A complete bolt-in 01E kit for the Porsche 944 and 924S. The kit can be installed within a weekend and will transform your car’s driving experience and robustness/reliability.
The kits are ready for ordering with additional transaxle supply option also available. I am very happy with the final design and believe it represents great value. Just like my engine conversion kits, there are detailed instructions to go with the kit to help make the conversion as easy as possible (available in video format below this time) and I’m always available to help if you have any other questions.
Why?
The transaxle is the known and well documented weak link in the 944 drivetrain. The Audi 01E offers the following advantages:
- Proven reliability
- Better shift feel and Increased speed of shifting
- Capable of handling considerably more power even when launching or aggressively driving. Proven up to 1200Nm of engine torque / 900hp from a turbo V8 in a 944 (@f2iceland on instagram)
- Cheap and plentiful LSD, straight cut gear sets and many other performance internals available
- Lower RPM when cruising and Higher top speeds
- Complete bolt in conversion in 1 weekend
What’s in the kit?
In short; the kit replaces the entire 944 transaxle, axles and gear shifting mechanisms with uprated components to improve the robustness and driving experience of your car. It’s everything you need to bolt a front wheel drive Audi 01E transaxle into a 944 or 924S while also solving the inherent problems with the original design. I can even supply the transaxles for those that need them (around £350)
Affordable and obtainable OEM or uprated OEM parts are used as much as possible. This approach saves you cost to purchase but importantly cost of spares while also maximising availability all over the world. I won’t tie you into my proprietary kit if can avoid it
The kit comprises of:
Gearbox mounts to adapt the 01E to OEM Porsche gearbox mounting points. Supplied with both rubber mounts and polybushes for you to tune the stiffness to your liking. The kit uses dual mounts for early and late cars with an additional adapter available to convert the late cars to the superior dual mount
Shifter – The kit replaces the clunky feeling OEM shift rod for a precise CNC machined cable shift mechanism. The shift knob sits higher than the OEM shifter and also offers a shorter throw. The resting position of the knob is adjustable and there are multiple throw ratios to choose from. High quality PTFE lined shift cables allow shifting to be extremely smooth and effortless. With the shifter being designed for the 944 platform from the ground up, you can choose to either conceal it completely for the OEM look by using the OEM plastic interior trims or proudly display it with its own plastic trim piece. The entire cable shift conversion comes with this kit including the shifter assembly, cables and mounting pieces.
Gear linkage parts – New linkage parts and cable stops attach to the transaxle to allow operation of the new cable shifter setup. The 01E originally had a rod shift mechanism but due to a difference in its location, it isn’t compatible with the OEM 944 rod shift setup and cant be made to work without cutting chunks out of the transaxle bellhousing.
Splined coupler to adapt the Audi gearbox spline to the 944 torque tube made from extremely tough 4340 chromoly. Capable of handling more torque/power than the torque tube or gearbox themselves. This part is well proven and being used and abused in many 944s right now. I have been selling these for a while to those that want to fabricate their own kit and will continue to offer them separately.
CV joint adapters – Audi CVs use a different bolt pattern to the 944 and the output flanges of the transaxle are in different locations relative to the OEM ones. Adapters are needed to convert the PCD to fit the 944 CV joints.
Uprated axles – Uprated chromoly axles (also known as half shafts). Using the 01E in the 944 requires 2 different length shafts similar to the 968 so I will offer 944 specific pairs to work with this conversion. These axles are designed to work with the 944 CV joints (not compatible with the turbo CV joints which have fewer splines.) Uprated CV joints are available but not supplied with this kit
All bolts and hardware
Which gearbox code and where can I source one?
The front wheel drive 01E is plentiful across Europe and was found mainly in Audi A4 and VW Passat B5 or B5.5s. Not all 01E gearboxes are the same but the recommend variants are all broadly similar. The gear ratios are the main factor to choose for your particular engine and application.
Unfortunately the FWD 01E isn’t common in the USA and commands a high price. It’s rarely cheaper to source them in the USA than importing and I will be able to bridge the gap for those that want me to source a transaxle for them. I can usually source them for around £350 in good condition but this will depend on what’s available at the time.
Gear ratios:
There are a few different gear ratios to choose from for the 01E but the variants I most commonly recommend have the below ratios. If you require something different then let me know and I can share more info on the other options. At the bottom are some example figures for RPM at 70MPH to make it a bit easier to follow:
The cruise RPM would be very similar to the AOR with both the FRK and the DQS in 5th gear but you get an extra 6th gear with the 01E to drop the RPM and add some extra top speed if your engine allows it.
It’s important to be aware that the architecture of the AWD 01E is very different to the FWD 01E. The following generations of gearboxes from Audi were given an entirely different gearbox code for FWD and AWD because of these major differences. The kit can be made to work with the majority of AWD 01E variants but I strongly do not recommend going this route. There will be an in depth explanation of the differences in future but if you wish to use an AWD 01e I am happy to tell you if your particular one will work with the kit or what you would need to modify to make it work.
