Lancia - RIP (rust in peace) (Lancia in general)

Member Name: rlcross

Product:	Lancia in general
Date:	08/07/02 (1392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delta/Gamma fast, All are drivers cars

Disadvantages: rust, Rust, RUST!, Servicing tricky, Parts hard to get

I've had a couple of Lancias, either owned or borrowed long-term, so I'm going to do a quick mini-review on each, (in no particular order):

Lancia Y10 Fire - Can be noisy, especially at speed. Handling good to very good, subject to side winds. Quite economical with low fuel and insurance costs. Cabin light and airy, better designed than baby Fiats of same vintage, bit cheap looking. Boot good for size of car. Some electrical problems. Rust proofing poor. Service costs not bad. Summary: Great in the urban setting - not so good elsewhere.

Lancia Y10 Turbo, (opinion based on two cars) - Handling good to very good. Noisy, but rorty. Cabin light and airy, well designed, cheap looking though. Better resistance to side winds than Y10 Fire, (down to suspension). Boot good for size of car. Electrical problems and some leak problems. Performance excellent, recommend that Turbo is serviced by turbo expert, such as Turbo Technics agent. Rust proofing not good. Rare as only 250 were ever imported, (and I know where two are so there's only 248 left!) Summary: pocket rocket, full of character.

Lancia Delta 1.6 GTie - Supposedly the Italian competitor to the Ford XR3i - far nicer to drive. Handling good to very good, plenty of feel to the non-assisted steering. Performance very good to excellent - great acceleration, but lacks a little top speed. Boot is a good size. Cabin a little dark and old fashioned looking, although instrument and control placement is very good. Some electrical problems, usually easy to sort out. Fuel consumption not good if you drive "with spirit", which the car encourages. Rust proofing poor. Summary: an XR3i with a large dollop of Italian flair.

Lancia Delta Integrale 8v (LHD) - Superbly weighted steering with power assist, wonderfully communicative. 185bhp turbo engine takes a while to 'spin up', but performance is excellent - overtaking is a no-brainer, and it sounds good. Handling is '
;on rails' - e.g. 90 degree right hand sweeping right hand bend at 100mph in safety!. Servicing is expensive, (I spent £3000+ in the last year with mine), and really must be carried out by Integrale specialists - don't use standard Fiat dealers as they'll never be able to get it setup correctly. Fuel consumption is not as bad as you'd think, insurance costs are as expected, and a Cat1 immobilizer is required. I had few niggling electrical problems. Cabin is old-fashioned but serviceable, instruments are clear, and controls easy to use. Boot is small due to spare wheel storage and 4x4 running gear. Gear box can be notchy and obstructive when cold. Don't consider any RHD conversions as the handling is severly comprimised. LHD a pain for car park barriers and toll booths, okay otherwise. Rust proofing is down to Lancia standards - unfortunately! (watch out for rust in the sunroof area, or at the back of the roof near the hinges for the hatch). Summary: needs TLC, but a well setup good un' will reward an enthusiast driver millionfold.

Lancia Gamma 2.5 ltr Coupe - very rare. Interior nice, but dated. Velour (Alcantara) interior gives light and open feel with a touch of class. Instrument layout good. Handling surprising - up to four wheel drive standards, uses large width tyres which are quite expensive to replace. Performance eye-watering, due to 2.5ltr (four cylinder?) engine which is stamped "For Lancia by Ferrari". Fuel consumption/insurance quite reasonable considering performance. Servicing costs, high - only deal with (ex-)Lancia specialists. Rust proofing utterly ineffectual. Electrical systems of dubious quality. Summary: maybe this should have had the prancing horse on the bonnet. Fast, fine handler, that unfortunately rusts just as fast as it goes.

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