As I recall, there was some confusion/controversy over the correct performance numbers for the P-38J and L when it was introduced in the game about 8 years ago; Oleg simply rejected the data the guy (Gibbage?) who created the visual models sent along with the model, calling it 'propaganda' in the old 'Oleg's Ready Room' forum at Ubi. It got pretty ugly fast, since the numbers 1C substituted were well short of the known and accepted US figures, and the aircraft additionally suffered from compression issues at altitudes far below the recorded levels (generally speaking, the P-38 had no compression problems below 20,000 ft, but the in-game versions would 'lock up' in a dive begun as low as 10,000 ft --this was fixed by TD only in the last couple of years).
As a sop to the Lightning whiners, 1C added the P-38L(Late) a few years later to supposedly reflect the performance of the P-38L with the higher octane fuels used in the later months of the war (as with the Mustang Mk III, Spitfire IX (25 lb) and P-47D). Just coincidentally, the (Late) Lightning generally meets the basic published performance of the P-38J/L (which in actuality were essentially identical in terms of performance--most of the changes to the Lightning throughout its service life were aimed at reliability or improved armament--the YP-38 was less than 30 mph slower than the P-38L at their respective best altitudes).
In practice, the P-38L (Late) can be used in any P-38J/L scenario in terms of performance--the main difference was that the early versions of the J lacked the underwing dive brakes that finally made the Lightning safe to dive more steeply from the thinner air at higher altitudes.
I think you'll find that block numbers and engine ratings on US fighters are not as relevant as the time the aircraft was in use--any major improvement applied to production aircraft was usually applied to earlier model aircraft in the field at the same time (or sometimes earlier, if it was a critical improvement). Water injection kits for P-47C/Ds, Corsairs and Hellcats reached units in the field, along with the paddleblade prop kits for P-47s and the fuselage tanks retrofitted to the first Merlin Mustangs in England are all examples of this practice--the dive brake kits were also supplied for P-38 units in the field as well (although the first set of those kits were shot down just before D-Day by a Spitfire pilot who mistook the C-54 carrying them for a FW-200 Kondor).
Hope this helps.
cheers
horseback
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