Ben I have done all the HP/Torque multiplication calculations for exactly what you are describing and I understand what you are saying, but with the additional gear, just like the concept of the integral in calculus, with an extra gear on the way up through the gears, you would hypothetically spend more time/MPH in the maximum HP and Torque band of the motor, No?
I Ran Chuck '97 GTS when I had an aftermarket trans that had a 2.21 1st gear, 1.43 2nd,1.17 3rd, 1.0 4th. My car was making 467 RWHP at the time and his car was stock making about 417 RWHP at the time(Even though he had not dynoed his car yet at the time). He pulled me through 1st,2nd and 3rd. I just thought his car was fast at that time until a stock 1999 RT/10 spanked me at the light. I ordered the gears to match the stock trans ratios the very next day(Which also hapened to be the ones I originally wanted with the trans but mysteriously never were put in there). Fast foreward to several months in the after I had the proper gears put in the trans and Chucky got Belanger headers/no cats and 3" cat back exhaust=> now his car was definitely faster than it was with the stock exhaust, right? But when we raced, now I was faster every single time with the gears that were very similar to the stock T-56 gears. The conclusion I had drawn at the time was that there is definitely something to the whole HP/Torque multiplication concept which is what led to the original question of this post. I think the only way to tell would be a real world application where someone with a relatively stock car with a 3.73 rear end gear runs against a 540 RWHP car with the 3.07 Gear. Can someone do this practical application and let us all know what happens? Paolo