I am pleased to announce 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.
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 will be detailed documentation to go with the kit and help make the conversion as easy as possible.
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 any power even when launching or aggressively driving. Proven up to 1200Nm of engine torque
- Cheap and plentiful LSD, straight cut gear sets and many other performance internals
- 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 already proven and being used and abused in 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 and also adjust spacing to accommodate the uprated axles.
Uprated axles – Uprated chromoly axles. These are available off the shelf from multiple suppliers but only sold in equal length pairs. However, using the 01E in the 944 requires 2 different lengths similar to the 968 so I will offer 944 specific pairs to work with this conversion.
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 and the later variants for diesel engines are the best ones to go for mainly because they have wider gears and better synchromeshes.
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 from Europe/UK and I will be able to bridge the gap for those that want me to source a transaxle for them. I have already sourced some which are generally available around £350 in good condition but this will depend on what’s available at the time.
Gear ratios:
The gear ratios of the 01E are below. 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 gearboxes 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 gearbox were given an entirely different gearbox code because of these major differences. The kit should all work with the AWD 01E but I strongly do not recommend going this route. There will be an in depth explanation of the differences in future.
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 and the job can be done remotely 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 a bit to allow the gearbox and splined coupler to slip into place. Removal of the rear wheel well may avoid this but it hasn’t been tested yet. 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
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
Aren’t cable shifters sloppy feeling?
Aside from the design, the quality of the cables and the bearing arrangement make a big difference on the feel of the shifter. The mushy feeling you may have experienced in your worn out daily driver is not a good indicator of the performance cable shifting can offer. This shifter offers a precise and crisp feel. 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 less mass and therefore offer more feedback and control to the driver. I would encourage you to read reviews of uprated shifters from other platforms to get opinions on the differences but a good motorsport oriented shifter will feel very sturdy and precise much like a really well set up rod shifter.
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. The design is finalised and the last few sample pieces will be with me shortly. At which point I can share images of final parts.
Prices:
Early car full kit – £3400
Late car full kit – £3480
01E gearbox supply – I have supplied a few already and they came 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 £350 due to the size and weight. If people are close enough together to facilitate shipping multiple gearboxes on a pallet then I’m happy to look into it.
Shipping for the kit alone 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 8-10 weeks. Once enough people have ordered to make up the minimum quantity, then production will proceed. You will get regular updates throughout the manufacturing timeline.
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 documentation you should be able to fabricate the parts you need to do the rest of the conversion.