I need no convincing, if you jump away from
"Club Cobra ... world's largest non-biased Cobra site!" you find all sorts of interesting stuff ...
Bill Hancock
Mechanical engineer and the founder and former owner of Arrow Racing Engines for almost 30 years. He has presented numerous papers and seminars on dyno testing and tuning. He and his longtime friend, Harold Bettes, formerly the VP of SuperFlow Corporation, recently co-authored a book entitled, “Dyno Testing and Tuning”.
"Hot Rodders and beginners like to talk about horsepower and are usually enthralled with only one number, the peak horsepower produced. Professional Engine builders will talk about the shape of a torque curve, where it starts and where it noses over."
"You will learn that the top tuners really focus their work on shaping the torque curve. If a torque curve has too many humps and dips, the driver will never be able to effectively pedal the car at the edge of traction and ultimately will settle for a part throttle setting that is controllable but not competitive."
"Driving a car with a lumpy torque curve is like trying to dribble a football."
http://www.aera.org/engine-professional/dyno-numbers/
Those who take exception to the above, please address directly with Bill Hancock lol.