[DeTomaso] Nitto tires and Pantera

Sat Apr 6 18:19:41 EDT 2019

I was totally surprised what a simple tire tread pattern will do for handling on a Pantera. My GT5 was wearing Michelin Pilot Sports, but the older chevron style tread pattern and I fought the typical wide body tram lining for years. In an effort to correct it I did the a-arm modification for 7 degrees caster, installed new tie rods,  rebuilt the steering rack, took every little bit of play out of the steering column etc. and yes those modifications made subtle improvements, but the biggest one came when I installed new tires. I stayed with Michelin PS2, but the newer tread pattern made that big a difference.

Julian

________________________________
From: DeTomaso <detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com> on behalf of Scott Mead Photography <scott at scottmeadphotography.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 6, 2019 3:11 PM
To: Charles Engles
Cc: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Nitto tires and Pantera

Hi Chuck,

I’ll probably need to wear my Nomex for the flames I’ll receive for this post, but I suggest you avoid the Pirellis like the plague. I used to run the unobtanium Michelin Pilot Sports (they were wonderful shoes for the Pantera), and replaced them with the P-Zero rubber. To be succinct, they suck. If you live on an area where they groove the highways, you’ll find the car darts like mad, as the grooves catch the transition band between the “wet” and “dry” section of the tires.

When I had them installed, the car was nearly undrivable. Larry Stock did a 4-wheel alignment, which helped enormously, but it’s still annoying to have to manhandle the car on the freeway.

Cheers,

Scott

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 6, 2019, at 3:56 PM, Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net> wrote:
>
>   Dear Forum,
>
>
>                     Given the declining pool of seventeen inch tires that
>   will fit my Pantera, the choices seem to be Toyo Proxes, Sumitomo HTZ,
>   Nitto NT555 and Pirelli P Zero.   Gone are the high value sticky
>   Kumhos.
>
>
>                     I am inquiring about opinions on the Nitto NT555 G2
>   tires.   Good, Adequate, Bad, Ugly?
>
>
>
>                                        Curious,  Chuck Engles
> _______________________________________________
>
>
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-------------- next part --------------
   I was totally surprised what a simple tire tread pattern will do for
   handling on a Pantera. My GT5 was wearing Michelin Pilot Sports, but
   the older chevron style tread pattern and I fought the typical wide
   body tram lining for years. In an effort to correct it I did the a-arm
   modification for 7 degrees caster, installed new tie rods,  rebuilt the
   steering rack, took every little bit of play out of the steering column
   etc. and yes those modifications made subtle improvements, but the
   biggest one came when I installed new tires. I stayed with Michelin
   PS2, but the newer tread pattern made that big a difference.

   Julian
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: DeTomaso <detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com> on behalf of
   Scott Mead Photography <scott at scottmeadphotography.com>
   Sent: Saturday, April 6, 2019 3:11 PM
   To: Charles Engles
   Cc: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Nitto tires and Pantera

   Hi Chuck,
   I'll probably need to wear my Nomex for the flames I'll receive for
   this post, but I suggest you avoid the Pirellis like the plague. I used
   to run the unobtanium Michelin Pilot Sports (they were wonderful shoes
   for the Pantera), and replaced them with the P-Zero rubber. To be
   succinct, they suck. If you live on an area where they groove the
   highways, you'll find the car darts like mad, as the grooves catch the
   transition band between the "wet" and "dry" section of the tires.
   When I had them installed, the car was nearly undrivable. Larry Stock
   did a 4-wheel alignment, which helped enormously, but it's still
   annoying to have to manhandle the car on the freeway.
   Cheers,
   Scott
   Sent from my iPhone
   > On Apr 6, 2019, at 3:56 PM, Charles Engles <cengles at cox.net> wrote:
   >
   >   Dear Forum,
   >
   >
   >                     Given the declining pool of seventeen inch tires
   that
   >   will fit my Pantera, the choices seem to be Toyo Proxes, Sumitomo
   HTZ,
   >   Nitto NT555 and Pirelli P Zero.   Gone are the high value sticky
   >   Kumhos.
   >
   >
   >                     I am inquiring about opinions on the Nitto NT555
   G2
   >   tires.   Good, Adequate, Bad, Ugly?
   >
   >
   >
   >                                        Curious,  Chuck Engles
   > _______________________________________________
   >
   >
   > Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
   > Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
   > DeTomaso mailing list
   > DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   > [1]http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
   >
   > To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.)
   use the links above.
   >
   > Members who post to this list grant license to the list to forward
   any message posted here to all past, current, or future members of the
   list. They also grant the list owner permission to maintain an archive
   or approve the archiving of list messages.
   _______________________________________________
   Detomaso Email List is not managed by POCA
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