Yay physics!
I got confused by not thinking about it - the sport eco-beast has the 3.16 ratio, which is not as good as the other ratios for towing or acceleration (in theory. However, the massive amount of torque put out by the engine more than offsets that, so you still get blistering acceleration, and good towing torque. Plus lower rpms at highway speeds for good mpg.
Since there is a transaxle in all drive configurations (FWD, or 4WD) the different ratios must be achieved at the factory by changing some gearing that lies within the transaxle, but at the end of all the other gearing. (?) That would be easier to measure with the 4WD because there is an external shaft running to the rear wheels that can be measured for turns, but it must also be present, internally, even in FWD, so they can easily change it(?)
And if I've got that part right, the ratios published are useful for comparison only when comparing the ratios for the same engine. It does allow a (somewhat) useful comparison to the turbo vs non-turbo for the same (3.5 V6) engine.