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Lambo Transaxle ??? tell me more bud... Which model car did that come from..
The transaxle came out of the Lamborghini Gallardo, I believe around a 2004 or 2006 model. It used the adapter plates from Race Car Replicas, the makers of the SL-C kit car. I got the adapter plate and blank flywheel from Fran at RCR, had the 8-bolt pattern machined into it, then sent off the flywheel to David Norton at SPEC clutches and he had the flywheel machined to accept his full billet clutch assembly and modified the flywheel to use a replaceable friction plate, making the entire system serviceable.
The shifter box is out of the Gallardo too, uses stock Lamborghini shifting cables.
I had to modify the main frame a bit to make clearance for the transaxle, as it was much larger than the Porsche unit that was in it prior.
Here is the Lambo unit along side the Porsche:
Here is the modified subframe that I had to make from scratch to accommodate the larger tail end of the transaxle.
So after 14 months, the car finally started for the first time. The car originally had a stock 02 LS1, Porsche transaxle. Did 333hp to the wheels.
Now the car has an LSX376, twin 6266 turbos, Precision 46mm wastegates and a pair of 64mm blow off valves, Lingenfelter intercooled intake, all custom piping done by me, fabricated and tacked, then final welding done by a local guy. All of this mated to a Lamborghini transaxle.
Are there any other transaxle options out there that are cheaper? Can you purchase BUILT porsche transaxles? I plan on a FF GTM build some day but that transaxle price would be hard to swallow.
The car looks AMAZING, congratulations! Love the color btw
Are there any other transaxle options out there that are cheaper? Can you purchase BUILT porsche transaxles? I plan on a FF GTM build some day but that transaxle price would be hard to swallow.
The car looks AMAZING, congratulations! Love the color btw
The lambo is the best option for anything over 1000whp. My buddy did a lot of shopping around for these when he made a selection for his LS lotus build. Dallas performance sells a package for right at 18k.
The lambo is the best option for anything over 1000whp. My buddy did a lot of shopping around for these when he made a selection for his LS lotus build. Dallas performance sells a package for right at 18k.
When just the trans axle costs more than my entire build and car lol.
I built a number of these cars with a crazy doctor as my financier. I ran the company that built the car on Speed Channel Battle of the Supercars.
The use of the Lambo transmission is definitely interesting, but I can't say I'd go that route, just due to availability of repair parts.
The last one I built was at SEMA 2010 with a twin turbo LS3. We used a fully built Porsche transmission with cryo treated gears and had about 15k into the transmission. The guy that built it was out of Arizona. I exploded a number of G50's on just stock LS2's, they don't hold up well to LSx torque.
The mendeola is definitely the way to go, but again, costly. I also did a Ricardo, but they are hard to come by, but essentially bulletproof. With GM building a mid-engine car here shortly, hopefully our problems finding a mid-engine kit car V8 compatible transmission are over.
This was the LS3 car
LS2 car with a G50 next to it...was my daily driver for a while.
The Speed Channel Car...our first one.
Of interesting note, through some various channels, we almost had this car sold to Jay Leno. Due to...issues with my partner, that deal fell through. If you look at Jays Ford GT (and his paint scheme he chose), it's dead on to this car...orange on the seats and all. I had to chuckle a bit. I feel it has to be what led him to that scheme. The GTM is a Ford GT all the way, just uglier...lol.
I built a number of these cars with a crazy doctor as my financier. I ran the company that built the car on Speed Channel Battle of the Supercars.
The use of the Lambo transmission is definitely interesting, but I can't say I'd go that route, just due to availability of repair parts.
The last one I built was at SEMA 2010 with a twin turbo LS3. We used a fully built Porsche transmission with cryo treated gears and had about 15k into the transmission. The guy that built it was out of Arizona. I exploded a number of G50's on just stock LS2's, they don't hold up well to LSx torque.
The mendeola is definitely the way to go, but again, costly. I also did a Ricardo, but they are hard to come by, but essentially bulletproof. With GM building a mid-engine car here shortly, hopefully our problems finding a mid-engine kit car V8 compatible transmission are over.
