[DeTomaso] Pantera Handling 101

[pantdino at aol.com]

 Sean,

What tire pressures are you running?

My car has stock springs (with the spacers removed) and sway bars. When I was running Pirelli P7's--I believe 215/50-15 and 275/55-15 -- I used 3-4 lbs more in the rear, usually filling to 32 and 36 to allow for some bleed down over time.? With these pressures the car would push some under throttle and rotate slightly upon sudden let-off.

Once I tried the "more pressure in the front" recommendations Ford used for the US cars and couldn't believe it was the same car--the rear felt like it was trying to come around much more severely when I lifted.

I now have 215/45-17 and 285/40-17 modern tires and found that with my usual 3-4 lb pressure difference the car pushed too much, so I switched to equal pressures all around (about 32).? I just drove the car this AM on my favorite 270 degree onramp and it was very neutral-- neither pushing much with throttle nor rotating significantly with lift off.

My point is that tire pressures make a huge difference in handling and you should try that before spending money.

Regarding the jacking / lifting phenomenon-- is it possible your spring spacers are still in place from the factory?
That may be putting your rear end into positive camber when you get off the throttle, which would in fact cause the rear of the car to lift more.? 
When you look at your car from the rear at rest, are the rear tires vertical or do they lean a bit? If they lean, are the tops or bottoms closer together??? A bubble or digital level can tell you if you're not sure by looking.

JIm


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: sean mundy <seanmundy at hotmail.com>
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 5:56 pm
Subject: [DeTomaso] Pantera Handling 101










Soliciting thoughts on quirky Pantera handling.  I've had my Pantera for 3 
years and have pretty much drove it a total of 7k miles like an ol lady on 
the way to church. I recently took it out during a break in the floods and 
snowstorms here in the PNW and drove it pretty fast on one of the freeway on 
ramps.  I was feeling pretty aggresive but I wasn't racing just taking the 
onramp at "slightly" over the posted limit.   I always knew about and have 
experienced understeer in my car but I haven't until recently really started 
pushing the Pantera handling envelope. I've driven other mid engine cars and 
know of their handling characteristics.   I discovered that my car will 
really start to understeer if I apply any throttle mid corner so much so 
that I have to make a severe steering correction and of course remembering 
not to lift throttle abruptly.  Also, when applying any throttle mid corner 
the car will push bigtime but also the car will lift significantly.  This is 
hard to describe other than it seems the car is jacking itself up underneath 
whatever side of the car is on the inside of the corner.  So applying any 
throttle mid corner I get an extreme push and simultaneous lifting/tilting 
of the car.  The car just sets itself at that jacked up attitude and never 
really settles back down until exiting the corner.  Does this sound 
familiar?  I have stock sway bars, new poly bushings all around, adjustable 
shocks purchased from PI and 225/45 and 315/35 tires.  I guess I'm just 
looking for you guys to maybe tell me "Hey dummy, its a mid engine car with 
a big lump of V8 back there. Whaddya expect!"   Or maybe my car is just 
setup all wrong.

Thanks for any thoughts

Sean Mundy 72 L


_______________________________________________

Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA

Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/

DeTomaso mailing list
DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso



 


________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever.  Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com