Lancia Ypsilon HF TEST DRIVE: the new benchmark for small electric sports cars?

I first saw this Lancia Ypsilon HF about a year ago, when it was still only a prototype. I couldn't wait to try it out: at last, a "sporty" city car instead of the long list of SUVs! At the my 280 hp Junior Veloce track testI was pleasantly surprised by this one, so I had high expectations for this Lancia Ypsilon HF. The appointment was therefore made on the Balocco circuit, at the end of June, to discover and test this car in detail!

The Look: good on the outside, disappointing on the inside

When I think of Lancia design, I think of the Flaminia, the Fulvia, the Flavia, the Beta or the Delta, to name but a few models... All different designs, but all of them marked their era. We won't go into the history of this Ypsilon again: it's a Peugeot 208. to which the Pu+Ra HPE concept has been applied.

The design of this Lancia Ypsilon can be a little, a lot or not at all appealing. A bit like the Alfa Romeo Junior: ever since it came out, whenever I ask people for their opinion on the car's design, it's always the same: I like the front but less the rear, I like the rear but less the front, I like everything or I like nothing (and then "it's not a Lancia anymore", it's a 208, blah blah blah).

Personally, I like the look of the Lancia Ypsilon. The rear end reminds me a lot of the Alfa Romeo MiTo (even though Lancia is a reference to the Stratos) and the lighting signature is nice. And yes, of course, from the outside it looks like a 208 or Corsa, with which it shares elements. But I like the Ypsilon the best of the three models.

On arrival at the circuit, the Lancia Ypsilon can be seen in white, black and orange. The HF look is a success. If you want a city car with a sporty look, you've got it: 18″ wheels, front and rear bumpers, diffuser and wheel arches specific to the HF version. In any color, it's a good fit.

Inside... it's nice, but for a car that lays claim to HF heritage, it could have been better. I don't know how much it would have cost the manufacturer, but I would have used Alcantara instead of hard plastic on the dashboard and door trim, and also a little on the steering wheel. Or used more fabric with stitching. The sporty ambience would have been much better, because here, apart from the (nice and comfortable) bucket seats and the HF logo on the steering wheel, the difference with a normal Lancia Ypsilon is not obvious. It's a real shame!

Performance: not the surprise I was expecting

First of all, the Lancia Ypsilon HF is 2 cm lower and 7 cm wider than the base version. It is powered by the 280hp emotors M4+ engine, produced at Trémery in north-east France, and a Torsen differential. The tuning of this electric sports car was entrusted to Stellantis Motorsport, which had already taken care of the Abarth 600e.

Having tested the Junior Veloce 280 hp in the same conditions, on the same track as this Lancia Ypsilon HF 280 hp, I was impatient and curious to see if it was exactly the same, or even better! That's right: same platform, same engine, same Torsen differential... so same car? Well, not really.

Already, on acceleration, Junior is given a time of 5.9 seconds, compared with 5.6 seconds for the Ypsilon HF. Logical: we're talking about an SUV versus a city car. In reality, there's no real difference. It accelerates well, but it doesn't feel any better than the Junior: they're on a par despite the claimed 0.3-second difference. Note that the unladen weight of the two models is virtually identical. Mind you, on paper, the Giulia Veloce's acceleration is 280 hp, so it's not bad at all!

In terms of handling, I have mixed feelings. If the Ypsilon is logically better because it's lower than an SUV (so normally less roll), I found, to my recollection, that the Junior's steering was more direct and precise. I couldn't find any information on the steering ratio of the Ypsilon to the Alfa Romeo, and Lancia couldn't give it to me. Pushing the car to its limits, I even found myself with a bit of roll at times, which I had to make up for in some corners. It's also worth noting that the Alfa Romeo Junior has anti-roll bars at the front and rear, whereas Lancia hasn't communicated anything on this subject, and therefore perhaps doesn't have any? The Ypsilon remains good, but the comparison with its direct cousin is interesting.

Next, for me, braking is where the difference is most marked. Whereas the Junior had very effective, biting braking, which didn't trigger the ABS, on the Ypsilon HF, several times on the circuit, when braking, I found myself triggering the ABS. The Ypsilon's braking seems to have less "bite" than that of the Junior. Remember that the Junior has 380 mm ventilated discs and Brembo 4-piston calipers, while the Ypsilon HF has 355 mm discs and Alcon 4-piston calipers. In short, under track conditions, braking can be destabilizing.

