Thinking of getting a Westie - Advice welcomed
Discussion
Working on the assumption that people who use these forums have an opinion that they're willing to share, I wondered if you guys can proffer some advice here.
My t'other half recently bought me a drive in an Ariel Atom, which was fantastic fun and has highlighted the fact that I NEED some form of RWD, 'wind in your hair', light-weight lairy-ness in my life. And the missus agrees.
Anyway, I have ruled out an Atom for cost reasons, as I'd want the 300BHP supercharged version, so have been looking around at 'sensible' alternatives. I quite like the 7 styling so have been considering a Westfield, in particular the wide bodied version to suit my erm, wide body (... its not a temple).
In an ideal world I'd love to build my own, but I'm conscious that with no power in the garage, 2 young kids and naff all spare time that the likelihood of me finishing the job properly and in a timely fashion are slim. So I figured on initially getting a pre-owned one for a while to see if its for me, and then maybe build something later [hmmm, Ultima].
Anyway, enough waffle. I'd really like to know what makes a good Westie ? What are the must have's and the no-no's ? What should I be looking for when trawling the ads ?
I suppose to put this in some form of perspective, I'm thinking of something for the weekends, mainly road use, but the occasional track visit. Being a fan of V8's, That’s the way I think I should go, but its not a given yet.
What sort of cash should I be looking to spend (is up to £10K reasonable) ?
I love V8's, but how do the 4-bangers stack up ?
What are good engine/carb combo's ?
What's a good amount of power to have at one's disposal ?
Are Dry/Baffled sumps a must ? (I'd like to stick it on a track every now and then)
What sort of age is good/bad (by which I mean age from completed build) ?
Are there any donor types to avoid (i.e. Sierra or MX-5 are particularly good/bad) ?
Are disc brakes all-round a must ? What are good brands/setups ?
I appreciate that these are somewhat open-ended questions, and opinions will vary, but all info and contributions are very much welcomed.
Thanks.
My t'other half recently bought me a drive in an Ariel Atom, which was fantastic fun and has highlighted the fact that I NEED some form of RWD, 'wind in your hair', light-weight lairy-ness in my life. And the missus agrees.
Anyway, I have ruled out an Atom for cost reasons, as I'd want the 300BHP supercharged version, so have been looking around at 'sensible' alternatives. I quite like the 7 styling so have been considering a Westfield, in particular the wide bodied version to suit my erm, wide body (... its not a temple).
In an ideal world I'd love to build my own, but I'm conscious that with no power in the garage, 2 young kids and naff all spare time that the likelihood of me finishing the job properly and in a timely fashion are slim. So I figured on initially getting a pre-owned one for a while to see if its for me, and then maybe build something later [hmmm, Ultima].
Anyway, enough waffle. I'd really like to know what makes a good Westie ? What are the must have's and the no-no's ? What should I be looking for when trawling the ads ?
I suppose to put this in some form of perspective, I'm thinking of something for the weekends, mainly road use, but the occasional track visit. Being a fan of V8's, That’s the way I think I should go, but its not a given yet.
What sort of cash should I be looking to spend (is up to £10K reasonable) ?
I love V8's, but how do the 4-bangers stack up ?
What are good engine/carb combo's ?
What's a good amount of power to have at one's disposal ?
Are Dry/Baffled sumps a must ? (I'd like to stick it on a track every now and then)
What sort of age is good/bad (by which I mean age from completed build) ?
Are there any donor types to avoid (i.e. Sierra or MX-5 are particularly good/bad) ?
Are disc brakes all-round a must ? What are good brands/setups ?
I appreciate that these are somewhat open-ended questions, and opinions will vary, but all info and contributions are very much welcomed.
Thanks.
great cars the westfields, and great factory support too - my mate has built a westie Busa and apart from a cracked mani x 2, no real issues.
I would join "Locostbuilders" forum. huge amounts of info on there, and also my widen your car search further than just westfield. If you are a larger chap, and like V8, check out Leugeo Viento (spelling?)
Im 6'4" and 100kg and could not be any bigger and still fit in my Mk Indy (its an R1 engined) On the road and hoonign around, there is very little difference between my R1 and my friends (matt frost on here) westie Busa which is way over double the cost. On track though it takes the piss lol!
I think the Mazda donors are a fairly new concept, and traditional kits are based on Sierra parts. However, as with the beauty of these cars, anything is possible.
