What's new
By:
Filters

What transaxle setup is best for a v6 or bigger Vw motor 100hp +

RangerBEH

RangerBEH

Member
I've been doing reading on different transaxle set ups and I wanted to see what you guys thought. I only got to drive my car around neighborhood and never at highway speeds. Is a regular irs transaxle sufficient for a bigger motor at 75mph? I don't plan on racing the thing but don't want to damage the motor by driving to Carlisle when it's done ;-)

I've also looked at options on the samba like rancho and scat, pro street with freeway flyer 4th or procomp with freeway 4th.

Example from rancho:

TYPE 1 PRO STREET Swing or IRS
Super Diff
Aluminum Side Cover
Welded 3-4 Hubs
Hardened Keys
(I think $850 plus $250 for 3.88 forth, so a little pricey)

The procomp has close 3rd and 4th (for $1150, ouch)

And the freeway flyer is a 3.88 if I understand it correctly. I've also seen reference to a taller forth .82 if memory serves. Not sure what difference is.

Also I know the prices are all over I've seen freeway flyers and rebuilt transaxles from 500-1500. What combo and from who would give me the best bang for my buck? Also open to buying from a different source. I'm looking for reliability and a fair price.

Also if I can get a regular rebuilt trans that someone didn't use on a project for 300 is that even worth considering? As far as I know my sebring has a regular transaxle now but I haven't been able to verify year. Will have to check trans serial the car vin is covered by the monobody of the sebring.

Thanks in advance guys!!!!
 
RangerBEH

RangerBEH

Member
And I know it's bad that a grand sounds pricy when a trans for anything else is 2-4 but I'm cheap and want to build a good reliable car without being into it twice what it's worth.
 
M

mud4fun

New member
With you already having a GM engine you can include corvair trans axles in your search. I do not know which is best but the corvair already had 110 - 180 HP engines bolted to them.
 
RangerBEH

RangerBEH

Member
Do you know what modifications would need to be made to the chassis? I also bought an engine/suspension bracing kit from bug back for the type 1 to reduce flexing and support that pig of an engine. So not sure if I'd be able to use that anymore. Also would I need new axles, etc? Or would it change position?

Pic is of the bracing kit
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    27.8 KB · Views: 1,586
Last edited:
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
No, you couldn't use a Corvair transaxle. Different bellhousing, and the gearing is "backwards" for the Corvair engine to turn it correctly. No adapters that I know of for that in either case. But to answer your question, yes, a standard transaxle will handle the horsepower just fine. Ask Fuzz. He's been running a relatively potent Pinto motor in his Cimbria from day one, and I know he wasn't kind to it. The only issue would be the first gear and final drive ratios - usually you just start off in second gear since the first gear is the weakest of the four. The final drive you would want the 3.88 to drop the highway revs while cruising, otherwise the motor will be singing at 3500-4Krpm the entire time - not the range those engines are meant to operate at for an extended period of time.

$850 for a good rebuilt freeway flyer is about the going rate from a known company. When you start adding close ratios, welded 3/4 sliders, extra spider gears, it all starts to add. For an everyday driver I don't think you'll need a pro street setup if you don't plan on sidestepping the clutch at 5K off the line... :)

The engine support setup photo that you posted looks very similar to what I installed on my red car. Did you see that when you were here?
 
RangerBEH

RangerBEH

Member
Thanks Rick I was hoping you'd chime in. When I did a search for the convair transaxle on the samba your Aquila car came up. Anyway I don't want to get into a bunch of unneeded fabrocation if I can avoid it. So it's probably best to stick with the Vw transaxle.

