Tim road-tests two Integrales — a 1988 road car and a 1989 competition car.
Lancia is the most successful manufacturer in world rallying — ever. The marque has more than 72 victories and 11 World Rally Championships (a record six times with the Integrale). The Delta Integrale has scored 46 WRC wins in the hands of Kankkunen, Biasion, Auriol, Alen, Toivonen, Rörhl and Sainz. So how is it that this marque, and in particular this model, failed to show on the radar in New Zealand?
Well, it is fair to say that despite New Zealanders requiring hardy, strong cars, and having a love for high performance cars, World Rally Championships have simply never converted into car sales over here except, perhaps, where the Japanese are concerned. Subaru and Mitsubishi have done very well from their rally exploits, but we are not seeing thousands of Citroën Xsaras hitting the road, or Peugeot 206s, simply on the basis of their fantastic rally results.
The secret to the handling and its ultimate success was the use of a Torsen (Torque Sensing) rear differential
I have long since given up trying to work out what makes Kiwis buy cars in any numbers, but being competent doesn’t seem to be high on the list of priorities. Some years ago Toyota was very successful in rallying, as was Ford with the Escort, but it seems that we take next to no notice of WRC results when it comes to our buying choices. You can count the number of Lancia Integrales registered in New Zealand on one hand. A huge WRC programme did not help sales of the standard Lancia Delta in New Zealand, and it’s true to say it didn’t help Lancia much on a world scale.
This may be because of Lancia’s terrifying reputation for serious structural rust caused by the Beta range in the 1980s. This killed Lancia sales all over the world, though ironically (sic) the Lancia Beta makes up 97 per cent of Lancias still registered in New Zealand.
Taking Sides
One of the reasons the Integrale didn’t get here is our ridiculous predisposition against left-hand-drive cars. The Integrale was never officially made in right hand drive, although the lesser Delta models were. More recently, our similarly ridiculous rules surrounding frontal impact regulations on ’80s cars make bringing an Integrale into the country near impossible.
During the late ’80s I was evaluating different cars on a daily basis in the UK, nearly always high dollar cars. I had the opportunity to drive a new Delta Integrale, which on the face of it looked a pretty unremarkable hatchback, and came away from it thinking it was the best road car I had ever driven at that point — and I had driven pretty much everything available at the time. The Brits don’t have any problem with left hand drive, and nor do I. Homologation specials rarely translate into good road cars, but the Integrale was stunningly fast, incredible agile, and wonderfully supple.
The secret to the handling and its ultimate success was the use of a Torsen (Torque Sensing) rear differential. It had fabulous road manners, a great driving position and superb primary driving controls — steering, pedals and gear lever. The ride was supple and smooth, no Charles Atlas steering muscles were required, or a super-attentive driving style. The ergonomics of the secondary controls left a bit to be desired and, like all Italian cars of the time, they were spindly and squeaky, but the joy of driving far overcame that.
Genuine fun
The Integrale raised my mark for road cars considerably, and it is to my regret that I never bought one. On re-acquaintance, it still is one of the best road cars available; period. Whilst in terms of sheer performance today’s WRX and Evo will eat it for breakfast, they do not come close in terms of driver friendliness and satisfaction across country. Where straight-line speed does not come into the equation, I guarantee an average driver could get from A to B quicker in an Integrale than they could in the modern equivalents, simply because the Integrale tells you more about what it is doing. Whilst its interior might not be the model of great ergonomics, it has character and is a genuinely fun place to be, unlike its more modern Japanese counterparts.
Whilst the Integrale road car was a pussycat it was a tricky car to drive in rally trim, with a stronger torque bias towards the rear than other all-wheel drive cars
The driving position, unusually for an Italian car, is absolutely spot on, and the Recaro seats firm and supportive. What makes this car an infinitely better one to own than other competition-bred, or even sport-oriented, cars is discovered when driving it at what we now consider as normal road speeds. Both in the UK and in New Zealand our roads have become so much more populated and heavily regulated that opportunities to exploit the abilities of a super car are irregular at best. Driving in traffic and within the regulations in even the tamest of GTs is a hugely frustrating experience, but not so the Integrale; it is very docile and quite restful in traffic.
