what is meant by 3.91 diff?

Need technical Q/A then you're in the right place

Moderator: martauto

noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:10 am

what does it mean? how much should i be paying for one of these
Ziggy
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 11534
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: floating round my tin can...

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:28 am

3.91's the ratio - one that'll give you fairly low gearing (may actually seem higher, depending on what you're coming from, of course). Common ratios are 4.10, 3.91, 3.73, 3.64. The higher the number, the lower the overall gearing, ie the higher then engine speed will be for a given road speed.

Higher numbers (lower gearing) will in most cases give better low end acceleration at the cost of higher revs on the motorway & increased fuel consumption.

& as for what it's worth, none of the open diffs are worth much (Ԛ£40 maybe?) but it's Ԛ£200 - Ԛ£250 for a LSD.

HTH :cool:
E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
SPADGE
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 7373
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:13 am

3.91 revolutions of the drive shafts for every 1 revolution of the prop
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:10 pm

so for my 325 what diff i ratio i want?
maxfield
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 15185
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mansfield

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:14 pm

3.91
3.73
3.64

maybe 3.46
Image
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:21 pm

so the lower ratio i get the more juice she will use
maxfield
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 15185
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mansfield

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:25 pm

noney82 wrote:so the lower ratio i get the more juice she will use
3.91 will use more juice than 3.64 i.e
If in 5th with 3.91 its revving at 4k at 70 with 3.64 it will rev lower i.e 3.5k revs

Make sense?
Image
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:28 pm

iv been offered a 3.91 shall i pass on it then??
maxfield
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 15185
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mansfield

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:30 pm

LSD? limited slip differental
Image
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:32 pm

yeah
maxfield
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 15185
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mansfield

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:33 pm

I don't see why not you may have 3.91 open diff now im not too sure about them
Image
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:34 pm

i cant find any id on diff i got now so i dont know what mine is
User avatar
Gunni
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2115
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Oxford

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:50 pm

raise the back end, rotate the driveshaft and count the rotation of the tires,
With great challenges comes great engineering.

Gunni
@ 2012 VEMS group buy !!
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:51 pm

Gunni wrote:raise the back end, rotate the driveshaft and count the rotation of the tires,
dont follow
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:50 pm

He means, chock the front wheels, jack the back end up with the car in neutral and the handbrake off so that one rear wheel is off the ground. Mark the propshaft with a strike of chalk or a piece of tape. Then rotate the rear wheel, counting the amount of wheel revolutions, or part revolutions until the prop has completed a full revolution. For example, if the wheel goes around nearly four times then it's a 3.91.

It may be a good idea to mark part of the wheel as well so you can clearly identify a full revolution)

Not exact science but if done carefully it will give you a good idea what you have.
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:53 pm

ahhhhhhh i seee now lol silly me, how about knowing if its lsd
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:55 pm

Jack up rear end until both wheels are in the air. Turn one back wheel and if the other wheel spins in the opposite direction then it's an open diff. Cool?
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:58 pm

ok i will look into that, so lsd's are all the rage thn
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:12 pm

so lsd's are all the rage thn
"Would Sir like one black line or two?" :teehee:
noney82
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1102
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: manchester, stockport

Post Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:13 pm

lol its all new to me, lsd are good for grip aint they
User avatar
reggid
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1984
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Oz

Post Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:40 am

SPADGE wrote:3.91 revolutions of the drive shafts for every 1 revolution of the prop
its getting late here but doesn't it mean for every 3.91 rotations of the input the output (driveshaft) turns 1 rotation?
maxfield
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 15185
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Mansfield

Post Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:46 am

I thought it was 1 turn of the input shaft. then it would be 3.91 turns of the output shaft???
Image
old_skool
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 3405
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Glossersure

Post Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:47 am

Other way round
User avatar
Brianmoooore
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 49360
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm

Post Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:16 pm

If you're going to count it with an open diff, you need to jam one wheel still, and just count the other wheel.
With a 3.91 diff, twenty turns of the propshaft will turn one wheel 10.23 turns. (20/3.91 X 2).