I must have missed that support on your car. I saw the bug pack system set up in socals showroom and knew it is what should have been on the sebring from day one. I still can't believe they added that heavy of a motor with no modification or support. Anyway I know the previous owner commuted with the sebring and since I'm taking the body off and going through the engine the trans most likely will need attention. It's more then I wanted to spend but even a rancho pro street and tall forth will be about 1100, the basic trans and forth is probably 900. So for the extra 200 I may have to dip into my tax return :) hell if I pick up that rebuilt 2.8l v6 and the pro street transaxle I'll have less then 2 into a completely rebuilt drive train including axles and clutch. If I want to ensure reliability this probably isn't a bad option.

Other then the reduced rpm on the highway would there be any noticeable differences in the reg trans verse pro street? Or are the differences just for reliability?
 
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
None (pro versus regular). And reliability really isn't in the pro street description. All the extra stuff they are throwing in is for when the owner wants to do stoplight launches and a little bit of hot-dogging. The extra spider gears, in theory, help transfer the power a little better to both wheels, though most "super-diffs" aren't really because the gears themselves are not totally supported. The reinforced side plate helps keep the ring gear in place under a hard acceleration. Hardened keys and the welded 3/4 are good options even for a standard build. Less stuff to strip out on the long run.

Talk to the guy in Pittsburgh about rebuilding your current transaxle. Not only is he closer, but you'll save a little money using your own stuff rather than starting from scratch. I think I PM'd you his info from the Samba ads.
 
C

CyCo

New member
The Bug trans should be able to hand it fine, there's a V6 powered Eureka in the UK (and yes, I mean Eureka, not a Nova), that uses a Bug transaxle.


RangerBEH said:
Example from rancho:

TYPE 1 PRO STREET Swing or IRS
Super Diff
Aluminum Side Cover
Welded 3-4 Hubs
Hardened Keys
(I think $850 plus $250 for 3.88 forth, so a little pricey)
Click to expand...

I bought one of these for mine. Why? My gearbox was about dead when I bought it, and it became worse over the following 7-8 years!! I needed a new gearbox, but a reconditioned one or after market? I thought what the hell, get a aftermarket one. I run a 1.8 turbo Subaru motor, so figured why not. I did get one with the 3.88 ratio, on a suggestion of someone in the club. They have the same engine as mine, but just EFI without the turbo, and said it would be a perfect match for my engine.

I bought that transaxle a bit over 2 years ago, and it's only recently been installed. As a FYI, that trans cost me just over $1,700 US landed here in Oz.

I have yet to drive it, as the work is still being done on it. The new trans, large 'long range' fuel tank (17 gallons), new axles/cvs, new exhaust, new radiator overflow tank, new fuel pump, and some fiberglass work. Oh, and a pair of second hand shocks for the rear, mine were totally shot and I'm running out of cash. lol

So for kinda going off topic, back to our regular programming. lol
 
J

Jay Laifman

New member
I'm running a VW transaxle with a Fiero V6 mounted onto it. We used a Kennedy adapter. Do they even still exist?

We did have the tranny rebuilt by Transaxle Engineering. I know they put in some strong gears, but I don't recall of much else. It has never been a problem.
 
J

Jay Laifman

New member
Actually, I should add that although the tranny has not been a problem, the front tranny mounts did break, which allowed the engine to rotate down, and the tail of the tranny to go up. This was not noticed for a long time. It resulted in damage to the transmission because the shifter did not fully engage. So it had unusual wear and ultimately would no longer stay in gear.

We did buy some aftermarket tranny straps - one to go around the front of the tranny, one to go around closer to the rear. They also clamped around the horns. But unfortunately, they would not fit with the water pipes that we had built. So we never used them. That might have helped.

We did have solid mounts in for a while. But the vibration was not good. Transaxle Engineering said the best to do was to get VW mounts - not OEM, not aftermarket, but VW. So I did. No trouble since.

FWIW, Transaxle Engineering is well known in the VW/SuperV/Porsche racing tranny world.
 
RangerBEH

RangerBEH

Member
I just picked up tranny straps and and an engine brace kit from socal for my sebring. I figured the transmission was designed to have and engine that weights half of what mine does with much less torque why not help that tired metal out a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top