DeTomaso Mailing List: December 97, Message #89
     



From: 	Dennis Antenucci <itbewild@gte.net>

Subject: Ring Gear/Final Ratio's - Part I

Date: 	Mon, 8 Dec 1997 00:11:54 +0000



WARNING: HIT THE DELETE KEY IF YOUR NOT INTERESTED IN GOING FAST AND ONLY 

INTERESTED IN LOOKING FAST (CURT TOLD ME TO SAY THAT!) :-]



Yo People,

I'm getting some good feedback from Junior Wilson, Dennis Quella, Pat 

Mical and Frank Zambini on gears which I'll share with everyone (who's 

interested) after I collect and sort it all out.



Junior was the first and only person at Silver State in a Pantera to ever 

"average" over 160MPH in a stock bodied Pantera and the only person in a 

Pantera to ever finish first in the Unlimited Division finishing with a 

average of 173 MPH where he reached top speeds of 192 MPH, again in a 

stock bodied Pantera. 



 Frank has raced and helped prepare Porsche and Ferrari at Road America, 

the Hokenheim and LeMans in Europe. Dennis Q. of PPC has prepared cars 

for Silver State and succesfully run his own race cars all over the 

country. 



Pat Mical, no stranger to the right coast guys has run his twin turbo car 

in at nearly 200mph at Pocono and has designed and fabricated alot of 

race-proven components for not only Pantera but Ferrari and other racers. 

Pat has had offers from some of the vendors to sell his stuff and has had 

his designs copied so much that he now asks buyers of some of his 

designed components to sign an agreement. You share the part with a 

vendor without his authorization he sues YOU!! 



I'll share some of the info I have which many of you already know...but 

many of you don't know. It's you's guys and gals I is trying to share 

this info with...So don't share your descenting opinion with us Cap'n 

Mike. :-]  



Ring and pinion gearset options are available as follows:

Ring Gear	Final Ratio	

3.56		2.51

3.78		2.66

4.00		2.82

4.22*		2.98*

4.62		3.26

5.25		3.70



*Stock Ring & Pinion



**Junior and Pat Mical have custom 3.44 gears but these aren't 

recommended for the street nor is the 3.56 unless your engine is pulling 

600hp+. However, the 3.78 and 4.00 gears are streetable and these guys 

like these higher rinal ratio's and have recommended them in the past.

   

It is easy to calculate MPH per 1000RPM. Just multiply the tire diameter 

by the ring gear by the desired RPM's. It will give you a "paper" top 

speed. For example, a change from the original 2.25-70R15 tire (27.3 

diameter of the 71/72 Pantera to the 3.45-35R15 tire  (24.65 diameter) of 

the GT4 and GT5 will reduce the top speed from 163 MPH to 147 MPH. 



Interestingly, at Silver State Junior had blow outs on both Pirelli and 

Yokohama street tires. Once he finally went to Goodyear Eagle race tires 

he never had another tire blow out. 



I'll also pass on how they feel about aerodynamics, safety and top end 

speeds in a stock bodied Pantera and lots of other interesting sheeeit 

about going fast.



For instance if your preparing your car for Road America, Pocono, Silver 

State or Pone Express  it is importent that you don't put too much down 

force <load> on the rear end at high speeds on a stock bodied Pantera. 

Junior and Pat's research found that no tire available would hold up to 

sustained high speeds above 180 mph on a open road with out reducing the 

weight 1000 or more pounds. And adding the rear spoiler's only further 

loaded/stressed/overheated the rear tires. Which was why after two tire 

failures Junior finally went to a tube frame chassis and finally to a 

one-off non-Pantera body called the "Purple People Eater". . .and he 

still had another tire failure.



Adding a rear spoiler further caused down force which further over 

stressed the rear tires and further increased over loading (excessive 

heat) the tires.   

Stay tuned for more,



Mad Dog, IRA 

P.S. Junior is preparing to go after the current SCTA land speed record 

at El Mirage for "over 7-litre sports cars" with his stock bodied 

Pantera which I think he said stands at 238 MPH this coming Spring 98. 

Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as our vegas get-together. I told 

him to put his record run off until July so we can all see him again in 

Vegas. 

He's also said tomorrow is his last operation on his leg. This one takes 

some bone from his hip and relocates it to his ankle using titanium bolts 

and screws (jus' like Gary uses)! :-]  And no, he hasn't changed his mind 

about un-retiring from open road racing.