No......we really DON'T mean the same thing. Because in a stock bodied car, the trans is where it is. I don't care what the angle of the trans is, because there is nothing I can do about it. I don't care if the trans and pinion are parallel. My goal is the same......as close to straight as possible while "under power". So on that type car, I set the pinion angle as the reference between the driveshaft and the pinion. I don't care about "operating angles". I want it straight as possible, because straight eats less power. Also not concerned about how many people tell me that is wrong, because I have been doing it this way for over 30 years. Was TAUGHT to do it that way by a professional chassis builder and it has never given me an issue.

And trust me, I understand all about "operating angles" as I used to set shaft driven equipment everyday in plants.....But again, this is NOT something that has to run for thousands of miles, or joints last forever. These are RACE CARS

Monte