Comparison of Audi 01E vs 016 transaxles

[Mark Worthington]

I received my non-Quattro Audi 01E transaxle last week and I finally got around to taking some pictures alongside of my 016. It's from a VW Passat and it has 12,000 km on it. Code is ELN; gear ratios are great. I know a lot of guys are having great success with the O16, but my car has a 347 and big sticky tires, so I opted to get a stronger transaxle. I've been watching and bidding on ebay.de auctions for over a year before I landed this one. They come up for sale fairly regularly (one every couple weeks or so) and the prices range from 500 to 1,000 Euros. I bought this one for 750 Euros, and paid 330 Euros for air freight delivery to my door (via UPS). Total came out to just shy of $1,500, including escrow fees. I used escrow.com and, along with the seller, was happy with the transaction.

The first four pictures are various views of the two transaxles. Here's a view looking into the bellhousing, with the 01E on the right. Note the different orientation of the clutch release lever, the greater ribbing in the 01E, and the interesting provision for clutch cooling in the 01E. The cast aluminum vane directs air to an exhaust port on the right side of the transaxle case.

[Mark Worthington]

Top view. Note the slightly longer dimension of the 01E.

[Mark Worthington]

Left side view. Note that the differential cover is on the left side of the 01E and on the right side of the 016. The drive flanges on the 01E are significantly larger than the 016. Time for some new half shafts.

[Mark Worthington]

Here's the view from the back of the transaxles. It looks to me that, unlike the 016, the drive flanges on the 01E are asymetric about the input shaft. It looks like the left half shaft will need to be a little shorter than the right. The gear carrier housing and tail cover on the 01E are larger. I'll bet the center-shaft spacing between the input and main shafts is larger on the 01E. I need to take some more measurements.

[Mark Worthington]

Right side view. My 016 has already been fitted with the RF selector shaft. Note the differential housing cover on the right side of the 016.

[Mark Worthington]

This photo shows the adapter plate fitted to my 016 transaxle. Fits like a glove.

[Mark Worthington]

Here's the same adapter plate fitted to the 01E. Contrary to what I've read elsewhere, this also fits like a glove. the only potential problem may be the holes in the transaxle case behind the starter adapter. One seems to line up perfectly; the other may need a little relief. I haven't yet figured out how the whole thing bolts together but I think it can be made to work.

[Mark Worthington]

Here's the 016 input shaft, which protrudes about a half inch in front of the plane of the bellhousing mounting surface.

[Mark Worthington]

The 01E input shaft is shorter. The front of the input shaft sits about a quarter inch behind the plane of the bellhousing mounting surface.

[Mark Worthington]

Finally, here's a close-up of the splines on the 01E input shaft. I took this photo because I was looking for telltale signs which would indicate that the roots of the splines have been shot peened. As I understand it, many OEMs are now shot peening gear sets (particularly planetary gears on automatic transmissions) as a matter of course. I would expect to see very small dimples in the spline roots if they had been shot peened at the Getrag factory. I can't see them in this photo. That doesn't mean they're not present, it just means I need to find a good jewelers loupe and inspect the input shaft under a strong light.

The reason I'm looking into this is because I want a transaxle that won't break. I was quoted 3500 Euros by Heinz Kluge to build me an 01E with "special" gearsets, a mechanical oil pump as fitted to the EKN box, and my 016 Quaife installed (he said it would require minor machine work to fit). I'm not certain, but it may be the only thing special about his gear sets is shot peening. Possibly better metallurgy, possibly a better heat treat, I don't know. But I figure I could have this box disassembled, the gear carrier deburred, the gears shot peened, the oil pump fitted, and a new Quaife installed for a lot less than what Herr Kluge would charge me. Besides, the Quaife should be a wash, as I will recover that cost when I sell my 016.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to dismantle a perfectly good transaxle to do this. I plan to speak with Dick Shine, who owns Shine Racing, local to me in Walpole, Massachusetts. Shine Racing is a Quaife America dealer and they do a lot of work on Audi race cars. He can probably give me some good advice. I will, at a minimum, have the transaxle cryogenically treated. It only costs about $75, a lot of guys swear cryo treating increases the strength of cast iron parts (like the gear carrier housing), and I don't see a downside to it.



