[DeTomaso] Race Tires and wheels

[Mad Dog Antenucci]

Definately agree one size does not fit all.  All the factors you, Kirby and others have mentioned are all valid. How you measure improvement is relative. Over the last 20+ years I have tried pretty much every available wheel and tire combination on the Pantera in street, open track and open road race competition. That included running stock 7 & 8" Campy's on P7's and a tire Bob and I both loved was the BFG R-1's which are no longer in production....Then I experimented with 15/16" and 15/17" and then 16/17 finally finding the best handling came from the Goodyear GS-CS DOT race tire at the expense of increased RPM...definately the 'best" handling track and ORR tire. The new Y-rated BFG tires I am running now are an improvement over the Michelin (Sport Pilot)and Pirelli P-Zero's but do not handle as well as the Goodyear dot race tires.   
   
  I'll add that the cheapest modfication to my Pantera turned out to be the single major improvement  which was the mods to the front end which gave 5+ degrees of caster which dramatically improved high speed handling.  A close second would be adding the  delrin bushings on the front end and the first question everyone asks is, "did it improve handling and is the handling harsh with the delrin bushings?"  The answer is I noticed an improvement in handling over the rubber or the poly bushings right away and  the delrin bushings believe it or not did not in any way seem to hurt ride comfort over the poly or rubber bushings.
   
  Also decreased spring rates on the front from 450 to 400 lbs which reduced understeer and improve handling in corners. I've run the Pantera with and without rake and the 'best' arrangement for me was having the ride height set as low as possible on all 4-corners. 
   
  I also was happy to find the narrower 18x9.5" rear wheels and 17x8" fronts worked real well.....like Bob I found the increased side wall height on the back end was an improvement.  
   
  Save the rake for the yard or Bonneville! ;-]  
  fwiw
   
  md
   
   
   RCBSONS1 at aol.com wrote:
  I TEND TO AGREE WITH KIRBY. MY CAR HAS ALL THE BRACING
UPPERS AND LOWERS AND NOW HAS A "WELDED IN 4 POINT CAGE" WHICH
TENDS TO BRACE THE CAR EVEN FURTHER. I DID GO TO A 1" TALLER
TIRE IN THE BACK FROM 30 SERIES TO 35 WHICH GAVE ME A TALLER
SIDE WALL TO FLEX A LITTLE MORE (SOFTENS THE BACK END) THAN LAST YEAR AND 
THEN I
LOWERED THE FRONT TIRE BY 1" BY GOING FROM 45 TO 40 I BELEIVE
IF MEMORY SERVES ME RIGHT. I WANTED MORE RAKE IN THE CAR.
THIS ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER THINGS
INCLUDING HIGHER SPRING RATES, DOT ROAD RACE TIRES VS TREADED
TIRES THE YEAR BEFORE AT THE TRACK REALLY SEEMS TO MAKE THE CAR
NEUTRAL AND VERY EASY TO DRIVE WHICH TO ME MAKES IT FAST. I DON'T
SEEM TO WORRY ABOUT THE REAR END WANTING TO COME AROUND AND
DON'T HAVE A FRONT END PUSH. WHEN I CAN GET MORE TRACK TIME I WILL
THEN MAYBE PLAY WITH REBOUND AND DAMPENING BUT MIGHT NOT BE SMART
ENOUGH OR A GOOD ENOUGH DRIVER TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I TEND TO 
ADJUST TO THE CAR IN MY DRIVING STYLE IF IT IS CLOSE.

BOB
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