"It only took them 20 minutes to re-chip my engine and now I have
350 bhp!" - ...If only life was that simple!
We hear similar tales all the time, but just look at the facts:
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Lancia themselves never made any
such claim - why?
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Lancia's Delta won six
Consecutive World Rally Championships, they created a Rallying
Legend, yet they never promised such amazing results - why?
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Walkers started four RAC Rallies
and finished four, but they also refuse to make any such claim -
why?
ANSWER - because it can't be done!
We believe in Honest Horses and
Satisfied Customers - that's probably why Lancia made us Factory
Appointed Integrale Specialists for the UK!
(If you still believe in 350bhp re-chipped Deltas and emails that
guarantee to increase the size of your private parts by 25% for
every pill you buy, then simply enter 'gullible' in your search
engine - this isn't the site for you!)
So what do we promise? Having been Lancia Main Dealers since 1989
and having prepared and rallied Integrale Deltas more successfully
than ANY other UK concern, we claim to fully understand what makes
this superb car tick and we believe we can make it into one of the
fastest and most satisfying road going projectiles you'll ever own!
But to grasp what qualifies an Integrale for such a title you have
to come to terms with the concept of 'Torque'. As concepts go, it
may not be as sexy as 'horse power', but torque is the phenomenon
that converts the Delta into a true Pocket Rocket! Once the penny
drops that its the magical combination of torque and horse power
that gives that 'punch in the back acceleration' that real drivers
crave, you begin to appreciate that there's more to this business
than meets the eye - which is why the BBC chose to base their Top
Gear Integrale investigation at Walkers Garage.
So
let's be sensible and examine what we can promise to do: Our 'Stage
One Package' commences with an engine check - we don't want to blow
its brains out by just dropping in a fast chip and sending you on
your way! We start by checking the compression pressures for
cylinder leakage - this gives us confidence that your engine is
capable of withstanding substantially more power.
We automatically examine the camshafts for profile wear and we
enquire as to the last time the cam belt was changed. Once we are
happy as to the engine's basic health, we change the cylinder head
bolts; replacing the standard Stretch Type with High Tensile Steel
Bolts will ensure reliability and maintain cylinder head gasket
integrity.
Then - and only then - we install our 'Walkers Fast Road Eprom',
which inserts genuine high performance Italian technology into the
ECU and allows the engine to operate in the manner that the
designers originally intended.
But all that work would be in vain if the engine wasn't fine tuned
to extract maximum power and efficiency. To achieve this we put the
car on a four-wheel drive rolling road where we can replicate every
road condition whilst monitoring all the engine functions and the
exhaust emission. In this way we can attain optimum performance in
conjunction with the best possible fuel economy, checking
continually for signs of detonation, pinking or pre-ignition.
Printouts of the power and torque curves are always handed to the
owner; furthermore, these are accurate figures, we do not condone
the production of 'Joe Public Figures' claiming astronomical
improvements to pamper the driver's ego!
We generally see the BHP figure rise from 210 to a genuine 250, and
when allied to a 20% increase in torque, you can expect to 'feel'
the improvement, not just read about it!
To compliment the smile that this conversion generates (every time
you let out the clutch!) we are maintaining our special offer on
this popular tuning package by pegging it to just £1000 including
VAT.
What's that, you want even more power?
Despite producing more 'kick per horse' than most chip upgrades,
there are drivers who insist on even more grunt from their Deltas!
To obtain still higher outputs we must enable the engine to 'breath'
more effectively, we do this via the camshaft and exhaust system.
The
camshafts offer a significant increase in power and are the key to
getting the Integrale to mimic the performance of its rally-prepared
cousin. The cams that we recommend are identical in profile to those
used on the Works Abarth Rally Cars, so you can imagine the impact
that they have on a road engine! (The lift has been reduced slightly
to avoid contact with the pistons). The cams are machined from
blanks in order to achieve the profile required to match those used
to win Six World Rally Championships; simply re-profiling a standard
cam could not achieve the correct shape and would compromise the
power characteristics.
The new cams prolong the time that the valves are open to enable
more combustible material to be drawn into and out of the cylinders.
The timing of the inlet and outlet sequence is critical to ensure
that the valves open and close at precisely the right moment and
these are adjusted by means of a vernier mechanism on the camshaft
pulleys. These tasks can be undertaken with the cylinder head in
place, but it does necessitate fitting a new cam belt since existing
belts should NEVER be re-tensioned.
Having facilitated better breathing via prolonged valve opening and
timing we heartily recommend that anyone proceeding to our Stage Two
Package fit a Free-Flow Exhaust System to reduce back pressure and
encourage effective extraction.
The exhaust manifold can be changed for a branch type to allow the
exhaust emission from each port to reach the turbo in the correct
firing order; this is only possible where each individual pipe is
exactly the correct length from exhaust port to turbo. Carefully
balanced systems not only prevent the build up of out-of-sequence
gas emissions, they encourage the complete extraction of waste gases
from the combustion chamber by creating negative pressure within the
manifold; hence the term 'extractor manifold'. This is particularly
important when coping with the increased valve overlap generated by
high performance cams - if you leave some burnt gases present in the
chamber you obviously can't completely fill it with a fresh charge
in time for the next detonation.

Stainless Steel Custom 3" Exhaust System
(likely to last for 25 years!) |
In addition to producing extra horse
power and torque, a well designed system can reduce turbo lag.
Needless to say the re-timing of the engine brought about by the use
of such camshafts necessitates the use of a different Eprom to that
used with our Stage One Package.
Stage Three Package: For those who insist on the ultimate, the
cylinder head is next in line for attention. The head is removed,
stripped down and the valve guides taken out. The inlet and exhaust
ports are gas-flowed (the galleries the air/fuel mix passes through
are re-shaped to maximise the flow rate to and from the combustion
chamber). New valve guides are fitted and the valve seats are re-cut
to ensure a gas-tight seal. When the cylinder head is replaced a
competition head gasket is fitted reduce the risk of blow-by.
You will note that power figures and costings have not been quoted
for Stages Two and Three; Walkers prefer to discuss such matters
direct with their prospective clients, thus the specific car can be
taken into account and the reality of acclaimed power outputs put
firmly in their place! So pick up the phone or call in person to
speak with those who have proven beyond doubt that they know what
they're talking about... Lancia and Walkers.
The high performance staff at Walkers Garage would like to point out
that whereas Lancia produced a superbly balanced road car in the
Integrale, once you start to unleash the huge power potential of the
Delta, you should give due consideration to upgrading the suspension
and braking capability of the car. Kits are available to match
whatever power increase you have in mind.
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