DeTomaso Mailing List: April 99, Message #279

Hey!

It's the wife that collects the "excessive velocity" paper......

This was a one time thing.......

Intention of the wagon was a torquey vehicle that could be used for towing
a DeTomaso around if need be.... otherwise, haul stuff to and fro swap
meets and Lucky's!

Due to the wonderful aero dymanics of the brick like body, I don't see that
100mph will be often visited in actual conditions.... I would bet that as
speed increases to that vincinity, that the gas mileage would go down
exponentially!

These tires were a "form and fit" exercise....   they fit tight, so I had
to form the fenders.....   :))))  Still need to roll the front lips just a
hair... get rid of the sharp edge and make it smooth. Get a little
interference on turns with dips and bumps, when hauling 4-6 persons....
Next set, we'll consider a higher speed rating plus perhaps dropping down
one size for clearance problems.... if I don't have them all worked out
satisfactorily.

Steve "wrinkle walls" L


At 11:12 PM 4/13/99 EDT, you wrote:
>Steve wrote:
>
>>and this was the highest
>that I've ever taken this particular motor. (Not to say what the wife has
>been doing.....)
>
>>>>Steve's dyno run literally frightened me.  He's running these crappy 
>S-rated 275/60 rear tires and was spinning them at 130 mph (S-rated tires
are 
>only rated to, what, 90 mph or so?)
>
>While Pantera tires visibly deformed slightly where the tires contacted the 
>rollers, Steve's tires positively squished.  What was really frightening, 
>though, was seeing a pressure wave form on the back side of the tire as the 
>tread snapped back.  There was an inward (towards the rim) deformation at
the 
>roller, and an outward deformation of close to a full inch at about the 5 
>o'clock position (when looking at the left side of the car.)
>
>Those tires could have blown at any moment, I suspect--when I saw what they 
>were doing, I backed FAR away.
>
>Steve, methinks you should consider investing in some REAL tires for that 
>rig! :>)  Or, keep it under 70 mph at all times!
>
>Mike
>