kapetanikolas

I had similar issues with mine, my mechanic connected it to the computer and found out that 2 cylinders out of 4 were not firing properly (bad spark plugs) and the turbo was almost dead. He changed everything (cost approx 1500 pounds with work) and the car runs perfectly now.

You can find the Marelli unit with the sat nav online (ebay) but the technology is obsolete and will not be an upgrade for your car. In addition, I have learnt in this forum that the two units (non sat-nav and sat-nav) are not directly intercheangeable, you will need to adapt the cables somehow. If you decide to install an aftermarket unit, please note that the factory Delta radio is single-din, therefore you will need to buy a single-din aftermarket radio with a new fascia that will also allow the buttons at the bottom. In any case (personal view) i would leave the radio as it is, the factory radio is of very good quality, the sound is superb and in addition it has zero boot-up time, you press the on button and the music starts. But this is just a personal view.

I think the positioning of the back seat plays a big role when you have kids and I agree that it should be an argument for choosing one version over the other. Having a 18month son, I prefer the seats in the most forward position, this allows much bigger room space in the boot to accommodate the folded pushchair, at the same time leaving enough space for a kid's seat on the backseat. When my son will be older and I will not use a pushchair anymore, I will slide the seats in the most rear position so that he can have enough space without kicking the passenger's seat in front of him

Great review above by Forzalancia. I would only emphasise the aspect 'space'. The car has enormous inside space, comparable to (or even bigger than) cars of larger category. Especially the space for back seat passengers is shocking. In terms of performance, engines are very good. I have the 1.4 MA and although fuel consumption is a bit high, the engine has good responsiveness and surprisingly good acceleration, even when you are on 6th gear cruising leisurely on the motorway. Road feedback of course is light years back in comparison to an Alfa Romeo, steering feels imprecise and gear change less smooth, so coming from an Alfa GT I feel a bit "out of my waters", as it actually feels like a boat in comparison to the GT, although they have almost the same dimensions. But let us not forget that it is a completely different car, addressing different public. In terms of design, the car beats hands down any 2020 model and the Platino version with the 18" wheels is just astonishingly beautiful. The car that you sent on the link is the 'argento' basic version (not sure how it is called in the UK), I would wait to get a higher spec version. Don't bother with the navi-radio, it is useless by modern standards. An important aspect to take into consideration is who is going to service it, in continental Europe FIAT network is extensive, not sure how it is in the UK.

Hi there, Replacing the factory radio with a double-din aftermarket one is not as straight-forward as it might seem. First of all, the Delta stereo, both with and without navigation, uses a single din slot. If you want to add a double-din stereo there will be some modification to do. You will surely need a harness to connect the aftermarket stereo to the Deltas cables, plus an adapter to allow you to use the steering wheel controls. Such adapters and harnesses exist for the top brands (Pioneer, Sony etc) and you can find them on ebay. Not sure they exist for no-name android units. If you cannot find a steering wheel controls adapter for Lancia Delta, try Lancia Ypsilon or Fiat. Also beware : some of these Chinese android units are not standard dimensions... it might not fit in the slot. Hope this helps!

I don't know the answer to this exact question, but I have the same car as you and also the start-stop is working only from time to time. More frequently when the weather is warm and the battery well charged (ie after highway travel). I put the question to my car mechanic who has 35y experience in Alfa Romeos, Lancias and Fiats, and he told me not to bother with the start-stop. He actually said that it is better if it doesn't function as it puts a lot of strain on the car's other systems. I have read on other forums that the problem is well known on other cars of the Fiat group, most particularly the Giulietta.

It seems to be a recurrent problem. When I went to see the car before buying it the seller offered a discount because Bluetooth did not work. However, when he connected it to the computer for diagnostics, Blue and me magically came back. I bought the car and managed to link both my wife's telephone and mine. 3 months later connection was again lost, but it only lasted for a week or so, then it came back on its own. Having said this, I must confess that I don't like it at all. The menus are too hard to navigate. And has it happened to you to accidentally call a number? almost impossible to stop it. Plus you need to have the radio on all the time for it to work.

