Why Mendeola for Transaxle?

February 16, 2019

Mid engine cars requires a combined Transmission & Differential (Axle)…a la Transaxle.  There’s lots of choices, but each is unique…Mendeola is considered the Top of the Line and is used extensively in various forms of racing.

Factory Five GTM: Similar layout/look as a GT40, and many use Mendeola

-Our Specific Configuration: S5R, 5 speed sequential
       -Sequential: if you’ve ever ridden a motorcycle, then you know how cool a sequential transmission is!!  
       -Clutch LSD: Many mid engine cars have open differentials (ie. Porsche 911’s) as the engine weight is also over the drive wheels…but with ~600HP on tap, we’ll be in need of a real LSD.
-Straight cut gears: 1st to 4th will be Straight Cut (Spur) gears…it’ll be a bit louder with their inherent whine, but they are stronger (far less axial forces) and cheaper…and they also sound cool!
-Helical 5th gear: we opted for a quieter top gear for cruising… -Mendeola have various bell housing adapters & clutches to mate with most engines, the LS is straight forward for them

Straight Cut gears: looks as it sounds…simple, effective, stronger, cheaper. Only downside is the whine. (often times your reverse gear is straight cut…which is why it whines)
Standard Helical cut gears, which is what you’ll find in all production cars. You can visualize that as the gears transfer TQ, the angled faces would also provide an axial load…thus the need for stronger internals to handle the higher forces.
Factory Five GTM CEO showing off the Mendeola!
Baja offroad race teams also use Mendeola
Ultima GTR – another home built supercar that will often times use Mendeola

-Other options: a Mid-engine’d transaxle is typically in higher end cars…Audi R8, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche…

                -The Audi, Ferrari, Lambo transaxles are harder to find (their productions #’s a far lower), and tend to be expensive…and then require more leg work to mate with a different engine.

                -The Porsche 911 transaxles (996/997 or older) are designed for ~350HP, but known to be fairly reliable up to 500.  But in a 911, the engine is in the back…so you have to turn it around, and then flip it up-side-down; in doing so, most add an oil pump to continually take the transmission oil and inject it back on top (to the portion that was normally covered in oil).  By the time you want something reliable for ~600HP, you’re looking at the Turbo/GT2/3 versions, and will easily hit $20K for a refurbished unit all-in. 

Specs on the “S5 Sequential Road Race” Transaxle:
-LS bell housing for 9″clutch pack
-1st -5th gear ratios: 2.57, 1.71, 1.19, .90, .70H
-5th Helical cut gear for street use (quieter for freeway cruising)
-3.56 final drive.
-Torque Biasing LSD
-Engine Max RPM rpm @ ~6,200rpm & Tire height: “315/35/17 rear tires which are 26”