- Lancia has opened orders for its comeback rally weapon, the €74,500 ($80,600) Ypsilon Rally 4 HF.
- Images of the 209 hp junior rally car show it being put through its paces by former WRC champ Miki Biasion.
- Biasion helped develop the ICE-powered Rally 4 HF competition car and the 276 hp electric HF hot hatch that goes on sale next spring.
Lancia is one of the most famous names in rallying but hasn’t got its tires dirty in competition for years. That’s changing with the launch of the Ypsilon Rally 4 HF, a dedicated motorsports version of the brand’s new subcompact decked out in a retro-inspired livery.
The order book for the new €74,500 ($80,600) rally car opens today, and as you’ve probably guessed from that price, buyers won’t be getting themselves a top-tier car in the vein of Lancia’s old Delta Integrale, Delta S4, 037 or Stratos. The Rally 4 HF is more of an entry-level machine.
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But it has been developed with the help of a man who knows some of those cars inside out. Italian rally legend Miki Biasion, who won the 1983 European Rally Championship in a 037, and the WRC in both 1988 and 1989 at the wheel of an Integrale, was on the team honing both the Ypsilon rally car and the electric Ypsilon HF hot hatch that goes on sale in Europe next spring.
Both versions are front-wheel drive and based on the same platform found in the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa, but the Rally 4 runs a 1.2-liter turbo engine making 209 hp (212 PS) and the upcoming road car is powered by a 276 hp (280 PS) electric motor, making it the most powerful of Stellantis’s small EVs. The ICE machine sends its power to the front knobblies via a five-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential. Lancia hasn’t revealed any performance figures for the motorsports model, which is seen here in action at the Balocco test track, but claims the EV will be good for zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 5.8 seconds.
The Rally 4 is named after the category it’s designed to race in, but in addition to making the car available for rally events all over the world, Lancia is also hosting the Trofeo Lancia Rally, which takes place at six events of the 2025 Italian Rally Championship. There’s €300,000 ($325,000) of prize money up for grabs and the winner gets to drive the Lancia Corse HF team’s official Ypsilon Rally 4 HF in the 2026 European Rally Championship.
“If you dreamt of track as a child, you dreamt of Ferrari, but if you dreamt of becoming a rally driver, then you dreamt of Lancia,” Biasion said at the Rally 4’s dynamic launch. “The Lancia legacy of victories and racing is back and I am happy to be a part of it.”
The gallery below shows images of next year’s HF electric hot hatch.
