Yesterday we took a look at Lancia Flaminia to make a case for how to spend $40,000 on a Lancia. Today's 16V-swapped Lancia HF Integrale is how we imagine a lot more folks would approach this hypothetical exercise. There's a lot to like here too - can we change our response?

Let's get into some armchair engineering to understand why someone would go through the trouble of swapping in a new powertrain to increase peak horsepower by 15hp. When a waste gate spring would very likely bring about a similar result, why go through the trouble of swapping in the 16v mill? To us, it looks like most of the benefit is in the top end. The 8V turbocharger can't overcome restriction as well past 5300RPM, whereas the 16V breathes better, allowing it to increase torque by 4% at 5500RPM compared to the 8V at 5300RPM. We've never driven either, so we're curious to know if the difference is noticeable.