www.QV500.com - Lancia Delta HF Integrale Part 1: Integrale 8v
 

Delta HF Integrale 8v		 When the Lancia Delta was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1979, no-one could have predicted this boxy five-door hatchback would go on to become the most successful rally car of all time. However, an unforeseen series of events meant Lancia's ageing and generally pretty uninteresting mid-range model got thrust into the limelight. The circumstances surrounding the Delta's journey to greatness lay in the unprecedented arms race that transformed rallying between '82 and '86.
   
New rules were introduced for the 1982 World Rally Championship allowing manufacturers to run cars built in much smaller numbers than before. Indeed, whereas prior to 1982 a minimum production run of 500 identical cars had to be made over a 24 month period before the model could be homologated in Group 4, Group B regulations allowed participation by machines of which only 200 had been built in a year. This led to an onslaught of highly focused and increasingly extreme automobiles being developed specifically for rallying. Lancia were actually the first to respond, their mid-engined 037 vanquishing the opposition in 1983 after a troubled debut season the year before. Peugeot, Audi, Ford and Rover soon followed suit with models like the 205 T16, Quattro Sport, RS200 and Metro 6R4. Group B survived into its fifth season before being outlawed at the end of 1986 following the exponential rise in deaths of drivers, navigators and spectators.
 

Delta HF Integrale 8v		 By this time, Lancia's own second generation Group B car, the Delta S4, was developing in excess of 600bhp which, combined with lax crowd control on many events, was a recipe for disaster. After unacceptable carnage, the FIA decided in May 1986 to abandon Group B for 1987, freezing car development in the process. They would run the new Championship to Group A rules, stipulating a minimum of 5000 cars had to be manufactured in 12-months before homologation would be granted.
   

This instantly killed off the super specials that had reigned over the preceding years and allowed in machinery of much humbler origins. The FIA's announcement left most manufacturers high and dry, but somewhat fortuitously Lancia had been developing an all-wheel drive version of the Delta HF Turbo. The new Delta HF Turbo 4WD was launched in May 1986, that very same month Group B got canned. It featured a steel monocoque chassis, fully independent Macpherson-strut suspension, dual rate dampers, helicoidal springs, disc brakes all-round and permanent four-wheel drive split 56% front / 44% rear. A complex arrangement of three seperate differentials ensured maximum traction at any given time. The engine was a two-litre twin camshaft inline four originally designed by Aurelio Lampredi. With this application it had an alloy cylinder head, steel block and counter rotating balancing shafts. Induction was forced by way of a Garrett T2 turbocharger, the resultant 165bhp in a package weighing 1200kg meaning top speed was a very respectable 133mph whilst 0-62 could be despatched in 6.6 seconds.

 
   

Homologation was granted in time for the 1987 season and that year the Delta HF Turbo 4WD won nine of the 13 rounds, Lancia securing the Manufacturers Championship and Juha Kankkunen the Drivers title. Unlike racing, where runs of 500 evolutionary derivatives were permitted in Group A, the rally regulations stipulated 5000 cars had to be produced for homologation each time. This meant incorporating all the necessary improvements required to keep cars at the top of the leaderboard could only be done by building 5000 identical examples of the new model. Lancia's first Delta built specifically for homologation purposes was the new HF Integrale launched in November 1987 at the Turin Salon. Among the host of upgrades was a larger capacity Garrett T3 turbo with improved air flow and bigger intercooler. There were new valves, valve seats and an improved water pump too. The oil and water radiators were increased in size, a more powerful cooling fan being fitted and a better air cleaner installed. Lancia also decided to opt for a shorter 3.111:1 final drive ratio.
 

Delta HF Integrale 8v		 Compression remained unchanged at 8.0:1, but with re-mapped engine management, output rose to 185bhp at 5000rpm (250rpm less than the HF 4WD). Other modifications included new springs and dampers, new front struts, larger 284mm ventilated disc brakes at the front, better pads at the back and a larger brake master cylinder and servo. Wider 6x15-inch wheels with graphite centres (up from 5.5x15) meant the wheelarches had to be flared, this in turn necessitating that the sills be faired in also.
   

Other externally identifiable changes included a bank of engine cooling vents carved out from the bonnet, matt black bumper inserts that wrapped round to the wheelarches, a subtly reworked front valance with improved cooling and body coloured wing mirrors. If still in doubt, you could always tell the new car by its 'Delta HF Integrale' badging front and rear. Tipping the scales at 1267kg, 67kg more that the HF Turbo 4WD, the Integrale was a blistering performer. Top speed officially remained 133mph, but 0-62 dropped from 6.6 to 6.4 seconds. Optional upgrades included leather trim, Martini seats and decals, a sunroof and leather steering wheel. Homologation was granted in time for the Integrale to make its Group A debut on the Portuguese Rally in March, round three of the 1988 World Championship. By this time the HF 4WD had already won in Monte Carlo and Sweden, but the Integrale didn't disappoint, winning straight out of the box in the hands of Miki Biasion.
 

Delta HF Integrale 8v Gr.A, 1989 Rally Australia 		It went on to win eight of the remaining 11 rounds that year securing the Manufacturers Championship for Martini Lancia ahead of Ford and Audi. Delta Integrale pilots Miki Biasion, Markku Alen and Alex Fiorio also recorded a memorable 1-2-3 in the Drivers standings. Thereafter, 1989 saw the Integrale win seven of the 13 events on the WRC calendar. However, the last victory of the year came courtesy of a newly homolgated 16-valve derivative that had been launched back in May.
   

Resplendent in new red Martini livery, the works 16v car of Biasion finished ahead of Fiorio in an older 8-valve model to take the win. By this time Lancia had already done enough to clinch the Drivers and Manufacturers titles, San Remo marking a victorious end to the season as the works cars would not travel to the Ivory Coast or Great Britain for the final two events of 1989. Biasion and Fiorio placed first and second in the Drivers standings whilst Lancia finished comfortably ahead of Toyota and Mazda in the Manufacturers league. A good number of privateers continued to rally the 8-valve Integrale beyond 1989, often with reasonable success in national events, but all Lancia's professional and distributor teams would switch to the 16-valve model for 1990. By the time production ended in mid 1989, 9841 first series Integrale's had been completed with the 8-valve engine, all of which were left-hand drive.
 

Delta HF Integrale 8v Gr.A, 1989 Rally Catalunya