I understand what 273 is saying.
But hi reving motors are expensive to setup and most people are buiding street strip cars . Who wants to run down the hiway with 4.88 gears?
I use 4.56's and have since 1980. I made a ton of money off of fools who had no gear and couldn't leave. Hell, I taught a friend to drive his 70 Challenger. It was a 440 4 speed with a 4.10 Dana. He was a slow learner with shifting but he got to where he was good enough.
I came home on leave from the Army and we all ended up drinking at a park we used to hang at. A few beers and he got to running his mouth. Wanted me to go get my car. I said not until you beat the car I came down here in...a 1970 Firebird with a 326 and a 2 bbl. The bet was a trunk full of beer to the winner.
Needless to say, that no HP Pontiac would hook in a car wash. I got out on him and he panicked. After he gathered it up it was too late.
We came back to the park with a trunk full of beer on ice.
The point is it ain't about horsepower all the time. It's about getting the system together.