I am probably gonna stick the Strut brace on, sprayed green before fitting it, assuming the dealer doesn't object warranty wise.

My friendly skoda dealer asked to have a look at the strut brace the other day, he knew about it because I asked him if it would affect my warranty. He was really positive about it, asking where i got it, how much it was and how it felt. He was so impressed he was going to look into whether they could start fitting them! I know it probably wont happen, but i thought it was pretty cool

Not being technical like' date=' but...yes, should be able to. BHP being a factor of torque and engine revolutions, as the revs increase, you could decrease the torque (possibly by releasing some of the boost pressure)...

Rob.[/quote']

Basically, BHP = Torque x rpm / 5252

Therefore, a higher torque figure at eg. 4000 rpm will increase BHP

Take for example the PD 130 engine (lets assume it kicks out 140 bhp @ 4000rpm and 240lb/ft at 2000rpm. By rearranging the above formula and substituting the figures, the torque figure at 4000rpm will be 184lb/ft.

Now lets look at the PD 160 engine in the Ibiza cupra. Now this engine produces approx. 160 bhp @4000 rpm, whilst generating only 7lb/ft more torque - say 247lb/ft at 2000rpm (I know this is not book figures, I am making an assumption that VW engines are generally more powerful than stated). By using the same rearranged equation as above, we see that the torque figure at 4000rpm is 210lb/ft.

What the above demonstrates is that the torque curve on the cupra is flatter, and as such, the torque figure is higher at 4000rpm. In contrast, the PD 130 engine loses more torque as the revs climb - this reduces it's bhp rating.

Taking this one stage further, if Jabba can remap my fabia vrs (23rd feb!) so that it makes only 280lb/ft @ 2000rpm, yet, still produces 260lb/ft at 4000, it will be producing 198bhp. As such, it is theoretically possible to achieve 200bhp without the torque figure breaking 280lb/ft. Of course, this is not necessarily possible in practice, but the point is that if you can get a very flat torque curve, you will have fantastic pull all the way through the rev range. BHP is basically a measure of how an engine delivers power.

Physics lesson over...