As the title and description states ... I would like to understand the specs I need to be mindful of when shopping for wheel replacements on my '73 2.0 stock 914. I know my stock Fuchs (which I will keep) are 15x5.5 and have a 4x130 bolt pattern.

But what is the offset range I need to stay within or wheels?

And can I go wider than 5.5? Like 6 or 7?

Many thanks in advance. I did try to search the site for these answers, but I could not find a clear answer.

I have 5 bolt fuchs 6 inch et23 and IIRC the Cookies are the same.
IIRC the 4 bolt Fuchs are the same.

Some do run 7" but they have to roll and/or pull the fenders. You would have to repaint the fenders.

The standard 4 lug 2.0 Fuchs are 15x5.5 with a 40mm offset.

On my 914 I am running 15x7's with 205/55's with a 23mm offset. They fit perfectly on the fronts however the rear fenders needed to be pulled out some, this is fairly common our cars.

Stock 15x5.5 et40 fit perfect. 15x7 et23 (911/944) usually need fender rolling in the rear. A 15x6 is et36 so it fits nicely. The VW bug is et25 or so, so they only fit with skinny tires thus are not a good choice.

These 2 sites will help you sort it out.

https://www.willtheyfit.com/

https://tiresize.com/wheel-offset-calculator/

Very helpful. Thank you!

Excellent - thank you!

Minilite used to offer a 4x130, 6.5x15 wheel that fits without issue, front and rear. Well, maybe lips rolled on rear depending on tire choice but no pulling to fit a 7" wheel.

Fuchs offsets: 6x15 = et36 7x15 = et23. I'm guessing the minilite split the difference.. so et 30?

As mentioned, rear space is the limiting issue, so, running more than a 205 width tire will come down to other items like camber/alignment/ spring rate etc.

and a 205 tire is 40mm wider than the OEM 165.. and a Sticky 205 will jut put all those cornering forces back into the trailing arm/bushings etc.

I have 7 x 17 replica Fuchs the et is 40mm ,,,fit fine,,

Was just doing some similar calculations for myself. My 914/4 was converted to 5-bolt. I am currently running 7x15 Fuchs - ET 23.3 - and 195/65's. The rear lip has been rolled, but the fender has not been pulled. I can just get the first joint of my fingers in between the tire and fender lip in the rear, but due to the narrower width of the 195's and stiffer sidewalls due to the stretch (as opposed to 205's), plus the fact that the rear swing arms tilt slightly inwards on cornering, they do not rub.

I was looking at possibilities to going back to 6" rims and 185/70's for a couple of reasons, so I thought I this would be a good time to compile a list of sizes and offsets.

- The backset (distance from wheel hub mounting surface to inside rim) is approximately 110-112mm (4.3-4.4") for all -

4-bolt
5.5" width ET=40

All I have here are the original 4-bolt 5.5" Fuchs alloy wheels from before the conversion. With ET=40, that makes a backspace of 110mm, so close.

I don't have any specs on 4-bolt 5.5" steel wheels, I guess they are similar.
The Maxilite repros available here have an ET of 35.


5-bolt
5.5" width ET=42
6" width ET=36
7" width ET-23.3

What was interesting that I didn't really think about at first is that the inside of the rim is always at the same place. When the wheel gets wider it moves both the centerline and the outer edge outwards. We're always thinking about the rears rubbing, but also in the fronts, going from 5.5" to 7" pushes the wheel centerline outwards by 19mm (3/4") and I think that in addition to wider/lower section tires, that may also contribute to harder steering at low speeds.

I’m helping a friend with installing 5.5 x 15 steel wheels, he has a set of BMW calipers and when we mounted the wheels and the calipers scrapped the wheel. I measured 110 mm from the rim to the mount whereas the 2.0L Fuchs measured 120mm, so adding a spacer in front should be good.
Rear looks really close with 195’s, the tires he got have raised letters too.