Thursday 30th July 2015

Delta Integrale: £15K Competition Update

Last time we heard from John he was stationary with the bonnet up - has the Lancia behaved itself since?

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The Lancia's snapped belt caused our Adrian Flux competition winner John Crook a bit of a scare in his last update but it seems this was an isolated hiccup and the Integrale is restored to full health and enjoying a busy summer of events.

We'll let John pick up the full story and say thanks again to Adrian Flux for sponsoring the competition in the first place.

 

 

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Among friends at Auto Integrale

Summer briefly arrived in the UK and it was time to make the most of it. I had made the trip to Reading to pick up the car from Auto Integrale. A great spectacle - in the middle of a quiet country lane you suddenly find yourself surrounded by around 10 Integrales in various states of health! Luckily mine was running tip top again and we were soon on our way back home. A long journey, but the car behaved itself impeccably.

The next time the cover was removed and the polished paintwork was exposed was for the annual pilgrimage to the Festival of Speed. After last year and the car not making it there (all because of a broken fuel cap!) I was determined. I was up at sunrise to check the car over. Everything was fine and the Italian once again behaved itself, enjoying a lovely run through the countryside down to Goodwood. It seemed like the other Festival attendees enjoyed the spectacle of a Integrale (albeit in traffic which it really doesn't like, cue fan at full speed) as much as I enjoyed being the pilot!

Once off the ramps it was back to enjoying the car

Before long we were parked up and looking at all kinds of exotica - including of course watching other Integrales battling it out round the rally course, even a S4 Delta in attendance. That takes some guts, hurtling past trees inches away from very expensive bodywork!

The Integrale ran home just as well as it had gone down there - it's in great form at the moment. Meaning various countryside runs for meals with friends and family are a very welcome excuse to get the rally legend out and about.

Its taken some time but I think I've now mastered how to drive a Integrale to get 100 per cent out of it. It's the little quirks like knowing when to apply throttle coming out of a corner so that the turbo spools just as you hit the apex. It's a car that takes time to truly master. Yes it is four-wheel drive and is very easy to drive quickly, but it's getting everything together so that you maximise the car's performance that takes time to adapt to. It's getting the last 10 per cent of performance out of the car that has been the challenge, but an exciting one. It's a very different car to modern machinery. Personally I'd say its all the better for it. You feel everything. The steering letting you know exactly the grip levels and road surface. The suspension - very firm but very sure footed. The understeer that acts as a warning that the limit is nearing and the mechanical feel of the gear shifts. It's still hard to believe that this is a 20-year-old car!

I fear that whatever car I may have next may not be able to replicate the feeling that the Integrale gives you when you perfectly link corners on a country road together.

Lancia has been out and about plenty this summer

However, there has been thought as to the time for a change. It would have nothing to do with the car's capabilities, but more my life situation. The car needs looking after substantially more than any other I've had. Maybe it's me being meticulous and it doesn't help that I'm unable to have the car living with me, meaning I get to drive it much less frequently than I'd like.

Therefore my mind has been wandering. Perhaps it's time for a change. For someone else to take over the loving of my Integrale. For someone else to have a grin every time they sit in those gorgeous Recaro seats. For someone else to patiently wait for the addictive boost to come on. I'm talking myself out of it already.

Time to let someone else enjoy it? Possibly...

I've nearly had the car two years now and I'm coming to the conclusion that's it been a great experience but I need something, dare I say it, more useable. It is a good one but it is still an Integrale. Things can and have gone wrong (luckily minor) but I fear the less I use it the less reward to effort ratio I'm receiving in return.

Therefore I'm currently looking at alternatives. My current thinking is a E46 M3 CS. In Interlagos Blue... This feels like a great compromise between the standard M3 and the CSL (the CSL wouldn't help with the 'getting something more useable' theory, not to mention the prices!).

All that I know is that it will be a very sad day seeing the Integrale go, knowing that with prices still rocketing skywards I'll probably never own another. It's occupying a lot of my time at the moment weighing up the pros and cons - and using man maths to work out how the Integrale potentially could stay in my life! Rest assured it won't be going tomorrow. I will be using it for some memorable trips over the next couple of months before it probably goes to a specialist to be sold. I will keep you all updated with my farewell months with my rally legend.

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Previous updates:
It took a while but John finally found his dream Lancia
Is it living up to the hype? Hell yeah!
MoT'd and ready for a summer of fun
There's an issue... with the fuel cap
It's a Sega Rally hero made real!
Oh no! Integrale on the side of the road

[X5TUU]

I think if I were you and finances permitted I would be tempted to put it away in dry storage for a point where circumstances change, it can be recommissioned and back in use and suck it up and get a cheaper daily/usable in the meantime

Great update though and good to hear it's back tip top

[sege]

It will be a massive mistake to sell this car imo. I can't see how you wouldn't forever miss it afterwards and therefore end up regretting it.

Although it nice to have variety in car ownership, there comes point for most of us (unless you have limitless money) after which you just can't do much better...
I've always thought that with this car you've probably reached that point.

Wish I was in the market for one though!

[rejn]

Don't sell it - you'd definitely regret it!!

I was lucky enough to get an Integrale a few months ago, too, and I love it!

I echo your thoughts on steering feel - it's brilliant, and on top of that, the car just grips and grips - the way it slingshots you out of corners can be quite comical. And I definitely agree that getting on the power early enough to time with the apex is an art (and one I haven't mastered yet either!)

I took mine to Auto Integrale, too, and came away really impressed - they even gave me (for free!) a scruffy parcel shelf as mine was missing - thanks Keith!!

Gratuitous photo:

[Quickmoose]

First 2 posts sum it up....

