Gear ratio ??

Gear ratio is the number of times the driveshaft turns compared to the number of times the rear wheels turn. 4:10 means the driveshaft turns 4.1 revolutions to every 1 the tire turns. The bigger the ratio the more power to the rear. This gives better acceleration and pulling power. You pay for that with less gas mileage. The bigger the tire the more power it takes to turn it. While you do not have to change the rear end ratio you will notice a decrease in acceleration and if you tow you will notice a decrease in power with the larger tires.

wrong

with higher (numerically) ratios, more TORQUE is available at the axle-ends per engine HP

acceleration

You both said the same thing! Big number, low gear, high numerical...same thing!

Nope, Calhoun were referring to "power" as in horsepower which is incorrect. TransSurgeon was referring to torque which is correct. There is nothing you can do with gearing to increase RWHP, but there is alot you can do to increase rear-wheel torque.

Doc

OK...I misunderstood that.

Wrong

Calhoun did not mean power as in horsepower. Calhoun forgot he was on such a technically correct newsgroup and just used a generic term to describe the effect of larger gears. (As per wasters dictionary: Power - a mechanical advantage or effect) Semantics are a bitch sorry for any confusion. :-)

Correct We both said the same thing.