power on its own means so little, there's torque...low power high torque can be very fast
That's not true. For maintaining speed, power is the only thing that matters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-MH4sf5xkYfunny that many experienced long term folk with power meters actually go on feel for the their fastest performances, and I certainly noticed that I was faster for not looking at mine, having said that they are a good tool if armed with some knowledge of both Coggan and your own body.
I do agree with this, though. I've been using a crank-based power meter for about 4 years and these days, like you said, my strongest performances are done on feel (both short efforts and audax-length rides). I try to ignore the power readout while riding, as it just spooks/demoralises me.
It takes some time after getting a power meter to learn how the numbers correspond to the "feel" of a ride. For example, I now know I can do X watts for Y minutes, and what that effort feels like (both at the start and at the end of the effort), but it took me a good 6 months to learn this. Until you get to that point, you really have to just observe the power numbers and learn what your body is capable of.
Even then, however, you have to be very careful pacing yourself by power. Even if you know that you can do X watts for Y minutes on a good day, it's very dangerous to hold yourself to that right from the start. If it turns out that you're having a bad day, and you ignore the feeling in your legs, you'll blow up early and then you're in real trouble.
On the flip side, though, power meters can be useful for telling you when you're going
too hard. I've lost count of the number of times that I've set off at the start of an audax, with everyone else storming off down the road, while I can see from my power readout that if I push any harder I'll pay for it later in the day. Invariably I pass them several hours later when they've run out of beans
In fact, this happens on pretty much
every single audax I've done – you'd think people would know their bodies better!
Personally, I've removed the power readout from my Wahoo ELEMNT, but I
do find it useful to have it display my power zones on its LED display (with the zones customised to be more appropriate for long-distance, low-power riding). This way I get to see
roughly what power I'm doing, which is helpful in preventing me from going too hard, without being a distraction.