[Mark Benson]

There are only 2 cars I regret moving on from, and one of them is the Integrale.

Doesn't help that I sold it right at the bottom of it's depreciation (for £4k, yes - four thousand pounds for a car easily I'd spent double that in maintaining for the two years I had it) but I was living in London and just didn't use it. If I'd known then what I know now......

Edited by Mark Benson on Thursday 30th July 13:41

[nikaiyo2]

I cried when I sold mine, proper full on tears. She was Dark metallic Grey 16V With Borbet Magnesium wheels AMAZING car
Dont sell you WILL regret it. When I see the prices now I shed another tear at what I sold mine for

[williamp]

well done for living the dream. I did it with an Aston several years ago. It had to go when it had to go. But I will buy another

[jackpe]

I would keep it.. but if you do go to an E46 M3 that is a good choice. I love mine, very, very good all round car. However I don't think the premium for a CS over a standard car is really worth it, you're basically paying for a slighly quicker rack, updated traction control and wheels. Much better to find a good standard manual car, there are not many about, most have been abused or have high mileages. If I'm driving quickly the traction control is off in any case and the standard steering does not feel slow to me..

[ducini]

Got to agree. I sold mine some time ago at the rock bottom price of £3500 after spending three times that over two years keeping it on the road. I reckon it only properly worked for about 2 months in my ownership but when it did it was a blast. Faster than an M3 in the twisty stuff. I had to sell it as the heartbreak of another fault emerging in the end tainted the joy of ownership, but now I only look back and remember the good times. Dry store it if you can.

[mcbook]

I'll break the mould and say you should sell it. Unless you only care about the financial side of things, in which case you should probably keep it. If you get joy from driving cars you should try to experience as many as possible - if the Integrale will be under wraps for half the year maybe it isn't that enjoyable.

I would echo a previous poster's views about the M3 CS though. Unless you're a collector, just buy a good late E46 M3 with CSL wheels and fit the quicker rack yourself.

[Vee12V]

Get yourself a cheap runaround and keep the Grale aside.

My 2 cnts.

[renaultgeek]

I'm surprised you've no offers yet. I'll start the bidding at 2 mars bars and a packet of cheese & onion.

[Ali_T]

Once you have a good 'grale, keep it. It can only appreciate. An M3 CS will only lose value and it's fat, ugly and slower than you think.

Edited by Ali_T on Thursday 30th July 12:35

[sprintevo]

Keep it Keep it Keep it everyone who sold a good one regrets it, you can pick up avaerage E46 M3's for peanuts as there were so many made, not so with the Grale

[chelme]

I'm not letting mine go at the moment. It is such a joy to drive. Anyone interested in my experienced of this legendary machine see article published in Car Magazine below.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/car-...

I got two quotes and there is still time for these to really hit the £75-100k. I think the next three to four years, but seriously even at that stage I would really struggle to let it go, it really has got under my skin.

[chelme]

rejn said:

Don't sell it - you'd definitely regret it!!

I was lucky enough to get an Integrale a few months ago, too, and I love it!

I echo your thoughts on steering feel - it's brilliant, and on top of that, the car just grips and grips - the way it slingshots you out of corners can be quite comical. And I definitely agree that getting on the power early enough to time with the apex is an art (and one I haven't mastered yet either!)

I took mine to Auto Integrale, too, and came away really impressed - they even gave me (for free!) a scruffy parcel shelf as mine was missing - thanks Keith!!

Gratuitous photo:

That's a very nice example. Love those pepper pot wheels.

[rejn]

chelme said:

I'm not letting mine go at the moment. It is such a joy to drive. Anyone interested in my experienced of this legendary machine see article published in Car Magazine below.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/car-...

I got two quotes and there is still time for these to really hit the £75-100k. I think the next three to four years, but seriously even at that stage I would really struggle to let it go, it really has got under my skin.

Great impassioned letter!

You've summed up Integrale ownership nicely. That's it. And as a relative newcomer, just the thought of my next drive makes me smile.

[x19dude]

Dont sell it! I have an evo 1 8v kat in maroon that I owned for 5 years and then sold. Luckily for me the subsequent owner gave me the option of buying it back 2 years later and I nearly bit his arm off. As everyone else has said here - if you sell it you will regret it. Integrales get under your skin. Anyone I know that has had one has had to have another at some stage. I have had an awful lot of cars over the years but the integrale is here to stay this time. My wife hates it as she says I spend more time fixing it that driving it (which is probably true) but I realised the error of my ways selling it.
If you can at all financially afford to keep it I would do so. BTW - Keith really is the best man to keep your car going.

[grale23]

Dont do it. If you can get something else first ,then decide. I've had 3 and regretted it every time it went. Now on my 4th and its a keeper after 3 years of searching ..again... !
5 years on and I can still stare at it for hours (with a beer in my hand)...my wife thinks I've lost it....she could be right !

[Harris_I]

I've been lucky enough to own and drive lots of interesting stuff over the years. The 'grale is one of 2 cars I intend never to sell.

On my local narrow country roads, it's the only car I've driven that is small enough to enjoy in the available space, has enough punch and a really characterful engine to give you a real thrill (OK, so mine's very mildly upgraded), not so much that it becomes unusable and frustrating (cue pretty much any modern supercar), deliciously feelsome feedback and modulation from the main controls (steering, brakes, throttle) which absolutely demolishes anything offered by modern cars, traction that can stand toe to toe against modern e-diffs, and looks and heritage that has every bloke and small boy pointing and staring.

When people ask, what's the best hot hatch, I tell them to wind the clock back 20 years and drive one of these.