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What a refreshing post Durbrain, I was beginning to wonder if anyone could express themselves clearly and without vitriol on this subject.
I agree with most of your points, although even power is not a true indicator of acceleration since that maximum power may arrive at 7000 revs with nothing much in the way of torque output at anything less than this. Clearly an accelerative powerplant needs plenty of torque spread across a wide range of revs that can then be exploited by well matched gearing.
Just to add to your comments here's a post I made on another forum that talks about the 'feel of acceleration';
"Whenever you accelerate in 'any' car, the shove in the back is caused by torque being transferred to the road. The more torque being transferred to the road, the stronger that feeling will be. The second thing you notice is the consistency of that torque output, whether it's even or if it kicks up at some point (as in the VTEC engines). Then thirdly you notice how sustained the torque output is, so rather like a fairground ride, how long the ride continues to accelerate will be another factor in determining how fast it feels.
So if I was choosing an engine, I'd be looking at how much torque is produced, how consistently this is delivered and how long it lasts for. Factor in a glance at the gearing, vehicle weight and peak power and I'd have a pretty good idea about how it feels, whether it is effortless and how accesible and usable that performance is. "
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