4K vs. 2Y, not much difference?

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

> (hey, the same is true in reverse with regards to brakes, I 
> love shooting at that one too :-) )

Surely you're not talking about the MK2 beastie GRM car... I was half tempted to start sucking on the vacuum line myself as those
autocross cones came closer and closer :)

> Keeping 1-5th gears the same, attached to same engine, a 3.94 
> R&P makes more torque at the tires then a 3.67 - everywhere.  
> The multiplier is higher numerically, lower in ratio.  (this 
> is for those in the crowd that might not be following along, 
> Dan already knows all this obviously).

Careful here.  I've run sims on this, and for some 'styles' of torque curves, the wider ratio wins in the 1/4 - because of the 1-2
wshift occuring later (earlier acceleration = better), and because of there being one less necessary gear change.

> Ah, but does the lower maximum speed in a particular gear 
> (due to redline restrictions) and higher RPMs bother the 
> driver, and does the increased acceleration due to the higher 
> torque output offset the lower overall speed when measuring 
> the time it took to reach that speed?  And that's what I 
> wanted to work out again using a vehical dynamics calculator tool.
> 
> We kind of got off on a tangent when I tried to express 
> optimal shift points using far too simplistic language that 
> is *not* related expressly to engine torque,
> but rather torque through the driveline to the edge of the wheel.   
> This translates
> to the maximum *power* that the car makes as measured at the 
> tires in any given gear.
> 
> As Dan said, power is a term expressly used to denote the 
> effect of the driveline and is more accurate but it's 
> connotation is not commonly understood.  Torque is more 
> understood, but it takes qualifications to say where it's 
> being measured at.

Torque and Power are both as interchangable at the flywheel as they are at the wheels.  Driveline losses can be reverse-translated
into a decrease in torque (vs. power) at the wheels.  Granted there are slight differences from gear-to-gear due to transmission
design (this delta is typically negilgable compared to the overall losses), but those differences cause a difference in both torque
and power.

...or am I off-base here?

Al