All in all, this Ypsilon HF remains a high-performance machine, when you'd expect the same car, Junior Velothis is, to the best of my recollection, more efficient on the track than this Ypsilon HF. Of course, we're talking about track use here, where the car is pushed to the extreme, as if the future customer were going to take it out on the track, which will rarely (if ever) be the case. If you're a potential customer, rest assured that the Ypsilon HF will in any case be sufficiently powerful and reassuring for use on the open road.

Does this Lancia Ypsilon HF deserve the HF badge?

No and yes, let me explain. The HF label disappeared with the Lancia Delta in the 1990s. Someone who was 15 in 1990 and interested in motorsport is now 50. In other words, someone who lived through the HF era is over 50 and will probably no longer be a Lancia customer (and even if they were, to what extent?). So, if the Lancia Ypsilon is aimed at 35-50 year-olds, we might as well say that it's a generation that didn't experience the Lancia HF years, and therefore doesn't know what that means.

But since Lancia is in the midst of a relaunch, it's understandable that, to keep things simple from a marketing point of view and to appeal to a new generation of customers, the HF label is being used as a communication tool.

In my opinion, this Lancia Ypsilon HF isn't radical enough to deserve the HF label. The HF badge would be more the equivalent of a Quadrifoglio, or even a GTA at Alfa Romeo. Here, the Lancia Ypsilon HF is a car that would be more worthy of the "Sport" label, like Alfa Romeo's Veloce.

A Lancia with a V6 engine, like Alfa Romeo or Maserati, would be more deserving of the HF label. Or even what Kimera (an Italian manufacturer reviving Lancia 037s) is doing with its 4-cylinder engine boosted to 600 hp. Mind you, HF doesn't necessarily mean extreme power: the Delta HF Turbo and HF Intégrale developed 140 hp and 200 hp respectively. But we've come to realize that with an electric car, having a lot of power and a good 0 to 100 km/h are not enough to have fun behind the wheel.

And the Lancia Ypsilon HF-Line?

During the Lancia Ypsilon HF test drive at Balocco, I was able to take a Lancia Ypsilon HF-Line in hand and drive it around the circuit for an hour. In addition to its sporty look, which suits it well, I found the same driving qualities as in the Ypsilon HF. during my test drive of the Lancia Ypsilon in Milan. With its 110 hp, the car isn't a great sports car, but it's still versatile, i.e. both dynamic and comfortable. There's a real difference from the Alfa Romeo Junior in terms of comfort.

For someone looking for a versatile hybrid car who likes the look of the Lancia Ypsilon, this isn't a bad option. And if you want a Lancia Ypsilon HF-Line with a sportier sound, you can always install a Ragazzon exhaust system.

Conclusion: HF-Line more interesting than HF?

Personally, I had high expectations: as much as the Junior Veloce had surprised me positively, the Ypsilon HF didn't surprise me as much. I was expecting a slightly better car than the Junior Veloce. Yet these are similar overall performance, even slightly down on the Junior Veloce, and an interior that, apart from bucket seats and an HF logo on the steering wheel, isn't very sporty. The only advantage of the Lancia Ypsilon HF over the Junior Veloce, in addition to better road comfort, is its 370 km range (WLTP), compared with 322 km (WLTP) for the Junior. Choosing between the two is difficult: the Junior performs better, but is more expensive and has less range; the Ypsilon is less expensive, performs less well, but offers more range.

This Ypsilon HF is a good car for someone looking for a sporty electric city car, with a compromise between comfort and performance, and an exotic, sporty design that has nothing to do with the history of the HF label, and who's ready to invest €42,000! But when it comes to pure performance on the racetrack, if you have to choose between the Ypsilon HF and the Junior Veloce, it's the latter that comes out on top, even though it's an SUV.

As a result, the 280 hp HF version may not be worth its name or its price. If you like the car, you might be better off with a 156 hp electric HF-Line or a 110 hp hybrid. You'll get the HF look and a car with good roadholding qualities compatible with everyday life, for less.