Hate to be contrary to popular opinion, but depending on application, I don't mind very short R/S ratios at all. All this stems from multiple years of running the same engine in a very successfull Baja 1000 type application. 6000 lb. truck, 37 inch tires, 5.43 or 5.00 gears. T-400 trans with 3600 stall converter. SBC, original build 9.325 deck, 4 inch stroke, 6.200 rod, 1.45 venturi gas carb. Ran for several years this way, won lots of races including season points championships. 700 hp, 600 lb ft. but always had a little tip in issues when totally hauled down in deep, heavy terrain having to pull back up from closed or low throttle positions. Nothing major, just irritating. Changed up combo to 6 inch rods, actually added 15cc runner volume, same carb etc. Made no difference on the dyno, made a wonderfull difference in driveability. Any load, any throttle position, didn't matter. Totally smooth climb in power, you would swear it had a well worked out fuel injection setup. Even with bigger port volume, attribute improvement to better airspeed through carb. Would not make any difference with fuel injection, but if you have a high load at low rpm application with a carb ( sounds like a recipe for street cars ), short rods are the stuff for me. By the way, peak rpm was 7000-7200 rpm.