Strong transverse fwd gearboxes?

[Robmarriott]

What is there?

[DVandrews]

Audi FWD box is mega tough..

Dave

[stevieturbo]

Robmarriott said:

What is there?

"Strong" is relative. What is the intended usage ?

[eskidavies]

What about an evo box some of them cars run big power,can you remove the drive to the rear,I don't know just a thought.

[Robmarriott]

stevieturbo said:

"Strong" is relative. What is the intended usage ?

I live 2 miles from Santa pod, so that'll be it's main stomping ground, plus a few track days...

Basically, I want something silly again, I'm not going to lie, I have more faith in my ability in an fwd car than rwd, plus I like the idea of a long term project which gets faster and faster, so the challenge of fwd appeals to me.

I'm not sure what to buy, getting power out of an engine is easy, having a gearbox to cope is not.

[stevieturbo]

Robmarriott said:

I live 2 miles from Santa pod, so that'll be it's main stomping ground, plus a few track days...

Basically, I want something silly again, I'm not going to lie, I have more faith in my ability in an fwd car than rwd, plus I like the idea of a long term project which gets faster and faster, so the challenge of fwd appeals to me.

I'm not sure what to buy, getting power out of an engine is easy, having a gearbox to cope is not.

Some people might think of 200bhp as powerful, others might see 1000bhp as powerful.

For only 200bhp most gearboxes could be considered fairly strong, for 1000bhp perhaps less so.

And of equal importance, you also dont state what engine you are using, what sort of power you are aiming for or the weight of the vehicle. All very important factors in determining whether any particular box is strong enough.

There are some standard fwd boxes that will see cars down into the 11's without any real worries. Some even into the 10's with a fair amount of reliability. But of course that will depend on the weight of the vehicle too.

[OlberJ]

Toyota E153 (Mr2 Tubby) box is pretty damn strong.

You can use a modified GT4 version or simply adapt your shifter cables to use it FWD.

[Robmarriott]

Stevie, I don't know what car to start with, that's the point.

Normally people would buy a car, build a big power engine and then end up shredding gearboxes, I want to avoid that.

Power is unknown, as is weight, I just want to know what the strongest gearbox is, then I'll decide where to go from there.

[OlberJ]

Best VFM it's going to be an Mr2 turbo clip, modified linkage and then big turbo etc.



3SGTE AE101 Corolla.

It'll wheelspin like feck but if you're dragging just get some big tyres up front and you'll be alright as much as you can with a FWD car.

[stevieturbo]

Robmarriott said:

Stevie, I don't know what car to start with, that's the point.

Normally people would buy a car, build a big power engine and then end up shredding gearboxes, I want to avoid that.

Power is unknown, as is weight, I just want to know what the strongest gearbox is, then I'll decide where to go from there.

Well as stated, some of the VW boxes are strong, as is the Evo, as are some Toyota, as are some Honda.
Basically any modern transverse box from a top spec car of that marque is going to be pretty strong to start with.

Are you trying to find the limits of a standard box, or are you looking to build a box with stronger internals ? Are you looking to find 500bhp ? 800 ? 1000 ?

Weight is a key factor. An engine/box that is very strong and will handle loads of power in a light car, may be no use if fitted to a heavy car.

[AtticusFinch]

Interesting, you spec a gearbox then build a car around it to suit.

[Robmarriott]

Yep, nearly.

I intend to pick the car with the strongest gearbox, like I say, getting power from an engine is easier than making a gearbox stronger.

[SuperchargedVR6]

The VW 6 speed O2M gearbox is very strong. 500+lbft can be put through it without drama. Some folk have put more than that through it and it held together up the strip when using slicks and a Quaife ATB.

It's fitted to numerous diesel and Petrol turbo golfs, so lots of availability and different gearing choices.

[JB!]

VW Diesel boxes are strong enough, the weak link in most VAG boxes is the diff pins, and if you fit an LSD you should be ok.

I have a diesel box going in my G60.

[eliotrw]

Peugeot ml5/ml6

[andygtt]

I run well over 600bhp and 530ftlb through a Mondeo gearbox in my noble... not broken it yet but it will eventually so Im looking to strenthen it as going to 700bhp soon lol

finding a traverse box that can reliably take over 500ftlb doesnt seem to be an easy task... i've not yet.

[Pumaracing]

AtticusFinch said:

Interesting, you spec a gearbox then build a car around it to suit.

Very sensible. Exactly how I'd do it too. I keep getting an urge to build a really powerful fwd drag car just to make a point to some of the boys in the UK who think they're fast but it's academic if you can't drop the clutch on drag slicks without leaving a trail of bits of metal and oil on the start line.

Getting lots of bhp is a piece of piss. Transmitting it to the ground properly is much harder.

[RichardB]

Depends what power you want to put through it, if you want to put 800whp though it no standard FWD box will cope.
I would be interested to know what you went with in the end.

[lexusboy]

I'd have to agree with the above and go MR2 box

[andygtt]

RichardB said:

Depends what power you want to put through it, if you want to put 800whp though it no standard FWD box will cope.
I would be interested to know what you went with in the end.

so what modified fwd box can take a reliable 800whp and have the clutch dropped at the strip?

Im now running 700bhp and 600ftlb on my modified fwd box... but in truth i'm waiting for it to go and would love some proper options lol