2004 2005 Touareg to BHW potential swap

[50harleyrider]

Has anyone contemplated doing that or is it not feasible? There are a lot of those Touaregs out there and some are pretty nice and cheap. I bet the tranny would be a problem. The Touaregs are heavy but if you're not racing, wouldn't a nice stage 2 tuned BHW move it arround OK? I have a complete donor tdi passat and would hope a Touareg of the same era might be doable. Your feedback would be appreciated. I would even consider using the GMR tranny and making it FWD for awhile.

 

[oilhammer]

The T'reg is not like a car. You couldn't really use any FWD (even longitudinal) transmission in one. They are arranged like a conventional pickup truck, with an old fashioned transfer case at the far end of the transmission, and a driveshaft coming back forwards to the front differential that is a separate component living UNDER the engine's oil pan.

The BHW would be taxed pretty hard moving one around, too, as they are so heavy.... even the 240hp 3.6L VR6 is using all of its RPM range and every ratio that Toyota transmission has to get its 2.5 tons moving.

In Europe, the base engine (with a proper manual box) was a 2.5L 5 cyl TDI, the T'reg unique one that was sort of half of the V10, not the same 2.5L I5 TDI that the Transporters and Crafters got. The T'reg one is not a belt driven OHC setup, nor chain, but gears, like the V10. And it was designed specifically to be somewhat "short" as to fit above the steering gear and front axle.

If you wanted to swap a BHW into something "similar" looking, but mechanically more the same, the Audi Q5 or that little Porsche version, which is basically the Audi A4 platform, a direct lineage evolution from the B5 Passat. And the BHW would probably bolt right on to the ZF autobox (you would have to use that, as they moved the axle to between the engine and torque converter).

Or you could just buy a Q5 TDI...

 

[50harleyrider]

Will look into a Q5 as I have contemplated an A4 of the B7 platform. I even went so far as to buy one of those and my big 70 year old ass just didn't like folding and unfolding in and out of it so I sold it before doing the swap. I made a scan of facebook marketplace and it looks like a 2010 or newer Q5 is my only option so a BHW is probably out of the question. Thanks Oilhammer. Your a lifesaver as usual.