Guys, you gotta understand that gears are not everything....
Let's play the example game....
.
Motor 1's power band runs from 2500 rpm to 6500 rpm.
Motor 2's will pull from 1000 rpm up to 5500 rpm.
HP is bases on torque*rpm. So, the higher you make torque the higher the HP number will be. In the example, if actual torque is the same, motor 1 makes more HP because it is at a higher RPM....
Now look at Rock crawling (crawling, not RACING. I'm excluding bump'n run slickrock).
Say you have 150:1 gearing for Motor 1 and 100:1 for motor 2.
Motor 1 can pull with the tires moving 17rpm to 43rpm (or 1.8 - 4.6mph, on 36's).
Motor 2 can pull with the tires moving 10rpm to 55rpm (or 1.1 - 5.9mph, on 36's).
You'll notice that Motor 2 has better control at low speeds (1.1 vers 1.8mph) even with 50% more gear for motor 2. Also notice that you've got much more 'instantant accelaration' with motor 2 because it can PULL over a tire speed range from 1.1 to 5.9mph. That's a factor of 5.4 vers Motor 1's 2.6! This shows most in the cases where you need to 'Bump' a ledge. And is also MOST important when you are running a standard transmission. Under serious conditions, you just can't shift and you don't have the torque converter to raise the motor's RPM to pull a higher gear!
Now with all that said. If you wan't to lower the power band of the 16V, consider an adjustable cam timing sprocket(s). As I recall, 4 degrees (crank angle) retard will move your power band down about 200 rpm. Also, you can bump your compression and advance your timing (stop before detonation

). All that, with some exhaust back pressure will help build low end performance at the price of some top end, of course...
