Probein

I WANT ONE!

Sure my scooby is quick, probably actually a fraction quicker than my friends Westfield, but I've never felt something so utterly raw and aggressive! I could barely even see for most of the ride, let alone hear. I've decided that my next car will be an economical deisel or something, and I'll have a westy or bike powered kit car or something for my toy. It only costs him £170 a year to insure fully comp as well!

Anyone else had much experience with kit cars?

what would scooby do

Had a passenger ride* in a mates V8 Westie race car on the road.

Mental, but wouldn't want a side impact in one - or any kind of impact TBH



*blurred vision, white knuckles etc

PeteBrant

What's wrong with his Westfield if your scoob is quicker (assuming you mean 0-60)? (mind you depends what westfield it is - 7? Eleven? Roadster etc

A friend of mine has a caterham, excellent fun - but obviously completely impractical.

Probein

Yea, I'm not sure of the model, but it's not THAT quick off the line (feels much much quicker than it is, because you're close to the floor and exposed to the elements). I'd say in 1st/2nd my scooby would be either neck and neck or a bit quicker, but after that he'd probably leave me behind. Like I say, it's hard to judge because it's just a different ride, but I just don't think it felt any quicker than my scooby acceleration wise.

Ian Cook

can have a Westy with a 1.6 Ford engine with 135bhp will still be nippy though

PeteBrant

Having theough about it, your "standard" caterham or wetfield is , what around 6 seconds to 60, so in that respect the scoob is going to mathc or beat it.

It's went you start spending a few quid on them your 0-60 times come right down, not long before you are getting sub 4 seconds.

Probein

Yea absolutely. I reckon this one was probably around 6 seconds 0-60, but you could be fooled into thinking it was -alot- quicker, just because it was such a raw ride.

billythekid

The magic 500bhp/ton is quite doable in caterfields etc and not a lot this side of a single seater will give you the same grin.

chris-boris

iTrader: (7)

I have 2 westfields as well as me scoob, my megablade is mentally fast! The previous owner clocked its 0-60mph at 4.06 secs and 0-100mph in 9.2 secs. My ~280bhp turbo 2000 would be left behind upto 100mph but after that the scoob will eat the westie.

Handling-wise the westfield is outstanding, it would take an extremely well set-up and driven scoob to out perform the megablade in 'the twisties'

The kit cars can vary greatly in quality/spec and price obviously but i dont think you can beat them when it comes to bang for your bucks. The insurance is silly cheap aswell so go on, buy one, you wont be dissapointed

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I had one for two years alongside my MY00 classic, and it made the scooby feel very dull indeed. That was just with a 2.0XE Vauxhall engine - I really wanted a Westfield SEiGHT (3.9 litre V8 ) but they don't come up for sale that often.

Build quality is everything, though. Get a well sorted one and it'll put a grin on your face every time you turn the key - but there are some real dogs out there too that'll cost a fortune to put right.

rigga

iTrader: (4)

Always wanted a cobra replica with a small block chevy in it...... seen some nice ones about,and i think that will be my next car with a very cheap daily runabout for the family stuff...... got a mate who has a tvr cerbera with a 6.3 ls1 motor in it... 520bhp.... gotta be fun with that stuffed in there.

Nimbus

My brother has a Caterham 7. It's got 160bhp and it's seriously quick and great fun. He has it as a weekend car and we went for a trip to Laon in France last month with lots of classic cars. It was a blast and got me thinking of getting one myself if I could afford it. It's not just the power that's addictive, it the grip and handling that make you grin..

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Nothing beats the the driving thrill of a Caterfield type car, especially the quick ones - 300 HP/ton should be the minimum IMO

Its a great ownership experience as long as you know what you're getting into

dreamer_girl

I've got a Caterham as well as the Scoob and its amazing! Not an every day car usually though.... and mine isn't that great on the road (it's a race car), but you can get a softer setup for the road, less focused than a racer.

Brilliant cars !

stiscooby

I have had a passenger ride around silverstone in one (not sure which model it was but think they said it was around 300Bhp per tonne), it was driven by some nutter who tests F1 cars and all that so he could drive a little

The thing was fantastic, the driver wasn’t too bad either (driving that is) the grip was one of the best bits, at one point I could see the speedo was showing over 100Mph approaching a chicane, so I thought oh he will start breaking now........ ok maybe now......... oh **** his not going to break lol and he didn't. Flying through chicanes at over 100Mph is something else!

I would get one at the drop of a hat but they are not exactly cheap to buy and couldn't afford to get one as well as a everyday car, but if you have the chance to get one, I would!

V8 Westfield

Both my cars are lots of fun in different ways.

On the Westfield how the car is put together/maintained is very important, but weight and car set up are fundamental. Have recently removed the windscreen and that has moved it to a new level, have not stopped grining yet...

Nimbus

My brother's got an Aero-screen on his. It makes it look so much more sporty. While we were driving in France everyone was waving at us. As someone above said, it's the whole ownership thing that's a real draw. Only problem is that you would never be satisfied and would me constantly upgrading bits..

rigga

iTrader: (4)

And thats different to scooby ownership because.......

The Chief

A guy at work has a 4.0 litre Dax Rush and that is a frigggin monster.

Westies are cheap to run - think about it.

insurance less than 200 quid a year!!! fuel consumption wont be too bad unless its got a daft engine in it.

servicing well if it has a pinto or a Zetec engine in it i would imagine that any half decent backstreet coudl service it plus the parts will be reasonable.

must be miles cheaper than a Scoob.


Thinking of one myself

dreamer_girl

You can buy older 7's relatively inexpensively (it's all relative though!) so you might be surprised at prices.....

The big engine cars have a totally different character though - I test drove a 4.6L V8 Westfield when I was looking for mine and I hated it, but then I drove mine which is a 1.6K Series 135bhp Caterham and I love it - totally different personality.

WRT modifying; race it in a series, then you can't modify it too much even if you want to