[DeTomaso] Standard 2-Slot Wheel Quality?

[Ken Green]

The 16/17 wheel combo creates a limitation on brake upgrades.  A lot of brake options require at least a 17 inch front wheel, although the common Wilwood Superlite calipers on 12.19 rotors will fit in the 16 inch wheels.  One solution is a 17/18 wheel combo which also avoids the appearance of a larger front wheel and allows larger calipers on 13 inch rotors.
   
  Ken

MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
  
In a message dated 10/10/07 6:07:48 AM, sales at transmittersrus.com writes:


> A couple of questions regarding these wheels from Pantera East.
> 
> What is the quality like as compared to other aftermarket DT wheels as I
> like the design?
> 
> Are there any other manufacturers of this design?
> 
> Thanks.
> 

There have been several different variations in Campy clones from Pantera 
East. The current generation feature a forged (not machined) center and are of 
the utmost high quality. They are available in a variety of sizes. Many 
people tend to default to 17-inch all around, but due to the way the wheels are 
manufactured, the front wheels wind up *looking* taller than the rear 
wheels--and depending on tire choice, occasionally the front tires actually will be 
taller than the rear ones, which is decidedly weird.

The original 'vision' for Campy clone wheels as put forth by Steve Wilkinson 
featured 16-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels. When properly equipped with 
245/45-16 front and 335/35-17 rear tires, the look is absolutely perfect. 
You can see the current generation on Mike Dailey's website 
(www.panteraplace.com) as he has them on his car. Chuck Melton's website also has (or had) a 
feature contrasting several older-generation Campy clones.

Wilkinson still makes his Campy clone wheels, although he no longer offers 
them in 16-inch.

Some of the Campy clones out there are made from flat, thin blanks (to keep 
the costs down), and they look decidedly cheap and one-dimensional. The 
original design was very complex, with numerous contrasting angles and curves, and 
the forged Pantera East wheels do the best job of replicating that.

Then there are the 'rip-off' Campy wheels from Precision Pro-formance--to 
avoid infringing on other's designs, they rotated the wheel center (the 
pentagon-shaped portion) so that the points point at the two slots, instead of the 
raised 'windows'. They look very weird.

Mike


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