This was the LS3 car
LS2 car with a G50 next to it...was my daily driver for a while.
The Speed Channel Car...our first one.
Of interesting note, through some various channels, we almost had this car sold to Jay Leno. Due to...issues with my partner, that deal fell through. If you look at Jays Ford GT (and his paint scheme he chose), it's dead on to this car...orange on the seats and all. I had to chuckle a bit. I feel it has to be what led him to that scheme. The GTM is a Ford GT all the way, just uglier...lol.
The lambo trans axle has plenty of aftermarket support these days and parts can be found just about anywhere. Albeit pricey they can be had. With that said they are miles stronger than the Porsche Trans axle.
With the ugr community and turbo'ing gallardo's I'm sure you're right I suppose. I never seeked out that transmission specifically.
Doing some quick searching I see Fran from RCR now has a deal with the Graziano transaxles...so that's quite an interesting development. 10k bucks if you buy an SLC.
Go SLC all day over the GTM...GTM's are trash, coming from someone who has lots of seat time in them. Lot's of issues to overcome with those kits, versus something like the SLC...no comparison.
With the ugr community and turbo'ing gallardo's I'm sure you're right I suppose. I never seeked out that transmission specifically.
Doing some quick searching I see Fran from RCR now has a deal with the Graziano transaxles...so that's quite an interesting development. 10k bucks if you buy an SLC.
Go SLC all day over the GTM...GTM's are trash, coming from someone who has lots of seat time in them. Lot's of issues to overcome with those kits, versus something like the SLC...no comparison.
that's a super cool/crazy story. I'd love to have a car with the motor over the rear wheels for street traction like that. Always super jealous of the porsches for that. one of these days I'll build some insane kit car like one of those.
What made you go with the lambo transaxle instead of the Mendeola?
I apologize about the lack of response. I've had some deaths in the family and I've had to put the car in storage for a while. I just purchased a new house though and will be working to get this car back on the road. I had an issue with the custom clutch setup and believe I traced it down to the clutch being pre-loaded, which caused me to spin the clutch. Long story short, I have to pull it apart, but waiting on the pallet racking in the new garage before I bring over the lift and the GTM to the new house.
Anyways. There was a couple reasons why I went with the Graziano trans instead of a Mendeola:
First: Lead times. There were many people having issues with long wait times with Mendeola transaxles. It looks like it's been better lately, but at the time, people were waiting in excess of a year for their trans. That's too much idle time for me.
Second: Power handling. Places like Dallas Performance and UGR have had nice luck with the Graziano transaxles holding up to some pretty incredible power levels. The Mendeolas can be built to handle quite a bit of power, but with that comes with higher costs and potentially longer lead times.
Lastly: Unique factor and the challenge. No one had yet managed to put one of the Graziano transaxles into the GTM. Fran had been doing it for a while with the SLC's, and it took some convincing to allow me to purchase the components, but most of what I have done on this GTM is DIY and I've had to teach myself along the way. I bought a Bridgeport mill just to make parts. I've never touched a milling machine before in my life. I just taught myself various things such as machining, fabrication, welding, etc. There was obviously a lot of custom components in this, and it allowed to fill that need while also ending up with something that no one else has. I personally find that a bonus because there's nothing worse than driving into a car show where other people have the same thing you do and there's nothing to make your car stand out. Even if I run across another GTM (which I have locally), I can say that mine is quite different from the others out there and being the first to do it........just a personal accomplishment.
Are there any other transaxle options out there that are cheaper? Can you purchase BUILT porsche transaxles? I plan on a FF GTM build some day but that transaxle price would be hard to swallow.
The car looks AMAZING, congratulations! Love the color btw
You can use the Porsche G96 transaxles and they can be modded to handle quite a bit of power. However, you're looking at a hefty price tag and it didn't give me that unique factor that I was going for. Another guy locally has a 700hp Katech engine mated to a G96 that has been setup to handle the torque he's putting out. So since it's already been done, I wanted a different route.
It is a VERY expensive route, but still cheaper than something like a Ricardo.
07-28-2015, 12:49 PM
