Similar thinking..... I think of straddling the torque peak because:
- Torque is what accelerates the car, regardless of the HP numbers; keeping the torque numbers as high as you can over time is the goal
- Straddling the HP peak means that the torque to the wheels will fall off at the upper end of the operating RPM range, versus what it could be operating lower down
I'm pretty sure that the HP curve, as it changes quickly over time, produces a misleading view in terms of energy put into the car. The HP curve of the engine is partly do to RPM changes, not real energy put into the car. (But I gotta think about this more....)
