[Steve Cassani]

The 351 Eric built for me - 469 HP with a 'mild' cam, well suited for the street - came into its own at 2,800 RPM and it was most comfortable at 3,400-3,600. The higher RPM's gave ample engine braking entering a corner along with predictable and immediate response accelerating through and out of a corner. Above 4,000 the acceleration was too quick for my reflexes in any but a long, continuous corner.

Highway driving at 2,200 only invited what the folks who stopped to visit termed 'excessive speed.' The 351 tolerated low rpms without loading-up but the engine was clearly better suited to agressive, involved driving, the sort you get into on two lane county roads through the foothills. The 0.82 final will work fine; you are only a downshift away from the engine behavior that suits these cars.