when i think of pump gas truly street engines; i think of in town and highway both. the more versatile the engine needs to be the more performance compromises there will be. i give up power for reliability and low maintenance; some folks won't give-up a nickles worth. it's just choices. there's a guy who lives around here that has a '66 chevelle with a really big big block. big compression, cam, and alcohol burning. he goes to the local cruises and to him it's a street car. probably doesn't stray too far from home. to me it's a race car with license plates. different strokes for different folks.
Great analogy, you're absolutely right, really it's an entire combination that must be versatile. I went with the 470 for all the reasons originally noted, but also that it's been proven an ultra-reliable stroker combination. Other than going like most, with a 'no replacement for displacement' approach (massive amounts of torque by 3,000 RPM, flatlined power by 5,500 RPM), it seemed logical to build a higher-power band for a street car with limited traction; going for a higher torque peak and greater HP potential. With the right converter, it doesn't really matter how much torque is made by 3,000 RPM. The converter will flash to the engine's torque peak, which mine should be close to 4500-5,000 RPM with the given duration. Both cars will accelerate the same given the circumstances and equal power. You either dampen power potential up top and limit engine speed (500+ ci, mild-camshaft, airflow requirements hindered by stock port window) or increase power potential (450-470ci with stock port window heads, large duration camshaft, maximize airflow requirements) and shift the power upwards and use the increased engine speed to build more power. With a wider LSA, torque peak will be higher but a small percentage less, in most cases the wider LSA will make a fraction more HP than the tight LSA camshafts (with identical specifications).
I tried to look at every angle in this build, I know many go by 'stall speeds' on a converter, but that isn't necessarily a good indication of reality. In reality, I've had a TCI 10" 3,000 RPM Nitrous Converter in a 302 SBF that wouldn't grab until 1,800 RPM (quite a lot in a car that idled at 700 RPM), would foot brake to 2,200 RPM, and flash at 3,000 RPM. My FTI 9" 4,800-5,000 converter will grab off idle, and drives like a factory car (runs the same as my previous TSI 10" 3,400 converter). Converter manufacturing and techniques (understanding of fluid dynamics in design) has improved dramatically, and also, there is a monumental difference between a low-buck converter and top-tier converter in performance.
It's just bench racing to me, every choice dedicated for a street engine is a tradeoff in optimum performance. I can just tell you it will be a great day when filling up something with this much power, on 87-89 octane (when you're only getting 10 mpg regardless).
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