Redundant threads merged.
From a practical perspective- increased RPM does equal increased maximum road speed- assuming the gearing is sufficient. When it all comes down to it, one rotation of the crankshaft does indeed equal a certain distance travelled. Rotate faster, travel the distance faster. The caveat? If you're geared too high, you may not have sufficient power in reserve to spin the engine up any higher under load.
If all things are pretty much as they should be, the right increase in RPM combined with appropriate regearing will increase BOTH maximum speed, AND acceleration from a standstill*. Why, because after a gov removal a slightly higher gear reduction should be employed. This will unload the engine a bit and allow it to spin faster under load. At the same time, you have in fact geared down a bit and therefor acceleration improves.
Case study- you're cruising down the highway in 5th in your car. Step on the throttle- not much there. Now, downshift into 4th and hammer- more pep, right? You've unloaded the engine and allowed in to spin faster, easier. If you'd like to keep experimenting, you will also notice it's preferable to start in a lower gear...
Since our industrial engines only have one speed (or one limited range with a CVT) we have to find the best balance of gearing and RPM to maximize performance.
You will also notice I avoided the words "torque" and "horsepower". For our purposes, these words do little more than provide benchmarks. By doing things like regearing or playing with the engine RPM, we may be slightly altering these numbers- but to little effect. Speed, we can measure. Acceleration is also quantifiable. Who here is measuring torque at the wheel, where it really makes a difference (via- YEP- gearing)?
*and yes, I DID prove this with my own machine.
