Differentials - 3.62 - 3.91 - 4.10

[jvit27]

I am surprised to see how most prefer a longer gearing car, shorter gearing makes the car quicker, and peppier enhances the experience, who cares about lap times, that is what got the industry in a down spiral chasing high horsepower and lightning-fast DCT's diluting the experience, why we want 6 speeds if you can't go past 3rd at full song, at that point all you need is a 4spd tranny :P . Just look at 993 Porsches gearing, it was perfect, look at 911's of today, you can only use 2 gears before asking for jail, where is the fun in that? I'd rather use 3-4 gear ratios enjoying a winding road than staying in one gear forever.

the gearbox ratios are indeed spot on, but I do feel the 3rd and 4th gears are unnecessarily long due to the final ratio.

It's a bit of a Catch-22... the S54 revs 500-1000rpm higher than most cars even by today's standards, so if you look at the actual MPH at 6800rpm it's in line with 'perfectly' geared cars. (Would be tragic to shortshift an S54 though!)
The E46 is just a heavier car which is why it doesn't spool up as quick.

Regarding lap times, just having the discussion because it was brought up-- and I don't think it's actually faster, on average (some tracks faster, some tracks slower).

^^^ this

Hypothesizing what is 'faster' on track is anecdotal. Racers will have multiple gearsets and set the car up differenly depending on the specific track. Besides, generally speaking, you don't enter a corner at 7500rpm.

This is in my view a conflicting dislike, people considering a shorter diff also tend to modify other things that make the car more feel-some, stiffer suspension, stiffer mounts, etc. A 4.1 make the car rev 10% higher at 75mph, that is only 300rpm, how can that be is so bad when probably the car is already plagued with feedback from the other mods, 300rpm on an engine that redlines at 8k are pocket change.

3.91 is +/- 300rpm higher at a given rpm.... 4.10 will be +400-500, which in effect, is roughly 1 gear higher so it's not just a matter of driving around at 7700 vs 8000.

[M3mike]

I am surprised to see how most prefer a longer gearing car, shorter gearing makes the car quicker, and peppier enhances the experience, who cares about lap times, that is what got the industry in a down spiral chasing high horsepower and lightning-fast DCT's diluting the experience, why we want 6 speeds if you can't go past 3rd at full song, at that point all you need is a 4spd tranny :P . Just look at 993 Porsches gearing, it was perfect, look at 911's of today, you can only use 2 gears before asking for jail, where is the fun in that? I'd rather use 3-4 gear ratios enjoying a winding road than staying in one gear forever.

the gearbox ratios are indeed spot on, but I do feel the 3rd and 4th gears are unnecessarily long due to the final ratio.

This is exactly my thoughts on going to a 3.91. I dont care about highway crusing rpms at 100mph in 6th gear I care about the fun I am having on twisty backroads.

[old///MFanatic]

I think 6th gear is already too short, stock, so 10% more RPMs is seriously annoying to me. And, my average cruising speed on the highway is generally 100-120 not 75...

Geez, AVERAGE 100-125mph highway! You really should open with that info.

[/M3]

While the 3.91 will have advantages on some tracks, the 4.10 will also have advantages on other tracks.

From a street driving perspective though, the 4.10 gearing will provide a acceleration bump that I believe no other N/A mod will give. It really transforms the car in that sense. Some mentioned about the 1st gear… I don’t think we spend much time in 1st gear, other than taking off.

At the end of the day there is no such thing as the best one. Each gearing will serve a different purpose for different individual. I am more than pleased with my Dinan 4.10. And being a CSL flashed SMG car makes it extra pleasing.

Now if you are a constant highway cruiser, don’t even think about changing your stock gearing. You will regret it and that’s guarantee.