Hey everyone! So I'm not exactly new to vw's as a whole. I've been working on and driving my 72 bug around for a couple years now, but recently I've been thinking of doing a EJ257 (sti block) swap. The only piece to the puzzle I haven't figured out is what kind of transaxle I need. I want to be able to cruise at 65 mph without being at 4500 rpms, but I also want to be able to dust some people in the quarter. I''ve heard rancho is about the best you can get, but that's just one persons opinion. I really need some help! Thanks

Oh yeah and should I go with swing or irs?

Depends on how deep your pockets are mate. Is the engine going to be stock?? How much boost?? Is the car going to be gutted or lightened?? A lot of variables to consider but my best bit of info is to talk to Dangerous as this sort of thing is right up his alley

Subaru Engine = Subaru Transaxle. If you are doing the conversion, buy a halfcut. That way you've got engine, flywheel, clutch, box, ECU, wiring harness, pretty much everything you need.

Using a Subaru transaxle means you have to go IRS though, you can't use it for swingaxle. But this way you're running the box that's designed for your motor, designed for that amount of power. Plus it's 5 speed so your revs on the freeway are not too high. Once converted to a 2wd transaxle, the Subaru box fits in a beetle without cutting through the torsion bar.

Check out http://www.subarugears.com  for more info.

Hey guys thanks for the info. I'll send dangerous an email and see what he knows. A couple of questions for you: Isn't IRS better better than swing for track and handling anyways? Is halfcut just the whole front end of a subi or something? And by box you're talking about the gear box ya? And would I have to get the reverse-cut crownwheel shaft and the subaspool or that plus the crownwheel and pinion set?

Yep the halfcut is the front half of the Subie car - that way you get all the bits that you need.
Yep you would have to get the reverse cut crownwheel and pinion set plus the Subaspool to lock it into 2wd.
Then you have a nice short Subaru gearbox that matches your engine.

Most would probably agree that IRS is the way to go for track and handling anyways.....hence why later model VW's are IRS.

Any news or data on how these Subi trans conversions are holding up?.... Not just street use, but drag and circuit too?.... Been using built VW transaxles (read: $$$) for years in front of RS/WRX conversions with pretty good results, but interested at looking at alternatives.... My current conversion is using a Porsche 4 speed Sporto converted to manual shift.... A little bit of an experiment mind.... But like I said.... Always looking at alternatives.

Nope we're not that far yet. My demo Subi box is getting built into an EJ25 powered buggy at the moment and will hopefully be driven to the VW nats to show it off. We'll then thrash it for 3 months and strip it and see. Then fit an LSD and a low gear ratio (4.56:1) to see if we can break it.

Got 5 of these Subie trannies in various stages of build around the world at the moment. Buggy, Beetle, Kombi and Vanagon. As they start to come together I'm sure there will be build threads and pix aplenty to share. There is so much interest in the product it's ridiculous.