The big deal with cylinder pressure is not in making absolute power. The difference between an 8/1 engine and an 11/1 engine might amount to 1 cam size on a 400 hp engine.
Rather, the big deal is what happens from idle to ~3500rpm, at Part Throttle. You can run a lot of cylinder pressure in that zone, and have a dynomite combo, where an 8/1 combo could be a complete and utter lazy POS.
Like said;
The short version is: its pointless because power is always in the COMBO.
Streeters are a special kind of challenge.Especially a manual trans combo. They have to operate from idle to say 6000 rpm. This is a nearly impossible deal.
Whereas an automatic might use a 2400 to 3000 stall TC, making a crappy combo seem better than it is.
With a manual trans streeter, it is gonna be spending a lotta lotta time in that idle to 3500rpm window, so to make it fun to drive, it needs a generous amount of cylinder pressure down there. 130 to 140psi is gonna be a frustrating experience. Over 170psi is gonna make a great combo, but generally too much bottom end, rather a lot more than you need.
IMO 155 to 165psi with a 360 is plenty strong enough. But with a 318, youkindof need all you can find...
The thing is this; if you sacrifice too much Ica to get the pressure, then the power goes away at the top.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a delicate balancing act, but it kindof is. And more cubic inches is less critical/ more tolerant of a mismatch.
If you have a manual trans, then, IMO, a 360 is better able to hit more targets, than a smaller engine. You can give up more cylinder pressure,with a bigger cam, to get more top-end power, before the bottom end gets lazy.
Whereas, a 318 is very quickly gonna get doggy with the falling pressure.
