Lancia Delta CAR (2008) review

Lancia is set to return to the UK midway through 2009, having departed ignominiously 14 years ago, its range of tinselled Fiats proving about as popular as gelato in a London winter.

The car that leads the charge back to to Britain is the new Delta, a quirkily styled five-door hatchback that promises new levels of luxury in the class. But does it have any chance against Audi A3s, BMW 1s and top-end Golfs? Or would be Lancia be better forgetting about the UK altogether (in 1994 it sold a risible 400 cars, and most of them discounted to fleets)?

So is the new Lancia Delta any good?

Yes it is and it’s a huge improvement on the mostly rather anodyne Lancias that last corroded on UK shores. Its main appeal is that it is genuinely different from anything else in the class. Now being ‘different’, of course, can be good (think Apple computers) or bad (think Michael Jackson makeover). But in the Delta’s case, it’s mostly positive.

It’s notably roomier than most C-segment hatches – thanks mostly to the 100mm wheelbase stretch over the donor Fiat Bravo platform – and the materials used within are pleasingly posh and luxurious. The leather trim on the seats and doors of our test car were almost Rolls-Royce soft and supple and the stitching looked hand-done by Italian craftsman (it’s not, but who’s to know?).

Lancia claims it is the first truly luxurious C-segment car and with its combination of space and plushness, it has a point. It’s aimed at those downsizing from an Audi A4 or maybe a Volvo or an upper spec Passat who don’t want any loss of luxury or ‘premiumness’ but want to lose some length and bulk and gain on fuel economy. As such, it’s well in tune with our carbon-saving times.

Click 'Next' below to read more of our Lanica Delta first drive