I don't know why the "S" thinks the "R" smells bad :-) because it's my favorite glyph - in fact I think you could [re]think everything around that "R". And the "a" might do the same for the lc.
I don't get why the "h" and "g" are short (although the other descenders might in fact be too long).
BTW, could you explain your "horizontal width relations" angle?
hhp