[RickB]

The new Road & Track has a test of some of the Cooper S's primary competition, and I took special interest in the Focus SVT's speeds in gear. The gearing seems quite a bit shorter, and I wonder how difficult it would be to swap gears? It seems like an easier/cheaper way than engine modifications, to to get better performance. The Focus ratios are (overall) 12.79, 7.69, 5.65, 4.59, 3.83, 3.11, with final drives of 2.88:1, and 4.25:1. The Focus is doing 67mph at redline (7200) in second, while the S is doing something over 70 at lower rpm's? How different are the ratios (or maybe, which gears are different?), between the S and the Focus?