If anybody wants me to take any particular pictures or measurements let me know. I'll weigh these boxes this weekend and post the results. No doubt the 01E is heavier. It is definitely a stronger transaxle.

[Lukas Matzinger]

Congrats Mark that this worked out so nicely for you. Freight really doesnt sound bad at all, and if you compare the price for a basically new transaxle to whats available in the States this was a steal!

Do you have any idea if the Passat boxes are as strong as the A8 boxes and what other differences there might be between the various 01E'S besides gear ratios?

Lukas

[Mike Dozier]

Mark

Are the input shaft extensions (spigot bearing)
the same size? If so, then input splines on the 01E
are way bigger than 016. Or are the splines the same
and the spigot is smaller on the 01E?
thx

MikeD

[Mark Worthington]

Thanks, Lukas. I'm not sure how to tell if this box is stronger than the one in the A8. Given the similarity in so many of the parts (and part numbers), I doubt there's a huge difference between the two. I'm not sure but I think the Passat 01Es have a bellhousing bolt pattern that is identical to the 016, while the Audis may be different.

Mike, I didn't measure the size of the spigot bearing surface on the end of the input shaft, but the 01E splines are definitely bigger. I'll need a new clutch disk.

[Peter Olliviere]

Mark,

When looking at the 016 there are 3 screw in items located on it. I know that the one on the right side by the axel flange is the reverse switch. I'm trying to figure out what the other two are? One is located on the rear cover right side and the other is located on the left side of the transmission by the axel flange.

I am missing the item on the rear cover and need to replace it, and the one on the left which I assume is the speed sensor has the top broken off so I,m not sure of how it connects up.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Peter

[Eric A.]

The screw in item on the rear cover senses when the transmission is in 5th gear and shuts off the up-shift light. The one on the right side is the reverse light switch. The one by the left side output flange is the speedometer drive. This one has a threaded top to accept the speedometer drive cable.

[Ron Earp]

Bigger or not, I still don't see these things having a long life behind a V8 if one hits it hard on the standing start. It really isn't that much bigger nor does it look much stronger in my opinion, but maybe it has larger bearing surfaces etc on the inside would would help. But six gears won't hurt!

I thought RF has/had the pieces needed for this to work, that is, the half-shafts etc?

[Mark Worthington]

Ron, when I asked Heinz Kluge about the 01E versus the 016, he told me it was good for about 100 more hp. A little extra 4340 in the right places can do a lot of good! If nothing else, the gear ratios are MUCH better than the 016.

Robert Logan read this thread and was kind enough to give me a call and explain some of the R&D work RF has done to fit the 01E. He will provide me with a quote for the conversion. The new linkage is probably the trickiest part, I would imagine.

Mike, I measured the spigot bearing surface diameter at the end of the input shaft as .707" (~18 mm) for the 016 and .592" (~15 mm) for the 01E.

For what it's worth, I also measured the front of the input shaft relative to the bellhousing mounting surface at + .590" for the 016 and -.130" for the 01E. Finally, I measured the distance from the output flange to the centerline of the case on both sides of each transaxle:

016: 138 mm RHS, 145 mm LHS (using the trusty eyeball method, the input shaft appears to be a little to the left of the case center line).

01E: 115 mm RHS, 158 mm LHS.

[Edit - All dimensions are approximate. Use them at your own risk.]

[Mike Dozier]

Thanks Mark

Looking forward to hear your critique of the 01E when you get your car on the road. What's your ETA ?

MikeD

[Oliver]

Currently my brand new 01E box is be inspected by Jerry from RF. Preliminary reports show the input shafts and internals are bigger than the 016 box. Quaifee will not work on the 6 speeds 01E's.


Oliver