I recently read in a mopar performance small block mopar "A" engine hot up book that longer rod ratios made more mid range torque. Thanks the Harry, I now understand why. Perhaps this explains why, when I first got into Datsuns, all the "old hands" I spoke to locally told me that the A14 was "The one" to build for a goer. However, popular opinion on this site seems to have been to the contrarary of this. (Leaning more in favour of the A15)
All that aside, I can respect Chris's reasoning for builing this engine. And should there be any shortcomings in midrange torque or whatever, I'm sure his Hemi powered rod will more that make up for.