Are there any compromises?
Do I need to modify the car? The short answer is no.
For reference, the late 944 uses a single central gearbox mount whereas the early cars used two mounts spaced widely apart for good support. On late cars, the mount is known to allow the gearbox to move under load which causes the CV to bind and axles or CVs to break. In rarer cases it is responsible for the torque tube shattering. For those with late cars, an additional bracket will be needed that will have to be welded to the removable crossmember to convert it to the superior dual mount. This will be reversible by purchasing another OEM crossmember. The job can be done remotely if needed since its removable from the car.
The 01E gearbox is the same length as the 944 gearbox and has a similar form factor so will fit under the car with no modifications. The main difference with using the 01E is that removal and installation becomes more tricky. The rear subframe will need to be dropped down around 5cm/2 inches to allow the shifter box to be fitted and for transaxle installation. Removal of the rear wheel well or simply denting it with a lump hammer will allow easy installation and removal of the transaxle later if needed but isn’t necessary. The silver lining here is that the diff can be replaced and accessed with the transaxle in the car so there shouldn’t be any need to drop the transaxle in future.
2 small 6mm holes will need to be drilled into the tunnel area around the shifter to allow extra mounting locations for the new shifter.
What colourways are available?
The shifter is available in either anodised black or anodised silver as pictured below. Also note the different trim pieces for the early or late centre consoles
More images and videos available on instagram @lobb.ltd
How does it feel to drive?
One of the main things to note when comparing the 944 transaxle and the 01e is that the latter is over 20 years newer. The 01e incorporated a gating mechanism and a much more complex detent arrangement inside the transaxle to prevent mis-shifts and make the whole experience much faster and more precise. The 944 transaxle uses basic springs to do the same job and they just don’t cut it. If you have ever driven a 944 with a short shifter installed you have probably found that it’s very easy to mis-shift. For these reasons alone it’s best not to make assumptions about how the 01e shifter might feel based on your experience with a 944.
Aside from the design, the quality of the cables and the bearing arrangement make a big difference to the feel of the shifter. You may have experienced a cable shifter setup in something like a 987 or 997 with a vague feeling about the shifter. In OEM applications there are generally lots of plastic parts, plastic bushings, rubber isolators and also lower quality cables are used that can stretch. This shifter offers a precise and crisp feel by strategically using metal bearings and the highest quality cables. The feeling this gives is very precise and certainly much better than the now worn out 944 rod shifter setup. When comparing to a completely rebuilt rod change in the 944, the cable shifter will have far better shifter accuracy due to the internals of the transaxle but also less mass and therefore a higher degree of feedback and control to the driver. Moving across the gate, for example 2nd to 3rd gear will be where you can really take advantage of the improvements. Watching the video above should give a good idea of the shifter movement and precision.
Will my stock dash/speedo all work?
All functions of the 944 will be retained with the new transaxle kit
Will it fit in a 2.0 924 NA?
The torque tube of the 2.0 924 NA has a smaller drive shaft and therefore a smaller spline on the end. All that is needed to use this kit with a 924 NA is to upgrade to a 944 torque tube. A different clutch disc will be needed at the engine side but I can offer support on selecting the right one.
How much does it cost?
I am running this like a group buy so will need to get orders up front and then I will send for the parts to be manufactured. There will be a manufacturing time to factor in between payment and shipping.
Prices:
Early car full kit – £3650
Late car full kit – £3730
01E gearbox supply – I have supplied quite a few already and they have previously come to around £350 each. I will continue to source on demand but prices should be expected to be in this region.
Shipping a gearbox to the USA via air freight comes to around £400 due to the size, weight and packaging. There are no cost benefits from shipping multiples as weight is the driving factor (double the weight = double the price)
The shipping and transaxle costs will be additional to the kit prices listed above. If ordering without the transaxle, shipping for the kit is likely to be around £100
*944 Turbo owners will need to also purchase compatible CV joints (either stock 944 or uprated options) to work with the axles
How long until I get my parts?
All 01E kits are made to order and the manufacturing lead time is around 20 weeks. Once enough people have ordered to make up the minimum quantity, then production will proceed. You will get updates if there are any delays and I will always do whatever possible to get parts to you on time if you have communicated a particular deadline you are working to.
Do you offer a cheaper option?
For those that are handy at fabricating and wishing to do a cheap 01E conversion, I will continue to make the splined coupler available separately. It is the only part of the kit that NEEDS to be extremely strong, precise and with low rotational inertia. Something that’s hard to achieve even with advanced fabrication skills. Using my videos and documentation above you should be able to fabricate the parts you need to do the rest of the conversion.