In my own daydreams I build a Beck Spyder, which is a replica of the Porsche
550 Spyder. The 550 is mid-engined, rather than rear-engined like the donor
beetle.  A lot of builders of these cars take a VW or Porsche tranny and
flip the ring and pinion so that the transmission can be turned around and
the engine ends up in the middle, where Ferdinand Porsche intended it to be
(don't flame me--the first two porsches were mid-engined, but it was too
expensive to continue becasue it required too much modification of the
kubelwagen and beetle components). This flipped ring and pinion is, to my
knowledge, the only substantive difference between the Porsche 914 tranny
and the 911 tranny.

Anyhoo... I wonder if someone out there with Audi experience could tell us
whether this is possible with the Audi transmisions. Audi drivelines have
the opposite problem--they are laid out perfectly for a mid-engine
application but backwards for a rear-engine one. Obviously a quattro tranny
wouldn't work, but I hafta believe that a 5000cs turbo (FWD) tranny could
handle anything you can throw at it within reason. As you probably know,
audi engines are mounted longitudinally, and Audi transaxles sure look like
Porsche/VW transaxles (if I recall correctly, the first Porsche 924 trannies
were an Audi part. Just that a big tube and output shaft separated the
engine and tranny). And if the ring/pinion is easy to flip, why not leave
the tranny connected with a nice Audi 4, 5, 6, or 8 that would fit under a
modified engine cover? I bet the whole unit from a 5000 CS turbo would cost
less than the Porche tranny by itself.

Daniel Snow
PhD Student
UC Berkeley

'82 Vanagon Diesel
'78 Puch Maxi Luxe Moped
'72 Motobecane Mobylette Moped
'01 Xootr Scooter

>From: "Moritz, Thomas W NWW" <Thomas.W.Moritz@NWW01.USACE.ARMY.MIL>
>Reply-To: "Moritz, Thomas W NWW" <Thomas.W.Moritz@NWW01.USACE.ARMY.MIL>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Will Porsche transaxle fit in Vanagon?
>Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 13:15:33 -0700
>
>Okay folks. I would really like to modify a Westy so I could confidently
>tow
>a one-ton load.  It looks like I can "super size" the disc brakes, at the
>same time add vented rotors,  maybe change the rear brakes to discs too and
>add an adjustable proportioning valve, and then cram in an SVX engine for
>power, so the weakest link would be the tranny.
>
>With all the discussion recently regarding the wear and tear the Subaru SVX
>engine will put on the stock VW transaxle I've been wondering if a Porsche
>901, 905, 930, or G50 transaxle will physically fit in the Vanagon?  If so,
>does somebody machine an adapter to go between the SVX engine and the
>Porsche tranny?
>
>*blink blink*  I must be day dreaming again!
>
>Thanks,
>
>Tom Moritz

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