I agree with this except the ratios part.
Ratios matter. Bore to stroke ratios matter. Rod to stroke ratios matter. That’s because both affect cam timing. A higher r/s ratio requires much different cam timing than a lower r/s ratio. Racer Brown wrote a really good paper on this. I have a copy somewhere. It can be found if you search for it.
Bore to stroke ratio matters for the same thing. And over square engine won’t take the same cam timing as an under square engine will want.
There are other rules that apply, like the 85% rule for the exhaust port. The rules for throat percentages for different valve job angles. Those are very important and they are essentially ratios. There is also the percentage of valve size per inch of bore, which changes depending on the valve configuration.
So ratios matter. I know many argue that r/s ratio doesn’t matter, but it does. Get it too high and you have to close up the cross section on the intake port to get any air speed at all. Get the ratio too low and it will beat the skirts off the pistons.
While one can say set your bore size and then your stroke length and then pick rod length because the ratio doesn’t matter, that’s only partially correct. You have to account for the above mentioned factors.
That’s why when I see tests where something major changes like stroke length and cam timing isn’t accounted for I just take the results with a grain of salt.
Hell, r/s ratio affects ignition timing. That needs to be accounted for as well.