Can you track and street a Bug?

[ps2375]

You might be able to make them fit with a different offset. There are some 5.5/15" wheels out there with diff offsets.

Special wheel/tires aren't in my budget either, currently. Maybe some day and I'll need to find someone to make them at a reasonable cost. At that point, looks will be secondary.

[SparksLP]

Yeah, having the budget for custom stuff would be amazing, haha. I'll shop around and see what I can figure out, thanks for the info!

[H2OSB]

If you're patient (always very difficult for me), you can find a second set of suitable wheels. I've lucked upon wheels a few times over the years. I have real 15x5.5 sports bug wheels on one of my 1303s. I bought them for $100 from an old guy who didn't care what they were. I was hunting for them but when I couldn't any, I resigned myself to buying the Porsche 914 version, which is the same size and does fit, but is the wrong offset. I told the old guy what they were (because I'm stupidly honest). He yelled (because he was literally deaf) "I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY ARE. YOU STILL WANT 'EM? HUNDRED BUCKS." I had them sand blasted then painted them with silver wheel paint. They look great and were pretty cheap (in my opinion).

I was really happy to see that run by ps2375. Good run, btw (though it looks like you clipped a cone at the end). I've been planning to run 185 65 and 205 60s f/r respectively for the street set up for my other 1303 but I'm used to much lower profile tires on my street cars and wasn't sure how I'd feel about the performance. For autocrossing, I will have a second set of wheels/tires with 195 55s all around. However, I have a buddy who's been autocrossing a '71 Super for several years on a set of sticky BFGs which he used for both street and autocross. Even after several seasons, he was only down to 60% tread and he runs hard. Beetles are notoriously easy on tires. I would feel comfortable with really sticky tires, but the "race" tires I buy have to be 200 tread wear rating or above for the class I want to run in. Searching on Simpletire.com, I found an off name brand, ultra performance summer tire in the correct size with a 260 treadwear for a very reasonable price (far less than the many name brand tires). So to answer the OPs question, you can run totally suitable performance tires for autocrossing that will still survive reasonably well on the street.

Along those same lines, the 1303 I have that's currently a driver has Porsche 944 torsion bars in the back and coilovers on the front with 125# springs. I also have big Topline sway bars front and rear. The ride is sporty, but absolutely not punishing. When I grenaded the turbo in my Subaru, I drove the Beetle daily for quite a while. The set up would work great for autocrossing and DOES work great on the street. In fact, I need to get that car out to an autocross or two before my wife forces me to sell it.

H2OSB

[SparksLP]

Yeah, a second set of wheels and tires would be a future purchase, on top of other things like engine upgrades and the like. Autocross season doesn't start here in Ohio for a few months, so I'll have time to make my car "reliable" and then hopefully sign up for one!

[ps2375]

Nope, even though I was looking at the last set of cones thru the door glass, I missed them when I breathed the throttle and it straightened out. That's why my passenger started laughing. He thought we were going to clip them too.

[H2OSB]

Nope, even though I was looking at the last set of cones thru the door glass, I missed them when I breathed the throttle and it straightened out. That's why my passenger started laughing. He thought we were going to clip them too.

It was a very good looking run. Good job!

[SparksLP]

Has anyone run a 195/55r15 on a stock width beam with drop spindles? Any rubbing issues? I was doing nerdy tire math, and with that size I could have a 165/65r15 on a steel wheel as a spare, perfect diameter match. Since I plan on being able to use my car daily, having a "matching" spare would be awesome!

I found a car club close to me, I'm going to go observe their first autocross event in April and ask questions, hopefully my car will be at least reliable for the next one so I can run!

[ps2375]

I would expect the 195's to rub, as my 185's rubbed with dropped spindles. A wheel with diff offset could have possibly cleared, barely.

[SparksLP]

That's what I was thinking. I'm doing research on tires and sizes, etc. How important is a "performance" tire for a mostly stock Bug? I don't want to buy slicks or anything, but a T rated passenger tire wouldn't be awesome for handling either.
Were your 185s a 60 or 65 series tire? I have 185/65s and I know those rub with drop spindles.

[ps2375]

65 series. The better the tire, the better it will handle. It might be good to put some negative camber in the front, cause it will go positive in hard cornering. The shorter side wall may give you a touch more room, but they are still the same width, so the tread is still out there waiting to rub.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Has anyone run a 195/55r15 on a stock width beam with drop spindles? Any rubbing issues? I was doing nerdy tire math, and with that size I could have a 165/65r15 on a steel wheel as a spare, perfect diameter match. Since I plan on being able to use my car daily, having a "matching" spare would be awesome!

I found a car club close to me, I'm going to go observe their first autocross event in April and ask questions, hopefully my car will be at least reliable for the next one so I can run!

I belonged to a car club, back in the distant past, where members either autocrossed, ralleyed or both (long story why I was there). Going to the event and watching, looking around plus asking questions there is also a good idea. Even with stock tires trying it may not be that bad of an idea either as you will have a first hand idea of what it is actually like to drive plus you can get an idea of what you might need to change w/o making an un-needed buy. I think they inspect your rig also for insurance purposes for them and you; e.g., judging that what you have may or may not be safe.

Dropped spindles do make a difference in tire clearance as does off-set, in-set or wider rims and changes in tire size and shape. The sidewall design (for flex) used to be a problem but I am not sure that they are now with the changes in tires. Add to that any body roll that might happen can change things also.

Lee

[SparksLP]

Yeah, all of this is just research and future brainstorming for later down the road. I plan on running the car as is and seeing how bad I do. At this point, I'm the weak link in the chain, not the car, haha. I just want to go tear around and have fun!

[SparksLP]

You guys, I took my Bug to a rookie training autocross event, it was awesome! I can't believe how much I was able to throw my car around and not die! I also started to understand the understeer vs the rear end wanting to come around in a turn depending on how you take the turn. I'm hooked, bonus points for my car not blowing up on me!

[ps2375]

Great! That is a big bonus. The other thing that can make a big difference is a seat that holds you in place. When you aren't sliding around and/or having to brace your self to stay behind the wheel, you can actually feel and see what the car is doing. That is a big part of the battle.

[SparksLP]

You're not joking. Half the time I couldn't tell if I was steering the car or holding onto the wheel not to fall out! I'm already making a list of things to change! Suspension, wheels and tires, seating arrangement all seem to stick out first. But with a limited budget where does one start?