Iain -

If your brother is looking to buy a new kit or a new factory built car, then the engine he is looking at is going to be a deciding factor here. Bike engined cars aside, you can't buy a Caterham now with anything other than a Rover/MG engine or Minister upgraded Rover engine, after Caterham signed the deal with MG Rover. There's nothing wrong with that, they are all tried and tested and in the case of the K series variants, are in so many different cars that parts are easy to come by. The K series engine is also very revvable, which in a 7 is great.

IIRC, the Westie offers Ford Zetec engines, the Rover V8 and the entry level Ford CVH lump.

If you fancy a special K, go Caterham, if you want a Ford lump then go for the Westie.

HTH

Den

[Edited by Dirty_Den - 9/8/2002 11:32:36 AM]

 

Hay Mate

I found myself wanting something little more fun than my Scooby, last year so sold it and looked for a Caterham / Westfield

I spent a few months looking and chatting to the people on the forums regarding the cars.

With a 12 grand budget, there were not many Caterhams available for the performance I wanted, but the Westfield’s offered quite a lot of interesting cars.

Some of the Caterham fraternity seemed rood and arrogant and would jump down the neck of any newbi asking such questions as yourself, this put me off, I enjoy the forums, and like to chat with like minded people. But I suppose you get *** holes in all forums, maybe I only met them.

I could not find where all the extra money went in a Caterham, although such words as history and heritage often came up. Me ive never wanted a lotus 7, im too youg to remember them, so frankly saved myself a lot of money and went with a 2 year old westy with a fireblade engine,, bang for buck no Caterham will ever come close, as for build quality, there is nothing in it, I have scooped around some fantastic looking cats and west fields, and some dogs.

In short I would buy a Caterham, but im far to wise with my money (reed skint ), so went for a westy this time, I not mind owning a Caterham one day, perhaps one of the mental r300, r400 or even the r500, but hark I here Westfield call with the XTR2


Good luck, whatever yo uget it will be FUN, and thats the most important thing.

Image is nothing
Fun is everything

[Edited by catflap - 9/8/2002 4:48:18 PM]

 

My brother is thinking of getting a track day / good weather car and was thinking of getting either a caterham or a westfield. Do anyone have any experience of both of these, and if so, what are the main differences. On paper the westies seem to be cheaper and have more power, but I'm sure there is a catch...

Cheers,
Iain

 

I went the Westie route for the reasons you mention, not found a catch yet, good Westie club, good local meets, decent cheap trackdays etc.

greg

 

Thanks Greg, I thought that might be the case. I think I may have to "help" him test drive one or two

Cheers,
Iain

 

I have a Caterham and a friend of mine has a Westie. We're still friends

All of this is IMHO and what I've been led to believe from reading magazines etc.

My Caterham is a 1600 Ford crossflow, my mates' Westie is a 1600 CVH Ford. There's nothing in the two performance wise, very closely matched. However, the Caterham chassis is accepted as being the better one (I cite Evo). Between the two, the only way a noticable difference would be seen is for a clearly better driver to be piloting one and down to the choice of rubber.

I've always wanted a Lotus (I love the marque and the heritage that comes with it) but I was put off the Elise by the dealer network. So I wanted a proper 7. Caterham and Lotus were actually both involved in the 7 simultaneously at one point, with Caterham supplying chassis to Lotus before Lotus ceased to sell the car and transferred sole rights for the 7 to Caterham. The Westfield is only a replica (allbeit a very good one, just don't go for a Robin Hood!).

I priced up a new Caterham and a new Westie at one point, trying to get the specs as close as I could. There was a slight difference in price, but not as great as I expected. As I said, I wanted a real 7 and I prefer the styling of the Caterham compared to the Westie. That doesn't mean the Westie isn't a good car - my mate loves his.

Caterhams appear to hold their value better than Westies. You only need to look at the Lotus 7 Club classifieds to see the residuals (which are incidentally, lower than normal at the moment, a possible side affect of the economy in general). In comparison, you can flick through Kit Car and pick up some cheap Westies second hand.

