Ypsilon HF: two hearts, a spear

HF, The two letters are back who, for an entire generation, had the flavor of the beaten earth powder and the Rauco sound of the engines to the maximum. They come back, yes, but they do it with the education of those who grew up, he graduated with full votes in design, he learned to respect the environment, but he did not lose the desire to bite the asphalt. They return with two cars that are called almost the same way – Ypsilon hf And Ypsilon HF Line – But they could not be more different.

The Ypsilon HF, the real one – or, at least, the one that most has the Physique du rôle – It is a280 horsepower electricquickly like a saetta and finished as an Italian race coupé: torsen differential, alcon brakes, lowered structure and one drive from 0 to 100 in 5.6 seconds. In, sports seats In Econyl with laser seams, perforated leather steering wheel and a design that winks at the delta evolution. Outside, the new face of the HF logo, the red elephant, the blisters on the wheel arches and thatOrange Lava That seems to have come out of an old photo of Stratos. A car that does not just tell the sportiness: it returns it in every vibration, every feedback from the steering wheel, each fraction of the curve.

Yet, next to her, there is another spear that speaks the same language, but in a more urban tone. There Ypsilon HF Line is the elegant and accessible sister, the hybrid sports that puts together 110 HPa PowerTrain 48v Mild-Hybrid and a 0-100 in 9.3 seconds as well as a maximum speed of 190 km/h. A more than respectable figure for a compact designed to move in the city with the attitude of those who know they descend from a glorious lineage. “Cannelloni” seats with orange seams, room interface revisited in a racing key, the same elephant to mark the details: it is the demonstration that the style, such as memory, can also survive down the down.

The two innovations can already be ordered: the HF Line Hybrid line is already available in the showrooms, while the 280 HP Ypsilon HF will make its debut on the road after the summer. In Italy, prices start from 22,450 euros For Ypsilon HF Line e from 39,200 euros For Ypsilon HF.

And precisely because sportiness is not a question of horses, but of consistency, Balocco has welcomed both with the same enthusiasm. On the New “Lancia HF track” trackjournalists took turns in different tests to test performanceset-up and guidance of the new electricity. The technical preview has also become a small race, complete with a dry tour of a circuit dotted with slalom, chicane, support curves and deviations designed to bring out the character of each car.

To refer to a fundamental presence of the Italian Rally: Miki Biasion. Not a appearance, but protagonist, with the Best time among all. Still him. Still that unrepeatable agreement between Lancia and who, with the rally suit, wrote the most intense chapters. Biasion guided, observed, recommended. And he praised, with the sobriety of those who know what he says, the reactivity and silence of the new HF. A electric, yes. But with something that no watt can ever explain. The story, after all, is made of symbols. THE’Red elephantnow stylized as an origami in the running, has the trunk turned forward and the gaze focused on the future. But he knows very well where he comes from. And us with him.