[DeTomaso] Pantera GT5S *seventeen* inch wheels

[richard boschert]

Chuck,

I have had several different sets of wheels on my GT5 flared car.Various width's,diameter's and back spacings.

My favorite street wheel so far is the Basset D wheel in 15X11 front and 15X13 rear with Michelin TB15 295/30/15 front and 335/30/15 rear.I did a 6 inch back spacing on the 11 inch front.It is a little too much in that at full lock the rim will hit the a arm,but with that much back spacing the car does drive a world better than a set of 15X10 wheels i had with a 5 inch back spacing.

For the track i LOVED the Basset Inertia wheels in 15X10 front and 15X14 rear with Hoosier R25 slicks.The Inertia wheel is lighter than the D wheel,but is not as good looking as the D wheel visually to me.Real Slicks are a lot lighter as well and boy do they grip!

I am only running 12 inch diameter rotors with my Wilwood brakes so the Basset Rims cleared with decent room to spare.Some other 15 inch rims have less clearance so find out the specs ahead of time.

The Basset Inertia rims were lighter than my 18 inch Kinesis 3 piece wheels while the Basset D wheels are heavier than the 18's.Are the 17 inch wheels you are looking at Billet like a lot of the other non flared Pantera campy clones?If so they will be a lot heavier.

Depending on the tire sizes you can find,you may have to raise the car for clearance with the flares.GT5 and GT5S cars seem to have less clearance than the GT4 flares i have seen,but it may vary depending on who made the flares.I had to raise my car two inches to clear the 18 x13  vs my 15X14 rears.

Attached are a few pics that show my car over the years.(OOPS,Pics are too big so will do a couple of postings),You can see the difference in ride height between the 18 and 15 inch wheels in the two pics showing the right side of the car when it is inside the garage.The pic with my car next to Brent Stewart's non flared car in the dirt parking lot shows the difference in ride height vs Brent's 17 inch wheels.For what is worth i plan on lowering the car another inch from where it is in that picture.

As much as i love the 15's and i really do recommend them over larger wheels,17's and 18's do have a few pluses.You can fit larger brakes.More available wheel manufactures and wheel designs.More tire availability.Even the 17's at the moment are more varied than the 15's.

If you friend is dead set on the larger wheels i would recommend 18's as tire selection for 17's is dropping fast.I do not think it will be as bad as 16's but it seems to be heading that way.

Oh,in the pics, the gold wheels are the "D" wheels,the gray wheels are the Inertia wheels,and obviously the shiny wheels are the 18's.

Hope this all helps some,Richard
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