2.93 LSD with Stock M44/5-Speed ? HELP

[lbthe3rd]

Has anyone here ever run a 2.93 rear with the stock Getrag 1:1 5th gear tranny and a stock M44? I am currently in the process of doing a 5 speed swap, and have all the components except the rear. I have the stock auto small case 4.44 open rear, and I have a parts e30 car with a medium case S 2,93 rear. It would be nice to have a clutch type LSD and I would like to improve fuel economy (Will be DD'ing this car approx 40-50 miles a day-mostly highway). I am just terrified that with that tall of a gear and the stock M44 engine, the car won't be able to get out of its own way.

Please let me know your thoughts on the matter and any relevant experience.

All the Best,
Louis

[jimmypet]

I am running that exact same combination and diff in my Ti.

Its awesome for my purpose, which is as a highway commuter car. My job takes me on many 100 + mile routes to job sites.
I HATED the 3.46 at 80 MPH.
My cruise RPMS are now down to around 3000 RPMs in 5th gear at approx ~80 MPH cruise speed. Gas mileage is over 30MPG at that speed, and if I want to run 90 I can, before with the 3.46 I was not comfortable running down the highway at those RPMS for hours.

Yes you will end up winding out each gear a little more to accelerate quickly, but I do not think it really hampers the car on a driving basis. I expected the M44 to take more of a hit to the fun department than it did. Its actually still pretty darn fun to drive.
Around town you will find that you are simply down 1 gear than you used to be. 1st and 2nd are now useable around town.
With the stock 3.46 1st gear just evaporated and so did 2nd, 3rd gear was the around town gear.
On the highway same thing, 4th gear will get you to where 5th used to, 5th is now like having a whole extra gear on the highway.

If you enjoy stoplight to stoplight running then its probably not for you (but then again, a stock M44 probably isn't either), but for me in a highway commuter car it was the perfect change from stock.

[derekkg]

I was running this exact same set up. I really liked it. My highway gas mileage went up by about 2 mpg, and I think I was turning a little under 3000 at 80 mph, which is a lot more comfortable. You can downshift to 3rd to pass at highway speeds to to make up for the less torque. 4th gear is very nearly identical to what your old 5th gear was (3.57 for the new 4th vs 3.45 for the old 5th). So you can have that same passing power available, while having a higher gear for cruising.

For me, the limited slip also helped it feel quicker, maybe its just because I had bad tires, but the 3.45 couldn't put all the power down since it was open and could often spin a wheel.

Another big thing I noticed was on long road trips, I used to notice the motor just buzzing away, especially if I wasn't driving. The 2.93 really quiets down the engine noise.

I made a spreadsheet with graphs that you can look at here. I originally made this for my M52 swap, but since I swapped the diff about 2 months before the motor, I compared the m44 with the 3.45 and 2.93 as well. I attached the relevant graph, but there is some more information in the spreadsheet if you want to check the whole thing out here:
http://1drv.ms/QNw7CN

[blatant]

Those with the s2.93 are you running your stock axles? Just swap the output flanges on the diff?

[jimmypet]

I did a complete E30 axle swap.
I can't see in a million years how you can do it without but I read on here that people have done it.

[blatant]

That is what I was leaning towards. Wasn't sure if I was able to run the ti axles with the diff swap. Thanks for the response.