I respectfully counter-disagree? And yes, I'm going back to my Maxima example because it proves my point here. My Maxima ran 14.6s@96mph and the VQ30 made 182whp@5400rpms and 192wtq@4400rpms. Power fell off like an anvil after 5800rpms. At above 6200-6600rpms (rev limiter), the car was making a mere 140whp/110wtq. Then I added a variable intake manifold off of the Japanese/Middle East-spec VQ30. This manifold utilized a resonance chamber and basically allowed the VQ30 to make power straight to the rev limiter and gave the VQ30 the lungs it deserved. On the dyno, the car made 192whp@6200rpms and 187wtq@4800rpms. Power held on at 190whp straight to the limiter. Overlaying the dynos showed the variable intake manifold giving up about 8whp/wtq from 3000-5000rpms and after that it made more power than the stock manifold. From 5800 to 6600rpms, the new manifold was making anywhere from 10 to 50whp more than stock. I was certain the car would be quicker. After three track outings and 30 passes, the car was no quicker or faster. It's best time was still 14.6@96mph. How could this be? The new manifold was making a crap load more power in the topend. Well, it turns out that the reduced midrange punch (a mere 8whp/wtq) and the fact that all the power was gained from 5800-6600rpms resulted in a no quicker car. While there was a lot more power on tap above 5800rpms, the motor simply didn't stay in that range very long. In 3rd and from 5800-6600rpms, the VQ jsut doesn't Calculating out the average power utilized in a race showed that new manifold made a mere 3whp more than the old manifold. My results were backed up by 5 other similiarly equipped Maximas across the county.

After we figured out what was going on, we purchased JWT ECUs which increased the limiters to 7000-7200rpms and increased midrange power by 10whp/wtq and increased peak power by about 5whp/wtq. The extended rev limiter allowed me to take full use of the increased power which was now much stronger than stock especially considering the fact that the increased limiter allowed for rpms that once weren't utilized. Theorectically at 7000rpms, my VQ30 was making about 70whp more than stock if I could have taken the stock motored dyno to 7000rpms. On the track, the car went from consistent 14.6-14.7@96mph to consistent 14.3-14.4@99mph.

As you can see, it took a crap load of power above 5800rpms to make my car go significantly faster. This mod alone allowed me to understand just how important it is for mods to increase overall power, just not peak power.