One chap just dropped a chuffing Viper engine in his!
I would join "Locostbuilders" forum. huge amounts of info on there, and also my widen your car search further than just westfield. If you are a larger chap, and like V8, check out Leugeo Viento (spelling?)
Im 6'4" and 100kg and could not be any bigger and still fit in my Mk Indy (its an R1 engined) On the road and hoonign around, there is very little difference between my R1 and my friends (matt frost on here) westie Busa which is way over double the cost. On track though it takes the piss lol!
I think the Mazda donors are a fairly new concept, and traditional kits are based on Sierra parts. However, as with the beauty of these cars, anything is possible.
One chap just dropped a chuffing Viper engine in his!
Westfield Sports Car Club - very friendly and helpful, no need to be a paid up member to post.
Bacon_VII said:
Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
I did wonder whether a Scoobie STi lump would fit in a Westie (or similar), and whether it could be suitably modded to be 4 wheel drive. I'm sure it could be done.
Only if you didn't mind the engine sticking out through the nose cone, in order to get the gearbox output shafts in line with the front axle.I did wonder whether a Scoobie STi lump would fit in a Westie (or similar), and whether it could be suitably modded to be 4 wheel drive. I'm sure it could be done.
My advice would be to get a nicely built, well looked after Westfield (or one of the others, doesn't really matter too much,) and enjoy it for a while, then you will have a much better idea of where you want to go from there. Even the 1600 crossflows can be buckets of fun, and sometimes it can be more fun to drive a car where you have to work a little bit harder, than a really powerful one where all you have to do is squeeze a bit more on the accelerator and maybe risk your licence.
Singlecoil's last sentence is right. Even a modest Sevenesque car (I have a Westfield so I'm biased) is terrific fun. They are certainly not about top speed because a donor car can be faster in pure top speed than a 7 with a tuned engine by virtue of superior aerodynamics. But it IS about acceleration and handling. Nothing less than a very expensive supercar will out drag a 7 up to 60, and very little will out-corner one either. So much fun whilst staying within the speed limit!
I built a Zetec engined Westie a few years ago, it cost £10k all in and that was with DTA Throttle Bodies (dyno at 179bhp). 10k should buy a good car but you need to really look around as quality of the build will very greatly. If you can get a factory built Duratec model than I reckon that is about the best choice for a Westie. Alternatively look for a Caterham with the K-Series engine, I have driven both types of 7, if I was in the market again I would go for the latter, it was a better drive than the Westie and the factory built cars are well screwed together.
P.S. Mine took 1 year to build and I shopped around alot to bring it in at that price.
P.S. Mine took 1 year to build and I shopped around alot to bring it in at that price.
motco said:
Westfield Sports Car Club - very friendly and helpful, no need to be a paid up member to post.
They have a big tent too 
rdodger said:
motco said:
Westfield Sports Car Club - very friendly and helpful, no need to be a paid up member to post.
They have a big tent too 
May be worth checking out the Dax Rush - relatively spacious & V8 options:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1091513.htm
The MK Indy has a decent sized cockpit too..
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1091513.htm
The MK Indy has a decent sized cockpit too..
As a counter point to the fan boy posts, I'd like to add my experiences.
I bought a factory built Megabird when they came out. The factory was very good when things went wrong, which they did frequently, and a lot of this I can forgive as it's a bike engine in a car, and at the time they hadn't been out long.
However, what is appalling, and not at all forgiveable is the quality of the chassis coatings. They are/where absolutely bloody awful and tend to start rusting the first day you get them wet. I sold mine a couple of years ago as it really needed re-building and the chassis (and sus components) stripping back to bare metal and re-coating. The buyer was aware of this and wanted a project.
If you are planning on buying a second hand one pay very careful attention to the wishbones and chassis as it is extremely likely that there will be rust on an older car. Sadly this is not just a problem with Westfield but one which the majority of kit car manufacturers seem to suffer from - have a look at front wishbones and chassis rails of various kits (and TVRs) at a TD to see what I mean.
Why the hell they can't spend an extra few hundred pounds on getting aerospace or marine quality coatings is beyond me.
On a happier note, they are superb handling cars and once you've owned a 7 type car you will struggle to find anything within a similar price range that is as quick either point to point or around a circuit.
Make sure you find a good one!