The engine has two balancing, counter-rotating shafts in order to filter out vibrations inherent to four-cylinder in-line engines, though not used in their competition engines. The result is no booming exhaust or snatchy drivetrain; no tearing off the leash at the slightest throttle opening; and relaxing, light and progressive controls. Added to which, this car has air conditioning, four doors, comfortable seating for four and a hatch back. For a car which, given the opportunity, could thwart even the fastest sports car’s attempts to cover ground quicker, what more could you want?
Respect
The fact that Greg Paul has two Integrales — a standard road car as well as the only example brought in to compete in New Zealand’s rally championship — makes him extremely lucky, or more accurately, extremely astute. Greg Paul Coaches in Mangere runs special coach trips for the WRC round and Dunlop Targa NZ, as well as the more normal tourist routes and some interesting special commissions.
Having developed his small but specialist coach firm, Greg decided he wanted to have a go at Dunlop Targa NZ. He came upon a Fiat 124 coupe (featured in NZCC some years ago) and, to cut a long story short, has successfully run the pretty blue 124 in many Targas since. A committed Ford man up to the point at which he was asked to help out the Martini Works Team with the monstrous fire-spitting turbo and supercharged Group B Lancia Delta S4s in Rally New Zealand 1985, then subsequently the Italian ‘Astra’ and ‘ART’ Lancia teams in the ’92 and ’93
International, Greg grew to respect the Lancia Delta hugely. It brought him into contact with the many Fiat Waikato Club enthusiasts, and he began embrace their passion for Italian cars.
Greg decided he wanted to do Dunlop Targa in something different, but something reliable. Having caught the bug for Italian cars Greg began to look at some more serious stuff, and you don’t get a better pedigree than 72 world rally victories against the best manufacturers and drivers in the world.
Rally winner
Franz Wittmann and Jorg Pattermann won the rally of New Zealand in 1987 with a Lancia Delta Integrale, and Wayne Pittams, a strong competitor in the local series, had to have one. Tony Teesdale’s Metro 6R4 had been 1987 NZ champion, and Brian Stokes’ Sierra 4×4 had won in 1988, so it seemed a good choice — however, the Mazda 323 4WD was doing well internationally, and Neil Allport got hold of one of those.
Finally, Pittams brought an Integrale in as a Group N showroom class car, brand new in 1989. Although the Integrale was never made in rhd, there were conversion kits on the market in the UK, and Pittams’ car had one fitted. On its first rally in Otago, it was rejected at scrutineering because the Integrale had been homologated in Group N as a lhd car, so Pittams had the car converted back to standard overnight, and subsequently had two kits, one for whichever condition the organisers preferred!
Tricky
Whilst the Integrale road car was a pussycat it was a tricky car to drive in rally trim, with a stronger torque bias towards the rear than other all-wheel drive cars. His results lacked the consistency to beat Allport’s Mazda and so he finished second in the National Championship, but achieved 12th in that year’s International Rally of New Zealand. The championship was won by Mazda again the following year and by Possum Bourne’s Legacy in 1993, which was the year that Pittams had a huge accident with the Integrale near Tahuna in the International.
The car was shipped to Ross McKay of Christchurch in a box, and was rebuilt over four years, this time to Group A specifications. Ivan Udy rebuilt the engine with different engine management, an Abarth close- ratio gearbox, low ratio differential, adjustable Bilsteins and rose-jointed suspension. Inside, a Stack instrument system and Tilton pedal box were complemented by a very expensive fuel safety cell and full WRC roll cage. From the outside the most obvious change was the roof-mounted air scoop.
Rallysprint
Greg Paul bought this car in 2000, and having owned it for only three weeks destroyed it at the Camp Road Rallysprint. An undersize bolt in the front suspension mounting let go. That caused the front sub-frame to drop down — the Integrale tripped over, it made a couple of somersaults and clobbered a bank, breaking Greg’s ribs and the driver’s seat mounting.
Battered but not beaten, Greg rebuilt the car and entered it for Targa, where it was promptly attacked in the Prologue stage at Pukekohe by a Lotus Elise, which took the Integrale’s rear strut out.
Further on in the same event, a front strut caved in and tucked the front wheel under the firewall — necessitating another trip into the scenery and a consequent rebuild. With a few lessons learned, Greg has now thoroughly rebuilt the suspension and the rest of the car, and improved the driveability by fitting a Link Intercept into the management system, which allows him to set the engine up exactly to his liking.
Commitment
Having driven Greg’s road car and been absolutely delighted with it, and then told the rally Integrale was a bit spooky, I was pleasantly surprised, albeit very careful, when I drove it.