I saw a BMW with Dunlops the other day in my neighborhood that had the largest rim protection ridges that I have seen. I think the model is Sport Maxx. Bridgestone Potenza is not bad either in this respect, however they are really hard on the road and I believe they do not fit the Delta (my wife's car had them and I changed them) Contenental Contisport Contact also have very large protection ridges. On my Alfa GT I have Uniroyal Rainsport 3, very good and comfortable but the protective ridges on the 18" rims look really basic. But nothing works better than keeping away from pavements when you park the car. The Delta has actually very good rear view mirrors with large field of view that allow you to actually see whether your rear wheel is going to touch the pavement while you go backwards.

Some stuff from the Alfa GT Passenger window gets stuck in closed position for months. One day car battery runs out. After installing new battery the window starts working again like nothing happened.Your try to close driver's window. It goes all the way up then all the way down on its own and stays there. Repeats every time you try.Car radio increases and decreases volume on its own.Parking sensor bip barely audible one day, then loud the next day.There is more but I don't remember it right now...

Having done some detailed research in the past months on this subject I can say that the Pirelli P7 is definitely a tyre to consider. There is a 'blue' version that has obtained A rating for both wet grip and fuel efficiency. As Nello says, they seem to have mixed reviews, but I believe this is due to the fact that the number of people reviewing them is much smaller than with other brands (Michelin, etc). I personally went for Goodyears and I'm very happy, but please do not forget that my car is on 18" wheels.

Update: Thank you all for your contributions. In the end I went for the GoodYear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 to replace the Bridgestone Potenzas at the front, and I have to say the Goodyears have transformed the car, not only much better grip but also spectacular change in the steering precision, very increased comfort level and softness on road irregularities, but also very quiet. The car feels much more solid and I am really very satisfied with these tyres and I can recommend them without any hesitation to fellow Delta owners, at least for the 18" wheel size. Looking forward to replace also the ones at the rear after the winter.

Is it possible to go up from 225/40/18 to 225/45/18 without any modification to the car? The car manual does not mention this tyre size as possible. That indeed would solve some of the issues with comfort...

Thanks Nello,exactly my thoughts, you have confirmed that they only existed in silver, therefore previous owner must have had them painted to match the 'hard black' look. On this site you can see replica alloys for the Delta, although I don't see any in 18" size https://www.auto-look-perfect.fr/jantes-alu/toutes-nos-jantes/lancia/delta-a-partir-de-05-2008/

Hi there, you asked for photos, so here they are, the first picture shows the car exactly as it was when we bought it, please note the chrome details that have been painted with black mat paint (which was very professionally done , I must admit), even the borders of the front and back lights. And the second one shows the car today. The wheels are 18" in dark gray/anthracite colour. I think they are aftermarket as they had no 'Lancia' logo in the middle (I added it afterwards). Does anyone know anything about these wheels (i.e. did this colour exist as original option?). Thanks a lot, Niko https://www.flickr.com/photos/58780736@N08/49047934676/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/58780736@N08/49048148222/in/dateposted-public/

Dear all, my wife's Delta (1.4 MA) that we bought second hand has the 18" alloys. The first owner wanted to make the car look as sporty as possible (he had even painted mat black all the chrome elements, thankfully I managed to restore them with acetone). The car has Bridgestone Potenza tyres (225/40/18) that look gorgeous but are really really hard on the road. Thy feel like they are made of wood every time the car has to pass over a small bump. At the same time, as explained in another thread, the car has an issue with fuel consumption and these tyres are rated "E" in this respect. I am looking into other tyre options to make the car ride more comfortable (we have a baby...). I have seen in this forum the recommendation to use Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance or Assymetric F3. On old publicity pictures I have seen the Delta "S" with Pirelli P Zero tyres, and the current version of the Cinturato P7 (P7 "blue") has A rating for fuel economy and A rating for wet grip. Would anyone have advice/experience on what tyre to put on the 18 inch wheels that will make the ride more comfortable and if possibly more fuel efficient? Thanks for your help Niko

It is in the form of a card, indeed, with a code printed on it. I have never had the need to use it in mine, but I have the experience of my Alfa GT where the battery died several times and the radio started normally after charging the battery, without asking for the code. Do you have the simple radio or the sat nav/radio combination?

