Just for the sake of argument, let me clarify my statement from the perspective of my driveshaft shop, who specialises in custom shafts in heavy commercial truck applications. You have two forces working against each other, the engine making torque to move the car and the weight of the car on the pavement fighting it. Everything after the combustion chamber is subject to stress, from the pistons to the tires. According to them, the lower the gearing in the semi, (the higher the torque multiplication) the more likely you are to spit out a driveshaft taking off with the same engine pulling the same weight load- and that's just their deptartment. If it's true in that area, then every other link between the power source and the point of resistance are equally subject to the same law. Putting slicks on a car can break axles just like a lower rear gear can, but they have also been known to split cranks, grenade clutches, and in my case- cause premature falure of universal joints; it isn't the rear that's trying to break 3500lbs of car free of gravity, it's the engine. Whether it has 300'# at it's disposal, or 380- put more power on the road (even if it's by not wasting power spinning tires) and it will work it's way back to the weakest link that much harder. From another angle: try taking off in 10th gear on a bicycle. You are the engine- assuming you are strong enough to (from a standing stop) immediately start pumping your legs the same speed in 10th as you could in 1st, it's still going to be a lot more work, and it'll be harder on you,and the pedals, crank, sprocket, chain,
and the rear axle of the bike. And just like with lower gears in a car, you'd be going much faster at the same given RPM than with the higher gears (if nothing broke). I used to break chains on my mountain bike regularly, and it only ever happened when I was trying to climb a trail slowly in 5th when I should have been going that same speed only in 2nd. I never once broke an axle, bent a wheel, or damaged any other drivetrain part between the rear gearset and the path, but I sure broke a lot of chains that way and even stripped a three piece crank. A car is just a glorified bicycle. Try riding around in the top gears all the time, and if your strong enough you'll accellerate faster than starting in the bottom ones even though
you aren't any stronger... and you'll hear and feel the whole bike crying for mercy. I don't think this is an argument I can win, I'm just not Michaels caliber when it comes to explaining myself- but anyone who ever rode a trail bike hard should know exactly what I'm trying to say.