The Lancia Delta HF Turbo. a Fiat Ritmo on steroids

During a recent world trip to Cadzand Bad, which was taken over by Flanders, we passed a closed garage. The manager had stopped the sale, but he had kept something nice behind it. In the window there was - among other things - a very beautiful Lancia HF Integrale. And then there are very nice cars

The Lancia Delta I (1979-1993)

In 1979, Lancia unveiled the Lancia Delta. It was the first true compact hatchback that Lancia made. The design was by Italian designer Giugiaro, while the technology was largely taken over from the Fiat Ritmo proposed in 1978. However, that chassis was given a different rear suspension. The engines were also adjusted and delivered more power than in the Ritmo.

The Lancia Delta quickly became a success for the brand and not just in Italy. Because Lancia started working together with Saab, the Delta in Sweden was sold as Saab 600.

The sporty version of the first-generation Lancia Delta (the Lancia Delta Group A) was successfully used in the World Rally Championship. Lancia took the title six times in a row with the constructors (1987 up to and including 1992) and three times with the drivers (1988, 1989 and 1991). However, that did not have the desired sales results.

Racing on the public road

For the public road there was, among other things, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione. It had four-wheel drive and an 2.0 four-cylinder turbo engine with 210 hp. Later came an Evoluzione II, which had a total of 215 horsepower. Most people know the Delta mainly from this version. It was actually a rally car for the public highway. In 1993, production finally came to an end, to make way for the second generation Delta.

The engine of the Lancia Delta HF Turbo

The HF Turbo engine was 1585 cc in size and was equipped with double overhead, timing belt on driven camshafts. The icing on the cake was of course the mounted Garret T3 turbo compressor. That an intercooler belonged to that part, that may be clear. After all, the compressed air is too hot to provide a pleasant mixture. The wet component of that mixture is provided by a double weber carburetor. The block is equipped with an oil cooler for the health of the thermal household. The exhaust valves are sodium cooled and the, for a turbo engine, high compression of 8,0: 1 is kept under the cap by a special head gasket. To make the sparkling process run optimally, the Delta HF Turbo has a very special Microlex ignition with pinging sensors.

The inlet and outlet manifolds

Of course, the inlet and outlet manifolds have been adjusted to optimize breathing. The Lancia was specified by the factory for 130 pk. On the dynamometer, such an 105-108 was usually measured there. This includes the margin that blown engines have on roller benches. They often provide less power than given. This is usually attributed to the fact that the intercooler on a dynamometer is not optimally ventilated. On the open road, the Lancia is in any case almost 200 km / h fast with its Fiat Ritmo-based engine.