Porsche 914- GT Wheel and Tire Specs, Wheel and Tire Specs Options

[johnhora]

So what size tires are you guys using for your 7 & 8 x 15 Fuchs for a street application to look period correct?

[horizontally-opposed]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was looking for factory GT specs which, from what I have read, appear to be 7 and 8x15's. Subject car already has steel GT flares, so those are the wheel sizes I will use if I go forward with the project. I used to race an IMSA style 914-6 GT in vintage so I am aware there were many wheel variants over time. That car had 11" rear flares with 10x15 BBS rear wheels. Thanks again for all the thoughts and information.

^ Cool car!

So what size tires are you guys using for your 7 & 8 x 15 Fuchs for a street application to look period correct?

Michelin TBs hard to beat if gummy tires are desirable. Steering is beautiful, ride easily good enough for the street. Jeff Zwart runs these on his car, on 7s & 9s. For a pure street tire, Pirelli P6000 N-spec in 195/65R15 and 215/60R15 on Eric Shea's car look great. He can probably speak to handling. Now there are two more options: Avon CR6ZZ in 185/70 and 215/60 and Pirelli CN36 in the same sizes.

Of the above, the CN36 is the only one that's truly period correct. The P6000 is the only one that can be criticized for looking a bit out of period, but it still looks good.

[larryM]

everything above is about right - it depended almost entirely on what racing/rallye venue's rules were to be followed - and in what year

The Info for Sports Purposes document 4890.20-200-03-72 (see page 33-35) shows the 914/6 (on all 4, not staggered) 6"x15 for rallye, with tires spec 185/70-15; and 7"x15 wheels for racing with racing tires spec 4.75/10.00-15 (same as on 917 www.flickr.com/photos/wbaiv/6252749070) - the 914/6 was spec'd for 21mm spacers with the 6's, and 27/35mm for the 7's (also spec'd long studs & steel lugnuts for racing)

as a general rule - 7x15's were the FIA homologation spec as seen in the "factory docs";

fwiw - even tho we love 'em for a 914-6 - the 8x15 Fuchs did not show up until the 1984 Carrera as an option (7x15 frt, 8x15 rear) according to a July 1985 Panorama story - page 45

let's also remember that the "porsche spec performance tire" of 1970 was a 185/70xVR15 for both the 911 & 914/6

my TUV K'brief shows my car was fitted & approved for 4 "7x15 alu" wheels for German road use - (i.e. Fuchs) - sometime later my car was fitted in Germany with 4 custom lite-weight 7.5" steelies which can be seen in my old photos on Pbase - they only weighed about the same as alloys - unfortunately i was unaware of their rarity & let 'em "get lost" long ago

SCCA GCR up to 1972 generally allowed 1" wider than FIA spec; in the 1972 GCR they went up to 1.5" wider, but limited overall track width in both cases - so that's why most serious vintage groups & PCA allow 8x15's - but no x16's

for the street - 15's are hard to fit with good all-around-use tires - so i run 4-7x16 Fuchs with AS3's so that i can freely rotate them to get better wear/life and use year-'round

if you plan to race it - read the rulebook for that venue - or be prepared to own several sets of wheels & tires (i have 3 different sets-of-4 for my GT plus a pair of 8x16, and 3 sets for my MGB)

for scca & vara i ran 7&8x16 BBS; for HMSA & PCA i could only run x15 Fuchs - we are talking directional tires here - usually DOT-legal racing tires,

.... HMSA would allow pure slicks (see Jon Wactor 9140430375 and Eddie Arrowsmith running goodyear cantilevers) because the 4.75/10's were allowed per factory spec - the story is that Arrowsmith successfully petitioned HMSA for that

- IIRC the Sunoco GT used non-Fuchs (minilite?) rear wheels 'cuz ther was no 8" Fuchs then (or maybe it was the French car Ranson Webster now owns & races 9140430457 - or both)

- pay-to-play

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