Delta Integrale tuned v original

Tuned v original

I rebuilt an Evo1 with a new Thema turbo engine, you may have seen this mentioned before! That's the car pictured to the right.

I kept everything original, because I think original is best.

Lancia spent millions developing the Delta, how could any small tuning co.

hope to improve on this?

Standard ish Evo1

We drove this white Evo from up north in UK to Munich, I was confident in the car with its new Lancia engine.

I didn't take any tools, and everything went well, it was a good trip to run in the new engine.

We went through the Channel Tunnel around midnight, in a Belgium service area we reclined the leather seats and

had a sleep, and arrived in Munich that afternoon. The car was smooth and comfortable, up hill and down it did 140kph

hour after hour, the lovely engine and Supersprint exhaust loud enough to keep you awake, also relaxing and reassuring.

The engine has plenty of torque, on the highway it pulls away well with a touch of the go pedal, when turbo boost

was required, this came in at a useful 3500rpm, and gave a smooth increase in power for overtaking and hill climbing.

The standard suspension is perfectly balanced for comfort and roadholding, and like all Deltas, this Evo's power steering is

perfectly weighted for town and country. This all from a car as close to the Lancia factory original design as possible.

A fast & furious Evo2

This is very different from our fast and furious Evo2.

This car has been 'improved' by past owners, including performance gas shocks. This hardened suspension causes structural damage to a delicate Delta by passing shocks through the car's structure. We are all familiar with the cracking at the top of A pillar. This car had been in a workshop for seat mount welding and other structural repairs previously. I've returned it to standard suspension, this has improved the ride a lot.

The car still has a large turbo and engine alterations which make the car very fast. Now this is fun, but only for a while! Travelling any distance becomes tiring, super fast acceleration is not always required, a modest boost of torgue mid-revs like the standard white Evo would be welcomed.

The turbo boost kicks in at 5k, the car then takes off like a rocket and is red lining before you've had time to change up a gear.

The turbo has a large diameter straight inlet pipe, with the intercooler leaning backwards to avoid it, this really sucks air!

I shouldn't complain, but these changes don't really improve the car for everyday driving. The novelty of taking off like a scalded cat begins to fade after a while, and I think about the extra strain on the drive train components, not to mention the fuel cost!

Gas shocks

I greatly admire the engineering skills of race car builders, and I admire their courage in cutting up a valuable classic car.

The original Lancia engineers were however truly imaginative, and created a vehicle series that'll never be repeated, I respect that and encourage saving

the originality!

I assumed the US tv series 'Chasing Classic Cars', would be more American rubbish, overfed investors throwing money at profit opportunities.

However, the programme's hero Wayne Carini,

shown below, turned out to be ok! He knew his old motors, and respected their heritage.

He said a classic car is 'only original once',

this is very true. I think we must preserve the Deltas

that remain roadworthy in the form they left the factory.

Lancia really did know best!

A modified Evo, can you tell?!!

Standard!

Click on picture above to visit Wayne's

pages, it's F40.com.