why not look at a Honda Odessey 1500cc fourpot engine and 5spd box...? these weigh about 400kg and even have a reverse gear - about the same weight there as an SAE car.

the odesseys are shaft drive, so you could adapt any kind of automotive application IRS diff to it and 'just' have a tailshaft made to suit by VEEM or whoever.

chains are fine, but stretch could become an issue in a vehicle of that weight and could cause all kinds of drama.

pro-240c, i believe that the rules are that no car in the competion can be over 600 cc, so a 1500cc motor would be tottaly out of the question.

hmmm, with only 600cc and a rear mounted engine, good suspension design and good quality race rubber, i don't think you'd even bother with an LSD. you should be able to generate enough mechanical grip so that an LSD is largely redundant, so it would just be unneccessary weight. In fact, I'd be a little surprised if anyone bothered running a diff in F SAE? just chain drive the axle.

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oh okay i didn't know that - sorry.

maybe you could work out an adaptor plate setup to run the odyssey box with the 600cc engine? i mean, if it's all honda they might compatible with spline numbers / shaft sizes etc.

actually... the 650cc fiat nikis have a VW style transaxle. i've seen one these little transaxles take a pounding, so maybe an adaptor plate to hook up to that instead could solve your gearbox AND diff problems.

that is of course, if everything is compatible.

alternatively, you could fix a sprocket to a horizontally mounted shaft with bearing caps at either end. then run some unis / CVs off the ends of them and run some solid bar for axles either side.

go see Richard at Apollo Bearings in Malaga. he's working out my steering linkages atm for the rack and pinion conversion using hook joints so talk to him about your drive issues and the sizes you require and he'll be able to recommend a course of action.

Go to google and search for info on the jedi hillclimb cars. I think they adapt a mini diff

also, check these guys...

Hillclimb special

that's pretty much exactly what i was talking about. that's a trick piece of engineering!

400 kg?????????????????????????????

Dude...we don't build tanks!!!

Formula SAE cars weight between 160 - 280 kg without driver

Most teams do run diffs to help the cars go around the extremely tight corners..

Although the team that finished 3rd last year was diffless.

And chain stretch is not a problem as the cars travel less than 50 km during the competition.

And my name is not Brett. Brett hangs out at ozdat.

i might be a little off the mark here cause ive never had any thing to do with uni (i drove past one once) but is the problem ur have chain driving a diff because of the change of drive directions? wouldn't u be able to just turn the engine 90 degrees and drive straight down onto drive shaft through cv and onto what ever irs style diff u can come up with this might be cheaper than buying one of those flash hill climb ones? could be wrong
what sort of course do u do at uni where u can make race cars? sounds like i should have done something with my self at school

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no sh1t! that light?! well, then 600cc doesn't seem all that small then!!

i guess the diff would help around those hairpins - but what does your budget look like? maybe it's something you could forego and learn to drive around?