Just noodling a RWD option.

Whilst at work a thing did happen.  All the techs left for the day leaving me time to ponder.  Idle hands and all that you know.

I was looking at 924/944 rear suspension as an option for for making something RWD that used to be FWD.  And I came across this picture.

There is room for an engine behind the driver!  Toss the Porsche transmission and torque tube and use an Audi/4000, 5000, 100, 200, Passat ect transmission and a 1.8t bolted to it for power.

Then stuff it into a rust bucket Rabbit or Golf or even a Karmann Ghia.  Of course when you do the one two up-shift your elbow might hit the cam sprocket  Minor problem.

That IS an Audi transmission, by the looks of the bellhousing. 016 just like a front drive 5000 Turbo, just that it has a passthrough in the bellhousing for the shift rod, and the input shaft is set up slightly differently to take the torque tube driveshaft clampy thing rather than a clutch.

That marks that car as '81ish and up.  4 speed used a Porsche trans, the first year of 5 speed (1980) also had a Porsche trans, which had a dogleg 1st.  016 has a "traditional" (to non Germans) gear pattern.

IIRC the rear suspension is largely Super Beetle.

034 Motorsport did this with a Boxster subframe, 01E transmission (next generation of 016, also used in Boxsters...) and an Audi V6 with a large turbo, in the middle/back of a Golf.  All of the hard parts bolted together like Legos.

1.8t will not bolt up to anything that had a 5 cylinder from the 80s.  5 cylinder and 4 cylinder are different bellhousing patterns.  Most/all 01A and 01E are dual pattern, anything from a 5000 or 4000 (or Porsche) are not.

The 4 cylinder specific longitudinal front drive transmissions are.... weak.  Knew of someone with a turbo Fox who could break 3rd gear on demand by rolling into the throttle.

Wouldn't it be easier and more compact to just take a FWD setup and stab it in the back

In reply to Opti :

Yes.  But (and this is where suspension geek enters the party) the roll center will move around a lot because of how short the control arms have to be.

Annoying in the front of a front drive car, kinda sketchy in the rear of a car, especially a mid engined car.

Oh I forgot one tidbit. Audi V6 and V8 use the 5 cylinder bolt pattern. Transverse fives (the Rabbit/Jetta engine) use the four cylinder pattern, probably because the 5 cylinder pattern's starter wants to be in the middle of the long halfshaft, and most of their transverse transmissions were already 4 cylinder pattern, and the engine was designed to fit anywhere an timing belt 4 cylinder engine fit. (Thus the flat face and timing components in and over the bellhousing, and the dual plane accessory drive to make the length even shorter)

This and the Boxster connection are why Audi V8 engined Boxsters are a thing.

I've always wanted to stuff a 944 turbo drive train in a rabbit pickup.

The Porsche/Audi transaxles are a go-to for mid-engine things.

Mosler MT900

Factory Five GTM has a few transmission options including a 911 transaxle, or a Mendeola, or if you want to go nuts, a Lambo Gallardo.

Porsche had the same idea - and built the Boxster that way.

The problem with using the 925/944 suspension for a mid engine setup is that the torsion tube housing might be in the way of the motor. The torque tube passes really close to the torsion housing from what I remember. 

TR7 (Forum Supporter) said:

The problem with using the 925/944 suspension for a mid engine setup is that the torsion tube housing might be in the way of the motor. The torque tube passes really close to the torsion housing from what I remember. 

That would depend on how far the torsion bars extend to the middle of the car.  Notch the pan (maybe) notch the torsion bar housing (maybe).  And maybe you have something.

Just noodling anyway.

Depends if you require the torque tube for the chassis rigidity. Agreed that it looks like a SB setup, I believe the late alum arms are an upgrade that is used on a lot of german-look supers.

I think a lot depends on your end goal and what hp the trans has to hold. You may end up with better packaging with a transverse setup.