I was in the car and preparing to drive yesterday evening when a gentleman came and knocked on the driver's window asking me how much the car costs because his daughter saw it and instantly fell in love with it. When I said that it's a 2011 model and that it has been completely discontinued since 2015 his eyes popped out and said 'but it looks like new'!! Mind you, this happened in Brussels, where the model is not so uncommon. Although 11 years old already, the design easily stands out from anything the competition of the category has to offer even today, and if well maintained it looks like a much more luxurious and expensive car than what it really is. In "Lancia" version the effect is even stronger. The 'Chrysler' version has ruined the effect somehow.

Thanks Nello and all the others who contributed, indeed the turbo fan gauge never shows anything in low gears (1st and second), maybe 1-2 marks in third, and more in higher gears where there is good power, with the car easily reaching 160 km/h. In 1st and 2nd, no turbo fan mark and revs stay desperately low (under 2500) unless I push really really hard, whereby I see the actual consumption easily jumping up to 32lt/100... I will definitely show your message to my mechanic and see if I have the same problem as you. Is it normal that the turbo seems not to be engaging in low gears? It is my first turbo car. Best Niko

Thanks for your ideas, another thing I have noticed is that the car does not increase revs is second gear, you practically have to floor the accelerator in order to pass 2500 rpm, therefore once you let the accelerator go for a sec, the revs are so low that you have to go back to 1st... Also, the electronic turbo fan indicator on the dashboard (assuming that it can be trusted...) never seems to indicate the turbo engaging in first or second gear unless I practically floor the pedal... I am wondering is this the reason the car consumes so much, i.e. that there is not enough turbo power in low gears (used a lot in city) and the driver has to push the accelerator hard to increase revs? This would explain why the car feels so heavy and under-powered. Just an idea.. I am not a car mechanic. Niko

Dear Delta friends, I realise there are a lot of knowledgeable people in this forum, so here is an issue that bothers me with my Delta. My car version is the 1.4 turbo with 140HP form 2011 with stop-start. I have noticed very limited torque in the low gears, especially the 2nd gear, every time I need to cut speed to let a car pass ahead or avoid a pedestrian crossing the street, I practically need to revert back to 1st, 2nd gear has almost zero torque once you lift the foot from the pedal. The car feels like it weighs 5 tons every time the revs fall a bit. I read in one of the older posts that this due to the car aimed for low economy, if this is true I have to say it definitely does not work with my car. The consumption in city cycle never falls under 13lt/100km, this is more than my 2.0 JTS Alfa Romeo GT from 2004... I find this fuel consumption horrendous, even with the 18" wheels, for a 1.4 litre car. Would anyone have an idea what the problem could be, because I really cannot believe that this is normal. All the best and thanks for any help or advice Niko

Dear Birima, I have the same tyre size as you (with Bridgestone Potenzas - and the same wheels by the way that i find awesome) and I am obliged to concur. The steering is quite imprecise, on top of this, when I turn the steering wheel right or left all the way i hear a bang like something hits on something at the end of the cycle. On my Alfa Romeo GT I have the same wheel size and although the car is already 15y old, the steering is phenomenal in comparison to the one of the Delta... possibly my car needs repair as yours did.

Hello to all, I'm new here and glad I found this forum! I have a 2011 Delta 1.4 140HP stop-start in Oro version which has the simple radio-cd unit with blue and me. I have the possibility to acquire a used original navi unit for a good price to replace the radio. Before taking a decision on this, would anyone be able to advise me on the following: 1. Can the navi unit directly replace the simple radio/cd unit or would I need to modify connections, cables etc? 2. Is it easy to get an activation code if the navi unit does not have one (still need to find this out from the seller)? 3. What is the easiest way to get updated maps for this Marelli navi unit? thanks to all nico