8 or 9 tooth avid drivers?

[sleddingfarmer]

I'm going to extend my 09 SE to a 144 and I've decided to put some avid extroverts in as well as long as I'm down there. Just wondering what everyone thinks about putting 8 tooth or 9 tooth drivers in? Right now it goes about 100mph, but I would be fine with it only going like 90 and accelerating a little quicker.
So I'm just wondering how much would 8 tooths slow me down? and would it make it quicker?
I dont care about going 100mph, my old sled did 90 tops and i kept up just fine.
Maybe I'm thinking totally wrong, feel free to straighten me out.
Thanks guys

 

[arteeex]

Dropping a tooth on the drivers will increase your sled’s acceleration and decrease the "theoretical" top end by about 10%. You may need to fiddle with the clutching to make the most of the smaller drivers.

Also, dropping a tooth on the driver will cause your engine to run at a higher RPMs, as compared to the 9-tooth in similar circumstances.

 

[ahicks]

The ONLY advantage to going with the smaller drivers would be increased tunnel/heat exchanger clearance. The larger driver would offer more effeciency (sp?) by taking less power to pull the track over them. Otherwise, you're usually further ahead messing with your gearing to make any changes.

 

[Throttle Jockey]

I run 8 tooth drivers, and all is good a little tinkering with gearing and clutching has been done also, I tend to ride tight trails, ditches, and off trail. So I had to do gear work anyways . The main reasons I run 8t is for clearence & paid almost nothing for the drivers.

 

[Alatalo]

Like ahicks says - you want to run as big drivers as possible without running into clearance problems between track and tunnel or track and heat exchanger. There is no advantage in running smaller drivers. If you are only looking for a gear ratio change, this can be achieved by changing sprocets inside the chaincase.

 

[sleddingfarmer]

I was hoping to leave the gearing alone, but maybe going with 9 tooth extros and gearing down would be better.
Thanks for the info.