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INTEGRALE SPECIALE
Ultimate 600bhp
Lancia Delta

www.walkers-garage.co.uk
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Welcome. . .
ancia Delta specialists Walkers Garage are anything

L but a normal Yorkshire country garage. Walkers

comprises four main departments: Walkers Lancia.
Walkers Fiat. Walkers Tecno2 Performance parts and
Walkers Radiators/Walkers Competition Radiators.
Walkers Lancia has a Worldwide reputation for
everything Lancia particularly for Lancia Delta owners.
Whether you want to buy the very best Lancia Delta
integrale Evolution available or simply require routine
maintenance, Walkers can supply or handle it. Walkers
Lancia have the largest stock of Lancia Delta Integrale
parts anywhere in the UK and possibly Europe.
Steve Smith

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INTEGRALE SPECIALE
Two decades later and development of the Lancia Delta HF
integrale continues to impress well into the 21st century
Story by Sean Carson
Photography by Michael Ward

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T
he 1980s was a great decade, a period
of style and elegance (that’s how we
remember it, right?), full of needless
excess. It was also good for cars, with
some of the greatest automotive icons
ever spawned in the ten years that time forgot –
the ’80s gave us the Audi Quattro, the BMW E30
M3 and this, the Lancia Delta HF integrale.
It also gave us Group B rallying, the power-crazed
formula that lasted just four years between 1982
and 1986. Following the demise of the class and the
pensioning off of Lancia’s ridiculously powerful Delta
S4 (official claims put its output at 480hp, but it’s
widely regarded that 560bhp was a more accurate
figure – Lancia even had a turbo and supercharged
engine delivering around 1000bhp on the engine
dyno), Group A was introduced along with Lancia’s
new challenger, the Delta integrale, underpinning
the firm’s assault on the new World Rally Champi-
onship.
When it comes to Group A-spec integrales, Walk-
ers Garage of Northallerton are the go-to guys in the
UK, with Steve Smith of Walkers having campaigned
many Deltas in national, international and WRC
events – what he doesn’t know about integrales is
not worth knowing.
So as I walk into the hangar at Blyton Park and see
this very special Delta integrale idling aggressively
loudly, I’m intrigued about the specification it’s in.
Steve duly obliges: “I bought the shell from some-
one’s front garden and have had it for 14 years – it
was a while before work began, but we had the idea
to turn it into a really tidy track car. That’s where we
are now. It can be driven to race events of one to
three hours in duration and the car is road legal – al-
though it doesn’t have a mechanical handbrake.”
That means this 500bhp (that’s at the wheels),
fire-breathing monster can actually travel on the
public road. Today, however, we’re testing what the
car is like within the confines of Blyton and only run-
ning “between 300bhp and 400bhp,” says Steve. Not
the full 1.9 bar of boost that gives 500bhp on just 95
octane pump fuel its new Chilean custodians will
use.

21ST CENTURY DELTA

Mapping the car for the lower grade of fuel in South
America was one of the major headaches in develop-
ing this Delta, according to Smith. “It took a lot of
work to get the car mapped right, and we didn’t
want to send it out anything other than perfect. It
wasn’t just a case of fitting new engine parts, we
had to match
everything so it

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was a really drivable engine.” It’s all controlled by a MoTeC M84 ECU with a
The engine’s spec reads like a petrolhead’s Christ- CDL3 data logging electronic dash system and an
mas list. Smith says the motor’s capacity is “in- aircraft-grade wiring harness. The technology is
creased over standard”, but won’t divulge exactly extremely specialist, with all manner of tempera-
what the swept volume is. This level of power tures and pressures monitored by the system, in-
means all-steel internals were called for, so the cluding extra parameters specified by Walkers.
crank and connecting rod are forged items. These incorporate fuel pressure, intake air and
Walkers initially tried a rather wild cam profile in exhaust temperature, air:fuel ratio, turbo boost
the motor, but Smith says, “Every manufacturer we pressure and turbine speed, and gearbox and dif-
contacted, the cams they suggested just weren’t ferential temperatures – the latter activates a
making the big numbers we wanted.” He therefore switched oil pump, so once the transmission fluid
decided to go with a profile closer to standard to gets beyond a certain temperature, it turns on an
make the engine more tractable. It’s worked, too. electronically controlled cooling pump.

