Welcome back, petrolheads!
Today, I’m back to an Italian “playground”: the first Lancia I have ever driven – the small Y, or Ypsilon as they want us to call it.
First things first: this is a rented car, so despite being only 2 years old and having 38k kilometres (24k miles) on the clock, the paint is faded (too many automatic car washes) and the rear shock absorbers look to have had better days, as well.
I rented it as a courtesy car, as my roadster was receiving its 30k kilometre (19k miles) service. Being at a Mercedes-Benz shop, the least I could expect was a latest generation smart fortwo, a car I never drove. So, when I was given the keys to a Lancia Ypsilon, I was shocked. Really, that’s that kind of cars you never remember of, and when you do, you wish you hadn’t. Me, a 27 year bloke, driving that girlie thing?! Is this a joke? No, it isn’t. My Panda may also not be the most masculine car money can buy, but the Ypsilon is almost like a Nissan Micra – it’s a dress with four wheels.
First surprise: as I walked around it to better understand what I was going to drive, I heard a little noise at the back – it was the engine, which was turned on! OK, I’m mostly used to noisy cars, and I had just left the noisiest of them all, but the Lancia is on a class of its own.
Getting in (enormous, heavy doors) feels familiar with the panda, as the (wrong) driving position is always too tall and you never manage to feel perfectly comfortable. The steering wheel, even at its lowest and most backwards position, is still far too much high and horizontal, so you end up feeling like a lorry driver. And what about headroom?! I almost felt lost inside it! Having the seat as low as possible – which translates to… high – there were at least 15 centimetres (10 inches) of air above me! A windscreen very far away, along with a flat-top dashboard and some fake-metal inserts on the doors, all contribute for an impressive sensation of space. Build quality is also good, as most of the materials used. I only noticed one small squeak, coming from the rear seat.
Also, the interior design is nothing bad either. Modern and certainly different from what we are used to in this class, it’s a pleasant place to be. Apart from the fact that I felt too small inside it (I’m only 1,77 metres tall), so, I was a bit like those women we (almost cannot) see driving big MPV’s, or SUV’s. Yes, women – I struggled to forget the idea that I was driving a girl’s car…
But fortunately I did. And something curious happened – the most time I drove it, the most I enjoyed it. I recalled the smart’s slogan “open your mind” a couple of times while driving it, because if you really open your heart and focus on the machine, you realize its strong character is genuinely charming.
The well-proven 1.2 suits the spirit of the Ypsilon just perfectly. To begin with, there is no vibration whatsoever. It’s an engine tuned for torque, which means it gets harsh (and noisy) past 4500 rpm. Mute at idle and very low revs, it shows all its strength between 2k and 4k rpm. Its power delivery, despite never very good, is extremely creamy. Given such sweetness, it’s easy to forgive the lack of horsepower.
Lancia engineers also know this, so they coupled the engine to a manual gearbox with such long ratios (see data) you really have to use torque. Truth be told, I never felt it dangerously slow, like the Polo 1.2 did. I even found it hard to believe the horrid official 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time. In the real world, the 60 PS 1.2-litre Ypsilon is noticeably faster than the 1.2-litre 65 PS VW Polo, and more economical too. My final fuel consumption average, after 141 kilometres (88 miles), was 5,6 l/100km (50 mpg). Not bad.
Comfort is good at the front, but at the rear potholes are too much noticeable, probably due to a faded rear suspension. That means that a trip on the motorway, or any open road with a good pavement, within the speed limits, is very well accomplished, due to the quiet behavior.
Amazingly, it doesn’t corner that bad, either. Cornering fast, on an imperfect surface, reveals little tendency to get out of the line you are following, and body movements are well controlled. Most of all it feels light, a point underlined when braking, as there is little dive. A shame the steering is not very informative. The gearbox, even not very fast, is sweet. Discreet is the better way to describe the behavior of every car command. After all, this is not a driver’s car, so all makes sense.
The impression I was left with is this: the Ypsilon is a quality product, designed for a client who wants looks and individuality above anything else, with some rationality along the way. A trendy car thought mostly for city commuting, something it does very well.
Verdict: a stylish approach for a cosmopolitan, slightly premium (female) buyer. An individuality statement with some real quality.
Vital data:
Engine and transmission:
1242 cc, inline-4 cylinder, 2 valves per cylinder (petrol)
60 PS (44 kW)/ 5000 rpm
102 Nm/ 2500 rpm
Red line: 6000 rpm
5-speed manual transmission
Dimensions and weights:
Length/ width/ height: 3,810/ 1,704/ 1,530 metres
Turning circle: 9,83 metres
Empty weight (excl. driver): 1020 kg
Boot: 215 litres
Fuel tank: 47 litres
Tires: 195/55 R15
Official performance:
Top speed: 153 km/h (96 mph)
0-100 km/h (0-62 mph): 16,8 seconds
Fuel consumption (urban/extra-urban/average): 7,7/ 5,0/ 6,0 l/100km (37/ 56/ 47 UK mpg)
CO2 emissions: 129 g/km
2750 rpm, 4th gear: 80 km/h (50 mph)
3000 rpm, 5th gear: 108 km/h (68 mph)
Driven: May 2010 – 2 days, 141km, 5,6 l/100km; car left with 37 989 km.
Main equipment: air conditioning, twin front and side airbags, radio with CD-player and USB-connectivity, trip computer, alloy wheels, fog lights.
