Horse Power - 4Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

Power
But how about power? Again, couldn't you just bolt on a blower, add some nitrous, and blast down the road? Sure, but you wouldn't have the wide variety of choices that gearing gives you. In our Chevy example, 160 hp is definitely anemic. We like to see at least 350 horses out of a mill this size, which equates to quicker getaways and more stump-pulling ability. Through a variety of carbs, cams, pistons, and other items it's relatively easy to pump up some ponies on most engines, and it's usually enough to offset the bad choices some people make in the tires/axle ratio department.

We'll never solve the debate over which is better, gears or power, but we figured you all want to know what the heck is going on. For our money we'd do lower gears first and engine mods later, but without a doubt we want 'em both.

Gears or Power?
When it comes to different styles of wheeling and different terrain you intend to conquer, different choices of gears or power come into play. Choosing the right combo for you isn't that hard, and this chart can help you decide what you want.

	Low Gears		Big Power
Sand
	Pro	Helps to turn big tires	Pro	Good wheel speed for floating
		with small engines
	Con	Not enough wheel	Con	Hard to spin tires from a start
		speed to float on top
Mud
	Pro	Torque reduction keeps	Pro	Ability to pull through resistance
		the tires turning
	Con	High wheel speed not	Con	Little lugging ability at low rpm
		available in first gear
Rocks
	Pro	Slow wheel speed allows	Pro	Torque helps steady momentum
		finesse in driving
	Con	Slow tire speed can con-	Con	Hard to drive smoothly if touchy
		tribute to rollovers or loss
		of control during descent
Speed
	Pro	Good throttle/speed	Pro	Great acceleration and fun
		control in any gear
	Con	Engine winds out too	Con	How else do you go fast?
		quickly