It has substantially more wick than the road car, made more apparent by the lower gearing. The road car has a very high first gear and, surprisingly, the rally car is a lot easier to get off the mark as its low diff ratio makes the lower gears more friendly. Another surprise is that the steering is much lighter, and it appears to have a slower rack than the road car, most likely because the rhd conversion uses a Fiat Ritmo/ Strada rack and pinion.
Whilst it is noisier and notably stiffer, the rally car is by no means uncomfortable to drive without headgear, and one can still hear the passenger without resorting to an intercom. At the speeds I drove it the car stuck to the road like glue, but I am told that lack of commitment and throttling off mid-corner whilst pressing on will have you quickly facing the other way.
Lacking commitment going into the corners seemed to solve that problem, keeping me well under the threshold for swapping ends. I liked it, and for a competition car it seemed very benign, with some of the best-feeling brakes I have ever encountered.
It is clearly one of those cars that is complimentary to the driver until his confidence gets the better of him, at which point it turns around and bites his bum. Greg Paul has a real pair of collector’s pieces here, neither of which are in such pristine condition that he cannot use them to the full. He says that if he has a long trip to do the Integrale road car is his first choice over the more modern machinery he can lay his hands on. It doesn’t surprise me one bit. Sometimes you go back to cars that amazed you at the time and come away disappointed. But not this time.
Words: Tim Nevinson Photos: Jared Clark
Integrale History
When the amazing Group B rally cars were banned, primarily because of the accident that killed Henri Toivonen whilst competing in a Lancia Delta S4, Lancia was actually the manufacturer best prepared to face the shift from Group B to Group A in 1987. It had a production car in the Delta 4WD which had won all the main events the year Group B cars were banned (1986), and became world champion in 1987.
The Delta HF 4WD Turbo was modified and homologated as the Integrale in 1987, and between then and 1992 it morphed into the Integrale 16V and Integrale Evoluzione, increasing in width by over 150mm and growing more bumps and humps than Quasimodo. Giorgio Giugiaro’s rather quiet-looking 1979 Delta hatchback based on the Fiat Ritmo floor pan became a spectacular fire-spitting monster.
The original Delta Turbo 4WD of 1986 had a 2.0-litre eight-valve Lampredi-designed twin-cam engine kicking out 123kW (165bhp). November 1987 saw the first Integrale 8V with 140kW (185bhp), then in May 1989 the Integrale 16V, which was not as nice to drive but had more top end power, wider wheel arches and stiffer suspension.
The first Evoluzione model came in October 1991, with a wider body, new suspension geometry, aluminium four-pot callipers, and a proliferation of vents and spoilers to direct air around the confined spaces. The output was now 157kW (210bhp). Evoluzione II came in June 1993 with 160kW (215bhp) and 16-inch wheels.
The last Delta Integrale left Maggiora in November 1994. Both of our featured Lancias are 8V, pre-Evoluzione cars. Less spectacular-looking, less powerful, but ultimately nicer to drive.
Lancia Delta Integrale 8V Road Car (& 8V Gp A)
Engine: Fiat, transverse in-line four
Capacity: 1995cc
Valves: Twin-cam, two valves per cylinder, turbocharged, intercooled
Max power: 138kW (185bhp) at 5300rpm (180kW, 240bhp)
Max torque: 304Nm (320Nm)
Transmission: Five-speed manual, permanent 4WD epicyclic torque converter and Ferguson viscous joint, Torsen rear differential
Torque split: 56:44
Suspension: Front: independent by MacPherson struts, gas dampers and anti-roll bar; Rear: independent, with lower parallel transverse suspension arms, longitudinal reaction arms and coil spring struts (adjustable Bilstein dampers)
Brakes: Disc/disc (modified Mazda discs)
Wheels: Campagnolo 7.5Jx15 (Compomotive 6×15)
Tyres: Dunlop 195/55-13 (205/50-15)
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 2480mm
Length: 3900mm
Width: 1700mm
Height: 1380mm
Weight: 1215kg (1240kg)
PERFORMANCE
Max speed: 210kph (195kph)
0-100kph: 6.6 sec (4.7 sec)
Lancia Integrale Production
1986/1987 7665 (4WD)
1988/1991 23,004 (8V and 16V)
1991/1993 5619 Evoluzione I
1993/1994 4223 Evoluzione II
Total: 47,787
