[DeTomaso] Tire Sizes

[John Taphorn]

> Buying expensive tires for your existing wheels (which make the car look
> proper) is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying new wheels and expensive 
> tires
> for those wheels (which make the car look weird).

Mike has strong aesthetic opinions and of course you are at liberty to 
embrace them or not.  Personally, I believe the GT4/GT5 wheel style looks 
great on a Pantera.  I wish high quality larger diameter rims were available 
that did justice to the original design.  In my opinion, there are not.

I would encourage you to consider the performance aspect of newer designed 
tires.  During my thirty years of multiple Pantera ownership I have had the 
occasion to drive with many size tires.  The handling performance of the 
newer low profile tires run circles around the older tires.

I now run Michelin Pilots 335/30/18 on one and 345/30/19s on another.  Yes 
the changeover is expensive.  Yet, performance improvement is significant.

> If I had a widebody car, I'd do everything I could to keep 15-inch tires 
> on
> it, even if that meant using race rubber or speciality dual-purpose 
> rubber.

He he he - I have a widebody car and I couldn't save my pennies fast enough 
to switch to better tires.  Perhaps as owners, we can appreciate that our 
tastes and priorities are all different.

JT