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LANCIA DELTA HF INTEGRALE

ABOVE RIGHT: With a special air filter rated to 600bhp, a larger likes to shake its tail. Partly because the Tarmac and
Discrete extension to the Garrett T35 turbocharger featuring an electroni- the tyres are too cold, and partly because Smith
front bumper encloses an cally controlled external wastegate, and a custom knows how to pedal the car – when he spends all
three-inch exhaust system taking care of the day building and fettling them, it stands to reason he
additional radiator
breathing, the torque produced is fantastic. should know how to drive them properly. He’s com-
In fact, with 0.9 bar of boost pressure dialled in, peted in Rally GB three times in Group A spec ma-
it’s more than enough to excite all four wheels on chinery, achieving the prize for the top amateur
a cold November day in Lincolnshire. Track tem- driver in 1990. “I hold the record around Oliver’s
perature must be hovering around two degrees, Mount, too,” he proudly tells me without a hint of
so there isn’t going to be much grip today. self-importance.
We come in after a few laps to make some setup
WARM UP TIME changes – a softer rear anti-roll bar, some tweaks to
Steve points the car out of the pit lane first and I tyre pressures and a tweak of toe in at the rear –
take a passenger ride with him to get an idea as to then we’re back out. The adjustments don’t make
how the car’s behaving. Oversteery is the answer. much difference and in the blink of an eye it’s my
Even from the passenger seat I can sense the Delta turn.

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HOT LAPS alacrity but there’s a certain approach needed to ex-

“The track and the tyres are quite cold, so it wants tract the integrale’s true performance. There’s a
to slide around a bit,” says Steve. I’m now sat at the whiff of mid-corner understeer if you’re not confi-
end of the pit lane staring at a red light while my dent with the throttle and a surfeit of corner-exit
visor fogs up due to my heavy, nervous breathing, oversteer if you’re a little too over-zealous with your
the bellicose blap from the engine and exhaust at right foot.
idle ramping up the tension. Then I get the green Dutch suspension company ProFlex takes care of
light… the all-round MacPherson strut suspension system’s
I needn’t be so worried though. The car feels damping. The geometry is adjustable for ride height
modern and fresh as soon as it starts rolling, and and camber, while the dampers get high and low
the great reserves of motive force coupled to speed compression as well as rebound adjustment –
crisp throttle response immediately inspires confi- but today we’re leaving the clickers well alone. The
dence. And so does the steering. suspension gives a lovely plush, controlled feel, even
Smith has fitted a quick steering rack and coupled when the oil in the dampers is cold. “The rear springs
to Walkers’ bespoke lower wishbones at the front – are 20% stiffer than you might usually find on a simi-
complete with caster angle adjustment – and a larly prepared Delta,” says Smith, but he’s reluctant
stronger, custom-built T45 steel rear suspension to give up any more detail given the time and money
carrier, the system gives incredible feedback to the that’s gone into tuning the setup.
helm, relayed with a wonderful level of clarity. The connection to the road is instinctive. You can
The steering is only lightly assisted and has the feel the front and rear diffs working to find trac-
perfect amount of weight. The Lancia turns in with tion, but there is a specific way the car likes to be

