Mahle, Pedrini, Fuchs, Gasburners?

[kursed56]

Hey guys Im a little uneducated on the factory wheels that came on the 914. Im looking to ditch the old crusty Empis I have currently and was wondeirng whats my best bet to run 205s on a factory style wheel. I like Mahles, Pedrini, 4 bolt Fuchs and the gasburner style. Opinions on which is the best and most affordable.

What are you guys running? Photos?

Thanks

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I have the Fuchs. Lightest and strongest of the factory alloy wheels. The Mahles are a little heavier, and the Pedrinis moreso. My car came with Fuchs as well, so it was a no-brainer to leave them on.

Pedrinis are the most affordable. The early versions (part number ends in ".00") can go for less than $250/set, from time to time. Note that the early ones won't fit on the 73+ "hubcentric" hubs without some machining. The later ones (".01") do fit the late hubs as well as the early ones, but they tend to be a bit more expensive.

--DD

[Tobra]

try check this out

914 wheels

Gas burners are 5 lug and are$$$. All the porsche 4 lug alloy wheels are 5.5 inches wide. Fitting wider tires is limited more by rear fender clearance as I understand it.

There has been some discussion about tires, poke around. 205 is pretty wide on a 5.5" wheel if you ask me. If you go aftermarket, the offset(backspacing) is pretty important

[kursed56]

Thanks guys, that helps alot. I like the Mahles, whats the widest tires I can go on a stock set of wheels?

[Tobra]

I have 195-60 and they look to be stretched pretty tight, I am told 205 works, but have also had people tell me they rubbed in the back and they had to roll the fender lip a little

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Like the man said, 205 is quite wide on 5.5s. Plus that's all that most of us can fit under the rear fenders without modifying them. Note that some 914s will need a little tweaking to fit 205s under one rear fender or the other--no two 914s are completely identical it seems.

--DD

[bandjoey]

Great guns! I got a good deal on ebay for pedrini's ending in "00" and want to put them on a 74. What do ou mean by 'a little machining' ? A home project, or a wheel shop deal? Thanks

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Best would be to have a machine shop with a mill or a lathe cut them to fit the front hub. There is a ring sticking out of the middle of the hub, and it should fit (snugly) into a recess in the back of the wheel. If you just take out a grinding wheel and have at the wheel, you will not be able to get the recess precise enough for a good fit. A poor fit will likely result in wheels that do not stay centered, and possibly other problems.

I do not recommend modifying the early wheels to fit late hubs.

--DD

[Tobra]

I don't see how you would have that much problem with them staying centered, all 4 holes still have to line up, and with the ball seats I would think it would sort of have to be centered or the bolt would not seat completelyinto the wheel.

That said, I am not a machinist.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

For one thing, the wheels become "lug centric" at that point, like the early ones. That results in poorer balance and poorer centering than the later setup, which is why they went to hub-centering in the first place.

Second, the downside of taking too much material off the wheel can be very large. Think about wheel failure for a moment... A machinist should be able to judge how much material can be removed from where without any extra risks, but I am not so confident in my skills, nor those of Joe Average with a die-grinder.

--DD

[Tobra]

So you want the minimum material removed, this I get, as I have seen wheels where they failed at the hub, not pretty. Do I just need the machinist to make the four early hubs match the late one, or is it better to take a front rotor and have them get a tight fit on that.

The rears are already lug centricif I understand correctly, is it less important at that end as it is not steering you?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The rears seem less sensitive to being off-center (slightly).

I am not sure which way I would go with the wheels. Choose a good machinist and ask him.

--DD