New car

[deviator]

It's basically a Mondeo 

By that I mean running gear. I think it's a Mazda engine

I'm guessing it'll be the L series engine as in the Mk 3 MX 5 which is also the Ford Duratec.

Nice engine, but chain driven, so keep the oil changes regular.

The MK3.5 MX5 used the Mazda version of this engine after they had issues with the Ford derived ones. I may have a little experience with MX5's!

[Kevin Wood]

There were some tweaks, yes, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over either engine as they have proven bomb proof in kit cars at 200 BHP.

[ronnyd]

I had one of the first FWD 626s. Was very impressed and was well screwed together. Early 21st century 6s were very prone to rust but now better. Good luck with it. Spares were very expensive, but what isn.t these days.

[YZ250]

Looks very nice Tony, hope it serves you well. 

[Terbs]

May pop over when convenient, Alan, to give you a peek !!!
To be honest, Alan, I have been feeling down recently, bit depressed. Restricted on what I can do. Shoulder/arm playing up since that ankle expert manipulated it last Thursday. SWMBO getting arsey, wants me to go to quacks and get pills. Hoping the car will snap me out of it

[YZ250]

May pop over when convenient, Alan, to give you a peek !!!
To be honest, Alan, I have been feeling down recently, bit depressed. Restricted on what I can do. Shoulder/arm playing up since that ankle expert manipulated it last Thursday. SWMBO getting arsey, wants me to go to quacks and get pills. Hoping the car will snap me out of it

I'm about most Friday's at the moment so feel free to pop in. Sorry to hear that you are not feeling too special, all of your recent bad luck getting to you maybe.
Pop over and we'll put the world to rights. 

[Terbs]

May pop over when convenient, Alan, to give you a peek !!!
To be honest, Alan, I have been feeling down recently, bit depressed. Restricted on what I can do. Shoulder/arm playing up since that ankle expert manipulated it last Thursday. SWMBO getting arsey, wants me to go to quacks and get pills. Hoping the car will snap me out of it

I'm about most Friday's at the moment so feel free to pop in. Sorry to hear that you are not feeling too special, all of your recent bad luck getting to you maybe.
Pop over and we'll put the world to rights. 

Will do, Alan....I have got the pm

[aaronjb]

There were some tweaks, yes, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over either engine as they have proven bomb proof in kit cars at 200 BHP.

I think it was GBS who were saying recently that the most popular engine option for them is now the Duratec.. if I am ever slim enough to fit in a Caterfieldclone, I'd be tempted.

Might get someone else to build it for me, though (he says, cursing at the drivers side hinge on the Cobra thanks to Dax's "manufacturing tolerances")

[Kevin Wood]

The Ford Ecoboost engines also seem to be popular with Westfield builders at the moment but I can remember talking to Raceline about the Duratech engines back in 2003 when they were first developing tuning bits for them. 200 BHP from standard internals and just as bomb proof as the Zetec whilst being a good bit lighter.

I reckon a 1.6 Ecoboost would be a sweet spot for a seven. 200 BHP but still very light weight. Or the radio rental option would be the 2.0 with up to 300 BHP.

 

[Doctor Gollum]

The Ford Ecoboost engines also seem to be popular with Westfield builders at the moment but I can remember talking to Raceline about the Duratech engines back in 2003 when they were first developing tuning bits for them. 200 BHP from standard internals and just as bomb proof as the Zetec whilst being a good bit lighter.

I reckon a 1.6 Ecoboost would be a sweet spot for a seven. 200 BHP but still very light weight. Or the radio rental option would be the LSx.

[aaronjb]

I don't think the Westies accommodate a V8 particularly well - although there was the Westfield SEight; that was an RV8 which is comparatively narrow and short (physically and on power )

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I don't think the Westies accommodate a V8 particularly well - although there was the Westfield SEight; that was an RV8 which is comparatively narrow and short (physically and on power )

It was this model that really made people aware of Westfield.

I remember a bike magazine reporting on a head to head between an SEight and Honda CBR 1000 in the early nineties.

From what I remember the bike was far quicker on both top speed and acceleration, but the car stopped in half the distance it took the bike.

[Kevin Wood]

I don't think the Westies accommodate a V8 particularly well - although there was the Westfield SEight; that was an RV8 which is comparatively narrow and short (physically and on power )

Yeah, it's a marmite thing.

For me, the seight certainly has the edge taken off its handling by the extra weight and more forward weight distribution. It also does a funny thing to the performance:

Unless seriously tuned, the Rover V8 gives about the same performance on paper as my car with a tuned 4 pot, give or take not a lot.

If driven smoothly, my car is a pussy cat once you're through 1st and 2nd gear in all conditions (ok, except black ice ). Torque peaks quite high in the rev range so you have to be deliberately "on it" to get anything approaching dangerous levels of engine output that will break traction and see you fishtailing into the bushes. As a result, I find I can drive it quickly in most conditions without clenching too much.

The V8, for similar basic performance, is the complete opposite. Squeeze the throttle a little much at 50 MPH in top gear and the back end lights up and it becomes progressively more twitchy in the lower gears. It has comedy amounts of grunt available everywhere in the rev range and you can provoke gratuitous oversteer at any opportunity, something that would "require planning" in my car. For that, you have to walk on eggshells all the time. It feels like an over-engined car where you can't use its' full potential, yet when you can put all the power down it's not insanely fast by any means.

.. and then there's the fuel consumption (bearing in mind the 27 litre tank).

I can sort of understand the appeal, but it makes a completely different car, that I'm not sure I'd prefer.

As to larger V8s, well, no direct experience but they'll be more of the same (weight, torque and thirst). A few have used LS engines in Westfields and love them. Something light and revvy would be more my cup of tea. If you want a V8, build a Cobra.

[aaronjb]

Poor ol' Terbs, he just wanted to talk about his Mazda..

For me I tend to miss a car being "over engined" whenever I'm in a car that I need to keep "on song" and vice versa; both have their place and depend on my mood. I think if I had a Caterfield I'd go for a smaller, well matched engine and keep the brown-trouser moments to the Cobra

[Nick W]

I don't think the Westies accommodate a V8 particularly well - although there was the Westfield SEight; that was an RV8 which is comparatively narrow and short (physically and on power )

You need to check the dimensions of a Rover V8, as it's neither narrow or short when compared to the 3 common small-block engines. It is quite light though.


It's main advantages 30 years ago, were that it made a decent amount of power, was easy to find and cheap to buy. 150hp four pots quickly took its place for the same reasons