I bought a factory built Megabird when they came out. The factory was very good when things went wrong, which they did frequently, and a lot of this I can forgive as it's a bike engine in a car, and at the time they hadn't been out long.
However, what is appalling, and not at all forgiveable is the quality of the chassis coatings. They are/where absolutely bloody awful and tend to start rusting the first day you get them wet. I sold mine a couple of years ago as it really needed re-building and the chassis (and sus components) stripping back to bare metal and re-coating. The buyer was aware of this and wanted a project.
If you are planning on buying a second hand one pay very careful attention to the wishbones and chassis as it is extremely likely that there will be rust on an older car. Sadly this is not just a problem with Westfield but one which the majority of kit car manufacturers seem to suffer from - have a look at front wishbones and chassis rails of various kits (and TVRs) at a TD to see what I mean.
Why the hell they can't spend an extra few hundred pounds on getting aerospace or marine quality coatings is beyond me.
On a happier note, they are superb handling cars and once you've owned a 7 type car you will struggle to find anything within a similar price range that is as quick either point to point or around a circuit.
Make sure you find a good one!
If you're going down the Westfield route you can forget the 4WD idea - it's not going to happen. Nice idea but you're not going to do it. If you're planning on a track day car I'd also stick to a 4 pot instead of looking for a V8. That's not to say a V8 can't be good out on the track but I think you'll find a 4 pot a bit more agile and more in the spirit of what a seven is about.
My Westfield's first engine had around 200Bhp and EVERYBODY that had anything to say about Westfields told me 200Bhp would feel awesome. Personally I thought it was slow. Everybody has their own perception of what's fast - If you think a Porsche Boxter is fast for example, then you're going to be more than happy with a 200Bhp Westfield.
My Westfield's first engine had around 200Bhp and EVERYBODY that had anything to say about Westfields told me 200Bhp would feel awesome. Personally I thought it was slow. Everybody has their own perception of what's fast - If you think a Porsche Boxter is fast for example, then you're going to be more than happy with a 200Bhp Westfield.
Guys,
Thanks for the comments, all very much welcomed.
I have to admit that now I have had time to look around out there on t'internet that a 4-banger is probably the way to go for me. I quite like the idea of a bike engined one with sequential box, but realistically it'll be on the road more that the track and not sure if having it 'screaming' when just pottering through town traffic will annoy me.
As for just considering Westies - I agree that with my budget (yet to be set aside) that they premium for a Cater-Field simply isn't worth it. So I have been looking at Tigers and Dax (specifically the Dax Cosworth), though the DAX Quadra sounded interesting. I'm not rushing into anything just yet as I need a few more pay-days to top up the piggy bank.
Perceptions of quick do indeed vary, but to put this in perspective my other chariot is an XJR (x308 4.0 jobbie) which feels brisk but not prolapse-inducingly quick. But lets face it, its not too chuckable around the back roads hence the need (or want) for something more focussed. But I reckon anything that is quicker compared to that (say, 0-60 in 5s or less) would feel quick enough, especially with your rear end 6" closer to the tarmac and 1.5 tonnes less packaging.
Any more input will be gladly received, especially from those with views on Tigers and Dax.
Cheers.
Thanks for the comments, all very much welcomed.
I have to admit that now I have had time to look around out there on t'internet that a 4-banger is probably the way to go for me. I quite like the idea of a bike engined one with sequential box, but realistically it'll be on the road more that the track and not sure if having it 'screaming' when just pottering through town traffic will annoy me.
As for just considering Westies - I agree that with my budget (yet to be set aside) that they premium for a Cater-Field simply isn't worth it. So I have been looking at Tigers and Dax (specifically the Dax Cosworth), though the DAX Quadra sounded interesting. I'm not rushing into anything just yet as I need a few more pay-days to top up the piggy bank.
Perceptions of quick do indeed vary, but to put this in perspective my other chariot is an XJR (x308 4.0 jobbie) which feels brisk but not prolapse-inducingly quick. But lets face it, its not too chuckable around the back roads hence the need (or want) for something more focussed. But I reckon anything that is quicker compared to that (say, 0-60 in 5s or less) would feel quick enough, especially with your rear end 6" closer to the tarmac and 1.5 tonnes less packaging.
Any more input will be gladly received, especially from those with views on Tigers and Dax.
Cheers.
Edited by Bacon_VII on Monday 4th January 13:27
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