Gears Vs Converter

Ideally in a race only car, you would have the engine dyno'ed and know right where the torque peak is. Select your converter to stall at the torque peak. Then, select your gearing so you are hitting you are just a few hundred rpms past your HP peak in the traps. There's a myraid of calculators out there to help you out. Don't forget to add in converter slippage too.

This is a bit impractical for a street car, but that depends on your tolerance to a true race set up. Some high stall converters are really street friendly till you get on it and are quite dual purpose friendly but they will cost you. Here's one maker http://dynamicconverters.com/ Be 100% sure when you have one made that you are being honest with yourself and the maker when giving them the specs or you'll just be throwing your money away.

The above race suggestions will vary depending cam LCA, heads, etc. Some engine builds will hold their hp 500 rpm past peak and some builds will have a very broad torque curve allowing a bit of leeway. Some builds will be very peaky, like a light switch either on or off. No leeway on these builds when it comes to converter/gear selection.

Just food for thought and feel free to disagree.