I can't comment on the atmosphere with the WSCC , but my mate is a member and has never said anything bad. I'm a member of the Lotus 7 club and the atmosphere is fantastic. I've never met a more friendly, enthusiastic bunch of petrolheads in my life. They are so willing to help one another out. The Lotus 7 club mag is a great read, but is a better presented magazine than the Westfield one.

If you are intending to build the car yourself, bear in mind that the Caterham is more modular and easier to build than a Westie. With the Westie, nothing is done for you prior to you getting the kit, but with the Caterham the 'safety critical' stuff is. For example, brake pipes, petrol tank, wiring loom etc is all installed at the factory.

My advice is to try and get rides in both and go to a members' club meeting near you. Also check out the relevant forums - www.blatchat.com for Caterhams and http://wscc.ggr.net/cgi-bin/BB/ikonboard.cgi for Westies. Bear in mind that the opinions you will get on either site are going to be biased. Having said that, get a Caterham - Westfields are cr*p....

Good luck!

Den

 

Catflap -

I remember seeing your posts on Blatchat, glad you've got yourself a car and you're happy/having fun with it.

Iain -

The reason that some Caterham fans are so anti anything to do with Westfield harks back to the Lotus days and Caterham gaining the rights for the 7 from Lotus. Westfield later came along and then bought out their own identical version. Put yourself in Caterhams' shoes, they obviously want to protect their brand and their investment, so took action against Westfield. The post-litigation Westies are the ones you see nowadays, which look as they do as a result of the action Caterham took.

You have to bear in mind that Westfield blatantly copied the 7 design and that's what gets 7 owners backs up, along with the fact that they have paid the money for a proper 7 and resent Westfield owners who say "yes, I've got a 7" - no, you haven't, you've got a replica.

If you like the styling of Westfields (like I say, I don't, but that's my personal preference) then by all means get one. Like Mr Catflap says, you'll have a barrel of laughs regardless - my mate does in his.

Let us know what your brother decides to do/how you get on.

Den

 

I bought a Westfield because I wanted a cheap performance car - I couldn't care less whether it's a 'real' Seven or not. I think that to dismiss the Westy as a replica is a bit harsh - they're certainly comparable in handling terms, and you don't get independent rear suspension on Caterhams as far as I'm aware.

I also found a much wider range of engines available in Westfields, and settled on a car with a 2.0 Vauxhall unit. It's 3 years old, had 2500 miles on the clock, and set me back £7500. It had a few problems, and with hindsight I should maybe have shopped around a bit more, but I wanted one in a hurry in time for summer. It's been great fun, though, and I'd certainly pick the same spec again. The WSCC bbs is generally very friendly and helpful too.

Andy.

 

Yep. Westie for me too. Reason: performance per £. Much better value than Caterham. Being really honest, if money was not a prob, I would have gone for a R400 but as it always is I went for a 1993 MINT Westie with 16V VX engine, etc etc and it has been the best fun I have had for a long time. I still have the scoob but is currently gathering dust!
I would agree with all the comments above, and say that whatever you drive it is all about fun. The Westie club is excellent as is their BB, but I am sure it will be the same for the Caterham fraternity.
Any questions, as long as they are not tech , pls fire away!
Mossman

 

Thanks for all the info chaps I've pointed my brother to this thread, so if he has any questions I'll let you know....

Cheers,
Iain

 

i have a superlight r but have never driven a westfield but spoken at great length to quite a few people. IMO Theres not a lot of difference... they both give you big thrills on track and stonking laptimes. Most people choose caterham 'cos of teh badge ... I did to a certain extent, I have always liked the Marque and the look and detailing on their superlight models etc.. but its pretty obvious that you will get 99% the same thing for a lot less money with the westfiedl. Bear in mind though that the westfield will lose more mney over time.... run a used superlight or SLR and you may only lose 2-3k a year... maybe not even that. So whilst you lay out more in eth first place, its more about what teh car costs you in total once you've finally dispensed with it.

Having said all that... i have heard numerous times the following comments from owners and magazines:

a caterham turns into a corner better and easier but i've been told eth front suspension on the westy *can* be sorted out. Also, the caterham has a bit more feel through the wheel and the wheel is more direct.

But these things i've only heard repeatedly and i reckon they are both proabbly correct but nitpicking a little.

 

www.fishersportscars.co.uk
10k for a new one!