My '74 has the steel star VW wheels, I hate em', they make my eyes hurt.

I want regular 5.5x 15" steelies, I won't be using hub caps. Were they made in 5.5? and what was the official name for them?

I read that Sierra Madre has them in 6" for 50 a piece but room is tight in those wheel wells and I prefer a fatter tire than a wider wheel.

Car is bone stock. Opinions welcome, harsh or not.

thankyoooou

Picture example provided.

6” will easily fit and would be a great choice for mounting 195/65-15”tires to keep the original look to the car. Otherwise, the Mahle, Pedrini, or Fuchs wheels are often available used.

I want to stay with steel and have them powdered a medium gray in simi gloss or flat. I find that to much going on in the wheel department takes away from the overall design of the car.

Or, I don't like my eye drawn to one section of a car. I prefer an overall view where the design works with all sections.

In the case of a 914, the cars design is so appealing to me that is where my focus will remain.

thank you

I would be extremely cautious with a wider wheel

Rear fender -to- tire clearence may or may not tolerate this

unless your car was hit, 6” will fit.

I would trade with you in a heart beat! I just purchased some stock sports wheels that you have and had them blasted. My stock steelies are still on the car with tires. Let me know and we can exchange images and contact info.

Your steel wheels can look great—it's amazing what ride height, tire choice, and paint will do for them. I've actually gone from hating the four-"spoke" steelies to preferring them over most of the other factory four-lug wheels and many aftermarket ones.

YMMV!

Style Steel Wheels!

After these many yrs Ive never really payed much attention to the steel wheel options.
I just recognized that the STAR or Style steel wheels came in two varieties fitted to the 914!?!
The distinction being a lip or lack of lip around each of the slot openings ~
Does anyone know when or what MY that change occured?

when you say lip do you mean a slightly raised border around each slot, like a raised (subtle) moulding line.

i have that. jan 74 build.

i love my star steelies, because every porsche driver hates them.
i think i get a kick out of sh$ting everyone.

no vws in australia ever had star steelies.
so super-beetle kooks always come up to me and ask me if they can buy them - they know what they are.
far as i know i am the only 914 running star steelies in the whole continent.
everyone has alloys. in fact haven't even seen a 914 here running vw steelies and hub caps.

but i have a real soft spot for no hub caps and earlier steelies as well.

Just an FYI, SMC's 4 lug aftermarket steelies come in 15x5.5 or 15x4.5

Correct I pulled an original spare out of a 75 to notice it was clean & flat no border.

Jenny has a set of custom 7x15 on her silver car. I think they look much better as a deep dish.

The star steel wheel was original on VW beetle Sun Bug or Sport Bug (?) in 15 x 5 1/2"
BUT it featured a different offset with a deeper dish.
An attractive subtle difference.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=339828

The deep dish is awesome.

Ummm, not sure about that.. those equipped on the Beetle were 4.5 not 5.5" IIRC.

1973 Sport bug where reverse offset 5.5..
et26 5.5" sport wheels that came on the 1973 sport bug,

I had a set of those on one of my bugs and they were 5 1/2"

After several seasons of tracking my 914 on star Steelies, 3 of the 4 developed cracking near the lug bolt holes. Forced me to change to Fuchs for lighter weight and strength. Might not be an issue on a street car, but be sure to check closely, as the newest OEM wheels are pretty old.

I specifically sourced those “star Steelies”, look great IMO. Mine are the Lemmerz GT version which only ever came on two special models, both beetles… a ‘Sports Bug’ and the ‘Gelbschwarz Renner’ (yellow and black racer). They differ from the 914 version in that they have an offset of ET26 (vs ET40), and therefore are a little more ‘deep dish’ which I really like, and are still 15x5.5 wheels.

Interesting what Im learning is aside from the typical Bug issue 4.5w & 914 issue 5.5w Style wheels with a common 40ET offeset (?) there is a 3rd VW specific wheel that is both 5.5w & smaller ET (26mm).
Back to "my" query does that Sport bug wheel have the raised lip around the holes or is it flat?
Im guessing that the flat wheels is a late installation (75-76) while it was probably installed on Beetles after that.?

Yes - my Lemmerz ‘GT’ Sport Bug wheels definitely do have the subtle raised area around the perimeter holes. I also have a common ET40 star steelie for a spare that does NOT have the raised lip around the holes.


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Those baby moon hub caps are beautiful.

Click to view attachment

Elkie!
So turns out not all 4 of my steelies are the 26's
Now Im on the hunt.
How hard are these to find?