The '2' in the 42RLE was a bump up in torque capacity. It was closer to the LH transaxle (42LE) which was a step higher in torque rating than the 41TE.
The 'R' designated it as RWD.
It was a fairly good transmission and could handle the torque of the 3.7L. The guts were mostly the same as the transverse/longitudinal transaxles, but put into a RWD/4WD housing.
It cut the development time on a rear-drive fully electronic transmission and saved the company lots of money.