[Quickurt]

With the VVT in the box (mine's an 06 3.2 S) the max torque remains from 4600 to 6000 RPM. I haven't checked first to second, but no gears above that drop to under 4600 if you shift at just above 6000...........
Being an old road racer in formula cars, and having my engine builder as a best friend, I know the magic numbers are average torque over what RPM range, then gearing and shifting the car accordingly. We worked many hours and wore out a couple of rebuilds building headers and intake boxes to maximize this on a formula ford. All the cars weighed 1100 lb., with the driver, and the difference from an average to a great motor was around 5 HP.
Just to prove this out, a few weeks ago I went through the BrumosU event with Hurley Haywood instructing. The last thing we did for the day was a few runs on the infamous Gainesville Raceway drag strip. Beside getting the dead drop off the lights against a 3.6 C2 and a 07 Turbo, just to have them pass me both times before I got third gear....... my best of three runs was the first, shifting at 6200 RPM. 6500 was slower and 7,000 was the slowest run. (best run - 14.032 @ 99.98 MPH.)
Therefore, my box should never see 7000 RPM again.
As far as motors popping, it's a disaster if it happens and an aside to a GREAT car if it doesn't, but there are far bigger problems on far more expensive cars.

I have an attitude that may sound harsh, but I learned it at the race track. If you can't afford to do this, don't complain when the bills come due.
I absolutely loved formula atlantic and going back to formula ford was one of the most difficult things I did. One good lesson made it clear. I had a fairly minor crash in an atlantic car and it cost more than buying an entire formula ford just to buy the repair parts.......

The best advice I read through this thread was to have a fund for your possible repairs. The most honest advice I read was if you can't afford to repair your car, you need to own one you can afford to repair.
Buying new cars to keep up warrantees is more expensive than establishing that repair fund and is really just an excuse to keep buying new cars! I know, I've used it often!!