A good friend of mine who was racing against Greg Ward at the nationals was talking him to about a subaru 5 speed which has been modified to suit a beetle which only weighs about 40 kg @ a reasonable price. Thinking of selling my 915 box & going this way, anyway does anyone have any info.

Thanks Rich.

this is the guy doing them.......

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewprofile.php?memberid=10856 


http://www.subarugears.com/ 

I have one of Todd's SubaruGear 5 speeds in my Manxter. It weight 47kg dressed and is a very nice fit. The first test drive I did was a 1000km round trip to Fraser and couldn't break it even with 31" rear tyres.

Ratios are 3.9 at the moment whicgh would be great on teh street but I will be changing to 4.44 or 4.87 when they arrive.

I have been very happy with it, it shifts well, is very smooth and has no noise to speak of. Much nicer than my previous built 091 4 speed Kombi box.

i believe they raise the engine 50mm??

Let me know if there are any questions I can answer for you or photos of various builds sales@subarugears.com
The first gearbox we did for a customer has been in a beetle powered by an EJ22 and has been daily driven for over a year now - so confidence is building in the longevity of this conversion option.
cheers
Todd

anyone put any real torque through one of these yet how does the case hold up with the streangthening ribs on the opposite side of thrust side

Strenthening ribs on both sides of the case are the same so there shouldn't be any difference in having the ring gear in the other side of the box. But theory is theory and real world is real world - there's no substitute for kilometers of use.

We now have builds of reverse ring and pinions powered by EJ20, EJ20T, EJ22, EJ25, EJ25T and EZ30. Probably the most stressed would be the EJ25T and EZ30 in Bay Kombis, heavy cars with torquey motors - 162kw (216hp) in the case of the EZ30 and anywhere from 265hp to 300hp in the case of the EJ25T. A 130ish hp street bug will provide no challenge for these gearboxes.

Regarding Matberry's link above - do not be confused - Mark from Dubai did not fit a Subarugears reversed ring and pinion. He converted a Subaru 4WD transmission to 2WD (mid mounted) and raced it like mad through the desert. It had a 3.9 final drive ratio on 33" tyres which massively stressed the gear train - eventually eating the pinion up. We both agreed that it would be living on borrowed time. Goes to show that these are not unbreakable (like anything else). He has actually replaced it with a 4.44 geared Subie trans which is much more appropriately geared for the task and huge tyres and It looks like this lasted longer, but also failed after completing his 360km desert race. I will ask him to update his findings - maybe in full on comp mode it needs an oil cooler and extra capacity to survive.

Coletrickle I've got a very highly discounted group buy on at the moment if you're willing to take the plunge. I offer 100% money back guarantee on workmanship & materials of these gears as long as it's installed to factory specs.

Thanks for the offer but by the looks of it no body has given any of the conversions a seeing to like I do with my vw. I have no problem other than the 4000 rpm plus 110kph, still have to have the durability of what I've got now with less revs it would be a big gamble on my part To swap over to the subi box.looks like it will be a berg 5sp for me.

Coletrickle did I read above that you want to put 130hp through one?
Every installation done so far has atleast 130hp.
And they have had rev dumps on the street (including with LSD's), been jumped over sand dunes, run 31 inch tyres etc.
What am I missing that you do to your vw that hasn't been done?

6000 plus rpm launchs on 28 in tall m/t drag radials and big wheelstands!

And, Col, your engine is/has been 130-142 hp AT THE WHEELS, around 180 fw hp.

Yes col is unforgiving to boxes the way he drives.

I probably shouldn't put my 2c in here as I am unqualified to comment..... But from an engineering point of view you do have to consider the extra 50 odd years of development put into the design of these boxes. Yes, the subie guys tend to break them but this is usually with 400hp plus and 4wd, or with a complete lack of mechanical sympathy. Plus the average rexie weighs, what, at least 1250, 1300kgs ? That's a lot more mass to accelerate ......

Remember anything can be broken if you try hard enough....

From my point of view the engineering design and QA work that has gone into this diff conversion is at a level usually not seen in the vw community.

I guess it's hard to compare against a product that has been in the market for decades, but for mine the subie box looks like a logical, strong and quiet conversion.

I guess someone needs to drag one to prove for sure.... Perhaps brad could throw slicks on the manxter and take it to Warwick ?

Col, fair enough - I get what you mean about launches on drag slicks etc.
Well, someone has to do it sooner or later and we have to honest about what happens. So far all has been good.
We may find that launches of that type eat the ring and pinion or gears up. Then we start to get an idea of the 2WD design limits of these things. No dramas. I am constrained by the design limits of what Subaru has done.

I have a fully rebuilt TY752 reversed 2WD Liberty turbo box here ready to install.
Painted and shiny and everything.
Gears are not as strong as the later TY754 and STi boxes but the ring and pinion is the same.

Come and pick it up and thrash the hell out of it for 3 months.
If you break it, no charge. Fit your Berg 5 speed or whatever.
If it holds up, you buy it. I'll even give you mates rates.

Are you keen? Are you OK to invest the time in doing the conversion, make sure it's all mounted in securely etc?

Please don't take it as a pissing contest, I am just happy to put one up for a test and see if it's as good as we theorise.

How does the saying go? When the green flag drops, the bullshit stops!
I have never heard of a better offer then the one posted above.
Cheers Dave

I thank you for your offer,but I'll respectfully decline. I've been thinking about the big picture for my car and in regards to it's drag racing future and I don't think going IRS is the answer,I'll stay swing axle and look at putting a four link in it.What would you want for the liberty box mate is doing an everything bug he maybe intrested?Also with regards to to subarus is the cw/p in the box the same as the cw/p in the diff?

Ho Coletrickle, no probs at all - I can only offer - I appreciate you atleast considering it.

WRX/Turbo gearboxes are usually $5,500, this one I can offer for $4,750 for quick sale - that's 15% off.
It would suit any n/a subie motor or ej20t.ej25t that has not been hopped up - say 280 flywheel hp.
With an adaptor plate and flywheel it would suit any VW motor of similar power.

Cw/p in the Subie box is a similar size to the one in the diffs, but not exactly the same. Subies also have 2 different types of rear diffs, the R160 and R180.

Hey guys, as a follow up. Andrews LWB buggy was at the drags yesterday reeling off 13.3 sec ET's all day. Gearbox survived no problems. Andrews Subarugears box is fitted with a 3.9 final drive ratio and a standard WRX gearset.
He had 31" tyres still on it just to really stress the driveline. Motor is an EJ20 turbo running 18psi boost. Estimate 280 to 300 flywheel horsepower. 6000rpm clutch dumps.

Video is on youtube just search for Subarugears - you will see some of our various exploits.

I guess the next step is to get a car with some slicks on it to try the same.

Andrews 13.3 sec ET

good stuff mate, watched with an eagle eye! looked the goods, expect an order soon!