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LANCIA DELTA HF INTEGRALE

ABOVE: Andy McFarlane’s

highly desirable EVO II proved
that standard integrales are
still potent

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driven. Enter into a bend too hot and the nose will tyres up at will, revving on to its 7500rpm limiter
scrub wide, all telegraphed to the driver with a wel- with true Italian zeal. It still delivers its power in a
come degree of analogue detail. Pick up the throt- very linear fashion, though – a characteristic
tle a touch from the apex – even with the correct Smith looked to maintain during the development
entry speed – and the front end will want to do the process and the result of that relatively conserva-
same. You have to drive this integrale from the rear. tive cam profile.
Brake late and hard, and turn in while still on the
middle pedal to put more weight on the front and FAST FORWARD
unload the rear – from here you’ve got to get the Streaking down the back straight at Blyton, I can’t
diffs hooked up, so use a good chunk of throttle resist trying the flatshifter system on the Bacci five-
and gently slide the car through the bend. This is speed sequential transmission. It’s a dog gearbox, so
how the car begs to be driven and it’s the quickest needs a good firm pull on the lever to engage the
way by far. When you nail it, it feels intuitive, bal- next ratio. “Make sure you give it a good yank, or
anced and totally manageable. The trick is learn- you’ll knacker the dogs in the ’box,” says Smith in his
ing to push through that zone of initial understeer northern tones – no pressure then. The powershift
on the throttle to find that physics-defying four- function is addictive and means there’s minimal
wheel drive traction away from the apex. delay as the box swaps ratios, your foot pinned to
Once you’ve got the differentials working and the bulkhead the whole time.
the turbo spooling, it’s a case of holding on as the I’m clutching the majority of gear changes today
motor romps towards the redline. It might be though, as the car’s already sold, so I don’t want to
heavily turbocharged, but there’s minimal lag. The inadvertently destroy the transmission. It’s still a
car delivers a solid wall of torque from idle to real event just shifting up through the box – it im-
around 4500rpm, but from there it just boosts merses you in the whole competition-spec rally car
even harder. It’s ferocious. Pick up the throttle in experience even more.
the heart of the mid-range and it’ll light the rear There’s a schuunk, BANG, schuunk, BANG, as we

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LANCIA DELTA HF INTEGRALE

tear towards the braking zone; the new gears
mesh, announced by a massive backfire from the
EVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES
exhaust, as great gobs of un-burnt fuel are The very special Walkers integrale actually shares rather more characteristics
dumped into the manifold causing a three-foot with the standard road-going Delta as a comparison from behind the wheel of
sheet of flame to lick from the tailpipe. Andy McFarlane’s gorgeous ‘real-world’ integrale Evoluzione II highlighted.
As we approach the braking zone – a tight 90- The 2.0-litre turbo lump delivers its power in a similarly linear fashion to
degree left-hander – I’m glad of the reassuringly
the Walkers car, once again highlighting the modified Delta’s drivability.
strong brakes. The bespoke four-piston Alcon
The Evo II has a useful amount of urgency below 3000rpm, but it’s from
brake calipers and large diameter grooved and
vented disc setup gives immense stopping power. here that the engine really starts to pull.
Initial bite isn’t all that intense, but squeeze the Again, it’s very tractable and not at all peaky as you might expect a tur-
brake pedal harder, putting more heat into the bocharged engine from the early ’90s to be. With 215bhp and 232lb ft of
discs and pads, and the retardation levels ramp torque on tap, it’s surprisingly quick by modern standards with the 0-62mph
right up, hauling the 1255kg Delta down with real
sprint taking 5.7 seconds, and the way it digs in on corner-exit – the four-
violence. I can feel the front wheels just locking
wheel drive system finding great traction – is certainly smile-inducing.
over the undulations on the run up to the turn, the
tyres chirruping away in protest. But the Delta That’s where the similarities end, however. The Evo II is much softer and
scrubs off its speed with great stability and sur- leans into understeer much earlier, even on this car’s RSR aftermarket sus-
prising aggression – to the point where I’m glad I pension – the lack of power means it’s more difficult to alter the balance
did the six-point harness up bladder-squeezingly, as well. There’s less feedback through the steering, but it’s still bristling
lung-crushingly tight.
by modern standards, and with a discreet three-inch exhaust system com-
It’s just one more area in which the immacu-
pleting the sensory experience, it sounds great too.
lately prepped integrale delights, and proves it’d
be a rather large fly in the ointment of the estab- A near-standard Evo II was never going to live up to a 500bhp fire-spitting
lished crop of track-focused machinery. This is the track weapon, but it’s an extremely sweet road car. With the classic Lancia
most fun car I think I’ve ever driven. Delta look – those delectably ’80s flared arches and 16in multi-spoke alloys –
From the way it makes its power to the way it the Evo II and the Walkers Delta both look wonderfully retro. Modern metal
handles, the way it finds traction to the way it
just doesn’t compare. In fact, owner Andy’s integrale is a peach. It’s been
sheds speed on the brakes, the Walkers Lancia
used but not abused and mixes welcome analogue traits with a nice dollop of
Delta feels like a thoroughly modern car – this is
a 21st century integrale. III usable performance.

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