OK I might be getting it; I see NE PA is hill- country. What elevation are your "Hills"? That is a really big deal.
The 204/214 probably power peaks at or somewhere near 4600 and probably has a 400 rpm plateau. Thus making the shift rpm near 5000 before the power starts to tank. It will depend a bit on the LSA and the rest of the combo.
By 2000 ft elevation, I can see the torque at 2500 beginning to be an issue. By 3000ft the engine-torque is dropping. With a clutch, there is no TM(Torque Multiplication) addition as there would be with a TC, so the engine has to do it all. With engine rpm falling simultaneously with rising altitude, and going rich on the climb.... I get it, and I get how 10 to 20 degrees less intake duration would very nicely pump up the torque, at Part Throttle. If you do a lot of this type of driving, I can understand why you choose to install the Rhoads, on a combo that normally would never need them.
I live on a 930 ft prairie ,that with few exceptions is of similar altitude for hundreds of miles in every direction, especially to the West,lol. So sometimes my thinking is somewhat narrow. Thanks for the additional information.
