Here is a good article on one tuners take on hp and tq.
http://www.evans-tuning.com/tech2.html
another decent article
http://www.team-integra.net/sections...?ArticleID=467

I wouldnt take low tq to mean that the car cant be fast. A lot has to do with gearing also. The gearing needs to match the power band of the engine as well as the racing conditions. Also typically to get high torque you need to increase the throw of the crankshaft. When this happens it increases the loading on the side of the piston and thus on the cylinder walls. You can also make the ports smaller to increase velocity of the air to give better low end responce but then you usally give up breathing in the top end thus dont make as much power in the top. For example ls engine vs gsr engine. Anyways, you can increase throw or as with low displacement engines you spin them very fast and then gear the transmission closer so the engine can stay in its powerband. Here is another good link. There are good links at the bottom of the first page. I hope some of this helps.

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/di...urnPage=Search