Maximum axle angle in mid-engine project

Hi all,

I'm swapping out the VW 012 with a build 01E in my mid-engine project.  I'm pretty restricted with respect to length, and the extra ~2" is going to cause a problem.

If I could move the transaxle forward 1.5" I'm pretty sure I could make it fit without having it stick out the back of the car. This makes the cup-hub angle roughly 4-5 degrees.

These are driveshaft shop axles, rated for about 500hp.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

In reply to wndrllama103 :

I don’t personally have experience with your question, but I know renegadehybrids uses some “extreme” CV joint angles with it’s porsche transaxle LS swaps.  I think they move the transmission at least as far as you are talking about.

What's the total CV angle at full bump and droop combined with the forward shift? Unless you have crazy suspension travel it will probably not be an issue. You could check with the driveshaft shop to confirm.

I had to do the same on my mid engine project, and it's a transverse engine, so I have shorter axles which increase the angles.   It's not on the road yet to confirm that it worked out though.

That looks like less CV angle than older transverse VWs had stock.

It is WAY less CV angle than all wheel drive E46s have!

The big thing you have to worry about is exploding the cage in the outer joint from excess power at full steering lock.  Since you are not steering the wheels this is a non issue.

Thanks for all the input!

I have three thoughts on this.

My gut feel is that you'll be fine at 4_5 degrees

The axle manufacturer should be able to tell you what the limit is.

You don't say what you're building so it might be an issue but having the gearbox stick out the back of mid engine cars is generally pretty cool looking.

In reply to APEowner :

> You don't say what you're building
It's a mid-engine mk1 vw rabbit

> having the gearbox stick out the back of mid engine cars is generally pretty cool looking.

The issue is that only the bottom 3-4 of the trans tail will stick out (because of the inward slope of the rear of the body), and the top of the trans will be very close to the rear frame.

I don't know... I'm not convinced that it will look all that good in my case.



 

In reply to wndrllama103 :

How far forward does the engine sit?

I was thinking of doing this to my GTI but it looked like the front of the engine would be in my right elbow.  Using Fox transmission and 8v engine

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I dug up an old picture when I was mocking everything up. As you can see, there's plenty of room.
This is with a 1.8T and 012.

In reply to wndrllama103 :

I'm well north of six feet, the seatback is about 6" behind the pillar when I sit in the car.  Your drivetrain looks like it's right where I guesstimated it would be.  Cool to see someone pulling it off, though!

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I'm about 5'11", and I fit in the car just fine (minus the 32" bride race-seats... those are a little tight).

You just have to sit upright, which is the only way I can drive anyway because of my back.

I've done some long drives with it (3+ hours) and it's fine.

Update:

I talked to the guys over at driveshaftshop.com (where I bought my axles), and they said while not optimal, 4-5 degrees would be fine. They have customers running 25+ degrees.

The only downside is cv-life. Moar degrees == less life.