The beautiful Lancia Delta has made itself quite a good niche among connoisseurs, and is earning its marks also in the fleet market. We drove recently several interesting versions of the Delta, notably the 1.6 Diesel Multijet Latest generation Common Rail, coupled with the Selectronic Transmission, the 1.9 litre  Twinturbo Multijet 190 HP Diesel version with the 6 speed manual and last but not least the icing on the cake, the brilliant 1.8 litre 147 kW/200 HP Di TurboJet petrol engine in combination with the SporTronic automatic sequential transmission. Needless to say that we were very impressed by the dynamic qualities of the different versions.  

Hans Knol ten Bensel

The fluent lines of the Lancia Delta are a styling icon which let the car truly stand out in its class...

We started our test drives with the 1.6 litre Multijet Diesel engine paired with the Selectronic transmission. The car was wonderfully equipped with Poltrona Frau leather interior and had tasteful duotone body colors. The engine completely belied its relatively modest capacity, and made the subjective impression of a healthy two liter Diesel. Torque is indeed an impressive 300 Nm at a mere 1500 rpm. The engine combines very well with the sequential box, which can be driven in a fully automatic mode or manually controlled, and even has an “E”(conomy) function. One quickly learns to leave the box in the automatic mode and to choose the gears by varying the throttle opening, and indeed the box responds very well and is very predictable in these situations. Gearchanges are reasonably fast and smooth. The box is an excellent proposition in dense city traffic, with lot of start-stop situations. Using the box manually, it is a dream on winding roads and certainly when one chooses a spirited driving style.  

Dashboard lay-out and instrumentation add to the aura and character of a car. Lancia designers are masterful in this art...

The manaufacturer quotes a 0 to 100 sprint in less than 11 seconds, and surely the 1.6 Diesel gets (very) briskly off the mark, accelerating towards a (factory figure) top speed of 194 kmh. With the electronically controlled box, the city consumption is even lower than the manual version, the factory quoting a mere 5.7 litres per 100 km.

This Delta version will please most drivers, as the car feels anything but powerless and gearbox and engine combine harmoniously.

 

Being at the wheel of a Lancia Delta is a connoisseurs' experience...

Extra Diesel power…

We continued our test with the 1.9 Twinturbo Multijet Diesel attached to the 6 speed manual box. Here one is surprised by the uncanny smoothness of the engine, which is very responsive to say the least. Thanks to the twin Turbo lay-out this unit really shows power from the lowest revs, catapulting the car in under 8 seconds to 100 km, towards a top speed of some 222 kmh.  The gearbox changes smoothly and steering wheel reactions under the engine’s massive torque are virtually absent. And torque there is: a whopping  400 Nm at 2000 rpm, rising already to 300 Nm at 1250 rpm…

The unit stays amazingly frugal, with an average consumption of 5.7 litres per 100 km and a city consumption of only 7.3 litres.

Brilliance with the Direct Injection petrol engine…

Purists will have a special place in there hearts for the amazing 1.8 liter Direct Injection Turbo-Jet petrol engine, which reaches a peak horsepower under the most beautiful 4 cylinder staccato of not less than 200 hp, or more than 100 hp per liter.

Despite all this power, the engine is smooth and pulls impressively from lower revs. The maximum torque of 320 Nm at only 1400 rpm confirms this. The engine combines as can be expected very well with the 6 speed SporTronic, which can also be commanded by gearchange paddles at the steering wheel. Just leaving the lever in “D” and flooring the throttle will whisk you in 7.4 seconds to 100 km, top speed being 230 km. This puts the Delta already closer to the supercar range, yet fuel consumption puts it in the more frugal classes: the factory quotes an average of 7.8 litres per 100 km, and this is very reasonable indeed.

We will soon put one of these versions through a longer test, and tell you more…

 

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

 

 

 

Photos were taken with our faithful Nikon D40. The overcast sky made making interior photos rather easy. The light colour of the car body increased the risk of underexposure, which was reduced by photographing the car against a darker background, as was done in the main first photo. No color corrections were necessary in Photoshop.  

We drove the 6-speed manual version...

The SelecTronic...

and last but not least the SporTronic 6 speed auto transmission.