How good are the 8.8 rear ends?

[MiracleMax]

Ditto, a fully prepped 8.8 can take some serious abuse! its more or less akin to a chevy 12 bolt diff.

I certainly think that it could easily withstand 600 or more hp with a girdle, heavy duty carrier and some heavy duty axles.

The big benefit to running an 8.8 over a 9 inch is the increased efficiency the 8.8 has over the 9 inch rear end. for people with deep pockets and limitless HP this isn't an issue, but if your like 99.999999999999999999 percent of the people out there, then your looking to extract every last bit of usable power from your rearend then the 8.8 becomes pretty attractive.