to the drawing board boys.

Whatever its good points may be, the car now looks horrible, and I wouldn't be seen dead in one even if it was free.

Funny how people see things differently, personally I don't like the original style seven and think the Westfield is by far the best looking, much more modern lines. However, I freely admit this is a totally subjective thing but I'm always surprised how others think their opinion is the one everyone else should have.

Also, isn't it a slightly sad reflection on you that you wouldn't want to be seen by other people in any type of car wether you liked it or not?

[ZesPak]

DP 1 said:

Super Slo Mo said:

Steamer said:

.Adam. said:

juansolo said:

Nickellarse said:

Off subject, I know it's the old "what would you rather have" question, but for £17K plus at least a grand a year for insurance, what would you rather have? Older scoobie, older Mitsu, older 911 - you could get a 996 for £17K... Or a tuned Corsa. I'm not being a snob or anti youth, but...

They're a very different driving experience to all the other cars you're suggesting. Also they're incredibly cheap to insure. No idea where you get the £1k+ figure from.

Should be a whole lot cheaper to run the Westie as well.

Another factor in Cater/Field ownership.. out of all the cars I've owned over the years mine only lost £1000 in value over the 10 years I owned it + was one of the fastest, cheapest to run and certainly the cheapest to insure. Although I'm sure brand new factory built cars probably depreciate a little more in the few years.

Was Nickellarse not talking about the tuned Corsa for £17K in the previous link though, not the Westie?

Wen I posted the tuned corsa link was really just talking bout potential of the engine- they don't come much more vulgar than a corsa vxr- the styling's almost laughable- its taken parts from all the competition and stuck them on one car- looks overdone in the same way an old evo does but not in a good way!

Plus at 17K who would chose a chavy tuned up vxr or a nearly new edition 30? HMM lol

We know this is all true, but can we stop comparing NEW cars to USED ones? This has been done a million times before, these arguments work for every new car.

[eliot]

I think its a good effort. Getting euro approval is the right approach. You can always remap and sort the exhaust out afterwards - it wouldn't go through compliance otherwise. Should of used a 2L lump though.

pitty about the blurred camera phone pics though..

Edited by eliot on Friday 23 October 09:03

[bencollins]

Oddball RS said:

Well i for one think it seems like a good compromise between an Elise and a Caterham, and as for performance versus the lighter caterham, i think you would be hard pushed to notice on the road, plus i am sure the silencer can be doctored if so desired.

+1
Looks like a practical ownership proposition, very fast, serviceable, low emissions and reliable package. Europeans will love this.

Edited by bencollins on Friday 23 October 09:33

[Rickrjt]

What a tacky little kit car. It looks dodgy and the interior is horrible. I’d imagine that with turbo power like this version, it’s going to wheel spin like a mother, too. It’s not exactly a cheap and cheerful price tag either.

[Scottie - NW]

darth_pies said:

article said:

Out on the road the Sport Turbo is perhaps not as pant-wettingly rapid as a near-200bhp turbocharged lump ought to be in a Lotus Seven-style car, but then it does weigh a comparatively portly 650kg.

Caterham R300 = 515kg = 339bhp/tonne

Westfield 1600 Turbo = 650kg = 295bhp/tonne

Good job its such a good looking car. Oh wait...

Will people stop being stupid enough to quote power to weight figures without factoring in the weight of an average driver.

Does the R300 have 339bhp/tonne, does it fk because it needs a driver in the car to move :-)

[custardtart]

Rickrjt said:

What a tacky little kit car. It looks dodgy and the interior is horrible. I’d imagine that with turbo power like this version, it’s going to wheel spin like a mother, too. It’s not exactly a cheap and cheerful price tag either.

Thanks for your well thought out and carefully considered opinion - jeez!

OK so you don't like the way it looks, fair enough although I've no idea how any car manages to look "dodgy".

If you bothered to read any of the reviews or drive the car itself or even talk to anyone who has then you'd know your baseless assumption about wheelspin is b*ll*cks.

It's not exactly a cheap and cheerful kit car though is it, that would be the Robin Hood, go compare it against one of those and then tell us you can't see where the extra cost goes

Sadly I'm no longer amazed at how many people in this country are willing to slate (completely out of ignorance, stupidity or just because they're 8) a small, English company trying to break out of the recession which is killing it's market in the UK and therefore threatening the livelihood of all it's workers.

[grahamw48]

custardtart said:

Rickrjt said:

What a tacky little kit car. It looks dodgy and the interior is horrible. I’d imagine that with turbo power like this version, it’s going to wheel spin like a mother, too. It’s not exactly a cheap and cheerful price tag either.

Thanks for your well thought out and carefully considered opinion - jeez!

OK so you don't like the way it looks, fair enough although I've no idea how any car manages to look "dodgy".

If you bothered to read any of the reviews or drive the car itself or even talk to anyone who has then you'd know your baseless assumption about wheelspin is b*ll*cks.

It's not exactly a cheap and cheerful kit car though is it, that would be the Robin Hood, go compare it against one of those and then tell us you can't see where the extra cost goes

Sadly I'm no longer amazed at how many people in this country are willing to slate (completely out of ignorance, stupidity or just because they're 8) a small, English company trying to break out of the recession which is killing it's market in the UK and therefore threatening the livelihood of all it's workers.

Oh dear, someone else dares to have an opinion.

Watch that blood pressure.

[crofty1984]

.Adam. said:

I like the FW bodywork, but I think it's got to be in the right colour, and the one reviewed isn't in my opinion. My mate has a blue one which I think really suits it:

Good handbrake.

[grahamw48]

It does look nicer in that colour scheme.

[The Black Flash]

custardtart said:

Sadly I'm no longer amazed at how many people in this country are willing to slate (completely out of ignorance, stupidity or just because they're 8) a small, English company trying to break out of the recession which is killing it's market in the UK and therefore threatening the livelihood of all it's workers.

Westfield does seem to attract more than its fair share of hate, and I've never really got why that is.

[RobM77]

I think I'd just spend the extra £3k and get a Caterham. No-one can argue with the depreciation difference between them (Caterhams depreciate really slowly, if at all, and Westfields depreciate like any other car), so it makes financial sense if you've got the wedge to start with (mind you, you'd pay less in interest on a £3k loan than the difference in depreciation..) or the advantages with the excellent Caterham owners club (L7C. What is up for debate is the driving experience, and from reading the review it seems like the Caterham has that sewn up as well.

Regarding noticing the weight difference, when I removed the spare wheel on my Caterham I could tell the difference immediately...

I'd be interested to see the figures for this car, but it's worth bearing in mind that on the Circuit Driver 7 clone test a couple of years ago the R300 was the least powerful 7 there, but was 2 seconds a lap quicker than everything else around a wet circuit. The Westfield on that test had 200bhp...