Westfield XTR2

Westfield XTR2
VU02 WRJ at the 2002 NEC Supercar Show.
Vehicle	Westfield XTR2
Origin	Great Britain
Type	RR track car
Engine	1.3L Inline-4
0-60	3.4 sec
Displacement	170 brake horsepower
Top Speed	140 MPH (225 KPH)
Produced	2001 - 2010
On-screen debut	Top Gear: Series 1, Episode 3 (2002)
Final appearance	RTL Wannahaves: Episode 11 (2009)

The Westfield XTR2 was a bespoke track car produced by Westfield from 2001 until 2010. Powered by an Inline-4 from a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, the XTR2 was surprisingly quick for its comparatively-low price tag, even against similarly-designed rivals such as the AS One. Its name is an abbreviation for Xtreme Track & Road Car, #2.

Media appearances

Due to being a relatively obscure car known only to British kit car enthusiasts, the XTR2 has only made 4 appearances in automotive journalism programmes. Three of these were made between 2002 and 2003, whereas the fourth was made in 2009. This latter appearance marks the XTR2's most-recent TV appearance as of 2022.

Top Gear

The XTR2 made its inaugural media appearance for Series 1, Episode 3 of Top Gear. Host Richard Hammond wanted to prove that it was possible to daily-drive a track-oriented car, and briefly drives it down some country roads before taking it around the Top Gear Test Track. After this latter drive, the XTR2 is given to The Stig in order to set a lap time.

A year later, a different XTR2 made a brief appearance in Series 2, Episode 6, where it was pitted against various track cars.

Used Car Heaven

Two months after it appeared on Top Gear for the first time, the same example of the XTR2, VU02 WRJ, appeared on Series 3, Episode 12 of Men & Motors' Used Car Heaven, where it was driven on an airfield by Ian Royle as an alternative to the Ariel Atom while searching for a car for rookie racing driver Mark Hoskin. Royle gives a basic overview of the car before continuing to review similar track day cars for Hoskin to choose from. In the end, he didn't rate the XTR2 very highly, and eventually settled on one of the car's rivals, the MK GT.

RTL Wannahaves

Six years after its final appearance in Top Gear, another XTR2 made a brief appearance on episode 11 of RTL Wannahaves, for a segment filmed at Zandvoort where GP Elite showed off several cars it had available for customers to drive around the circuit, the XTR2 being one of these.