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The G-50 is not manufactured in-house at Porsche, it is made by Getrag. As are current transaxles for the C-5 Corvette. The decision to go to the G-50 and later versions in current use was an economic one not an engineering one ... contrary to the MYTH that 'there were problems with the synchronizers!'
All of the sports racing cars from the 550 Spyder thru the 1500 hp 917-30 Can-Am car used the Porsche synchromesh system as did a number of Ferrari production models, and that does not represent a frivolous decison!
The Porsche synchromesh is an elegant one, as it depends on friction to slow the parts involving the shifting until speeds are matched before engagement can occur. Grinding cannot occur until the synchronizers are worn, and represent severe wear and breakage of operating sleeve teeth or the dog-teeth pressed onto each major gear that are engaged by the operating sleeve.
The simple fact that the original 917 transaxle was tough enough to handle hp loads from 560 hp to more than 1500 hp is testament to the fact that Porsche engineers were perfectly able to design transaxles for high power levels! The accountants made the decision to go to the G-50 family of out-sourced gearboxes. While not a completely irreversible decision, engineers lost to attrition, retirement and moves to other organizations ... did represent a loss in the Porsche enginerring experience level and 'culture' not immediately replaceable!
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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa
1992 Dodge Dakota 5.2 4X4 parts hauler
[This message has been edited by Early_S_Man (edited 10-23-2001).]
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