OK guys over the last few weeks I have been umming and arring about if I should change my diff ratios. A couple of factors have fueled this.

1) The weak link in my car is gonna be the std front diff size. Even though I have a quaife thickwall caseing, with a shot peened and polished CWP and an ATB, we all saw what Kev Sharp did to his . The only other option is to go for the 7" R&D front diff that comes with the std ratio. But you all know how I feel about R&D and the fact that if the company was on fire, I wouldn't give them the steam off my piss.

2) With my R&D box, I never ever used 6th gear on track as it was just to long. The fastest straight I have been down is the back end of Bedford and I have pulled just over 160 down there and that was the top end of 5th with the R&D ratios. Martin is the same here as well.

Now don't get me wrong both Mine and Martins cars would absolutly bang through the gears with the R&D ratios and the cars both felt electric. But the compromise that we make just for a high top speed I feel is to much.

So I have knocked the top speed lark on the head.

I have now decided to go 4.44 diff ratios. As the choice of diffs is good and readily available.

Yesterday I bought a newly rebuilt (in fact it is still at Bernies) Ford Motorsport 9" rear diff with 4.44 ratio, and I also bought a 7 1/2" Ford motorsport front diff, complete with Magnesium sump and all the whistles and bells, this also has a 4.44 ratio. Obviously strength for both diffs should not be an issue and the now shorter final drive gearing is gonna make the car foooookin animal through the gears!!!!!

My OS Geiken ratio's aren't a million miles away from the R&D ratios, so below you can see the differences in speeds through the gears. These are with my OS Geiken ratios:

4.44 Gear 3.62

52 1 63
76 2 92
103 3 125
129 4 157
156 5 190
184 6 223

As you can see with the 3.62 ratio at Donno I would probably never need more than 4th, with the odd snick into 5th, and at bedford only 5th. My car is gonna be a bit more powerful so say my bedford speed goes up 10mph, I am nicely into 6th with the 4.44 and useing all the gears to there best, where as with the 3.62 I would still be in 5th.

Steve Scott has 4.44 diffs in his Escort and I don't think anyone would call that slow would they, and lets not forget he has a 1:1 top ratio so his top speed at Donno was only about 130mph, which he was reaching by the Dunlop bridge down the back straight. The fact that I have an over driven top gear and a few more revs, gives me a better top speed and i feel more driveability.

I was always building the car to be a track day warrior with qtr's and top speed being an after thought. And I guess if push comes to shove and I want to do a top speed run, I can just change the back diff and run it in Rear wheel drive mode for the top speed run.

Anyway, what does everyone else think???

Sean..