Classification: 15 out of 20
Today, I’m back to an Italian “playground”: the first Lancia I have ever driven – the small Y, or Ypsilon as they want us to call it.
First things first: this is a rented car, so despite being only 2 years old and having 38k kilometres (24k miles) on the clock, the paint is faded (too many automatic car washes) and the rear shock absorbers look to have had better days, as well.
I rented it as a courtesy car, as my roadster was receiving its 30k kilometre (19k miles) service. Being at a Mercedes-Benz shop, the least I could expect was a latest generation smart fortwo, a car I never drove. So, when I was given the keys to a Lancia Ypsilon, I was shocked. Really, that’s that kind of cars you never remember of, and when you do, you wish you hadn’t. Me, a 27 year bloke, driving that girlie thing?! Is this a joke? No, it isn’t. My Panda may also not be the most masculine car money can buy, but the Ypsilon is almost like a Nissan Micra – it’s a dress with four wheels.
First surprise: as I walked around it to better understand what I was going to drive, I heard a little noise at the back – it was the engine, which was turned on! OK, I’m mostly used to noisy cars, and I had just left the noisiest of them all, but the Lancia is on a class of its own.
Getting in (enormous, heavy doors) feels familiar with the panda, as the (wrong) driving position is always too tall and you never manage to feel perfectly comfortable. The steering wheel, even at its lowest and most backwards position, is still far too much high and horizontal, so you end up feeling like a lorry driver. And what about headroom?! I almost felt lost inside it! Having the seat as low as possible – which translates to… high – there were at least 15 centimetres (10 inches) of air above me! A windscreen very far away, along with a flat-top dashboard and some fake-metal inserts on the doors, all contribute for an impressive sensation of space. Build quality is also good, as most of the materials used. I only noticed one small squeak, coming from the rear seat.
Also, the interior design is nothing bad either. Modern and certainly different from what we are used to in this class, it’s a pleasant place to be. Apart from the fact that I felt too small inside it (I’m only 1,77 metres tall), so, I was a bit like those women we (almost cannot) see driving big MPV’s, or SUV’s. Yes, women – I struggled to forget the idea that I was driving a girl’s car…
But fortunately I did. And something curious happened – the most time I drove it, the most I enjoyed it. I recalled the smart’s slogan “open your mind” a couple of times while driving it, because if you really open your heart and focus on the machine, you realize its strong character is genuinely charming.
The well-proven 1.2 suits the spirit of the Ypsilon just perfectly. To begin with, there is no vibration whatsoever. It’s an engine tuned for torque, which means it gets harsh (and noisy) past 4500 rpm. Mute at idle and very low revs, it shows all its strength between 2k and 4k rpm. Its power delivery, despite never very good, is extremely creamy. Given such sweetness, it’s easy to forgive the lack of horsepower.
Lancia engineers also know this, so they coupled the engine to a manual gearbox with such long ratios (see data) you really have to use torque. Truth be told, I never felt it dangerously slow, like the Polo 1.2 did. I even found it hard to believe the horrid official 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time. In the real world, the 60 PS 1.2-litre Ypsilon is noticeably faster than the 1.2-litre 65 PS VW Polo, and more economical too. My final fuel consumption average, after 141 kilometres (88 miles), was 5,6 l/100km (50 mpg). Not bad.
Comfort is good at the front, but at the rear potholes are too much noticeable, probably due to a faded rear suspension. That means that a trip on the motorway, or any open road with a good pavement, within the speed limits, is very well accomplished, due to the quiet behavior.
Amazingly, it doesn’t corner that bad, either. Cornering fast, on an imperfect surface, reveals little tendency to get out of the line you are following, and body movements are well controlled. Most of all it feels light, a point underlined when braking, as there is little dive. A shame the steering is not very informative. The gearbox, even not very fast, is sweet. Discreet is the better way to describe the behavior of every car command. After all, this is not a driver’s car, so all makes sense.
The impression I was left with is this: the Ypsilon is a quality product, designed for a client who wants looks and individuality above anything else, with some rationality along the way. A trendy car thought mostly for city commuting, something it does very well.
Verdict: a stylish approach for a cosmopolitan, slightly premium (female) buyer. An individuality statement with some real quality.
Vital data:
Engine and transmission:
1242 cc, inline-4 cylinder, 2 valves per cylinder (petrol)
60 PS (44 kW)/ 5000 rpm
102 Nm/ 2500 rpm
Red line: 6000 rpm
5-speed manual transmission
Dimensions and weights:
Length/ width/ height: 3,810/ 1,704/ 1,530 metres
Turning circle: 9,83 metres
Empty weight (excl. driver): 1020 kg
Boot: 215 litres
Fuel tank: 47 litres
Tires: 195/55 R15
Official performance:
Top speed: 153 km/h (96 mph)
0-100 km/h (0-62 mph): 16,8 seconds
Fuel consumption (urban/extra-urban/average): 7,7/ 5,0/ 6,0 l/100km (37/ 56/ 47 UK mpg)
CO2 emissions: 129 g/km
2750 rpm, 4th gear: 80 km/h (50 mph)
3000 rpm, 5th gear: 108 km/h (68 mph)
Driven: May 2010 – 2 days, 141km, 5,6 l/100km; car left with 37 989 km.
Main equipment: air conditioning, twin front and side airbags, radio with CD-player and USB-connectivity, trip computer, alloy wheels, fog lights.
Classification: 15 out of 20
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