Lancia Kappa

Overview

Lancia Kappa

aka	Lancia k
manufacturer	Lancia
assembly	Italy: Saloon: Rivalta plant, Turin‡R1R‡ Coupé: Chivasso (Maggiora)‡R2R‡ Estate: Turin (Pininfarina)‡R3R‡
production	August 1994 – July 2000 (saloon) 1996 – July 2000 (estate) April 1997 – April 2000 (coupé)
predecessor	Lancia Thema
successor	Lancia Thesis
class	Executive car (E)
layout	Front-engine, front-wheel-drive
platform	Type E‡R4R‡
body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate 2-door coupé
engine	Petrol: 2.0 L Fiat 838A4 16V turbo I4 2.0 L Fiat family C 20V I5 2.0 L Fiat family C 20V turbo I5 2.4 L Fiat family C 20V I5 3.0 L Alfa Romeo 24V V6 Diesel: 2.4 L turbo I5 2.4 L JTD common rail turbo I5
transmission	5-speed manual 4-speed AISIN or ZF automatic‡R5R‡
wheelbase	Saloon/estate: 2700 mm Coupé: 2580 mm‡R6R‡
length	Saloon/estate: 4687 mm Coupé: 4567 mm‡R6R‡
width	Saloon/estate: 1826 mm Coupé: 1830 mm‡R6R‡‡R7R‡
height	Saloon/estate: 1462 mm Coupé: 1425 mm‡R6R‡
weight	1425 kg-1580 kg‡R5R‡
related	Alfa Romeo 166
designer	Ercole Spada at I.DE.A Institute (saloon) Centro Stile Lancia under Enrico Fumia‡R8R‡ (coupé) Pininfarina (estate)

The Lancia Kappa or Lancia k (Type 838) is an executive car manufactured and marketed by Italian automaker Lancia from August 1994 to July 2000. It seats five passengers and shares its platform with the Alfa Romeo 166. The Kappa was produced with saloon, estate, and coupé body styles. It was only built with left-hand drive and has a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout.

After its debut at the 1994 Paris Auto Show, production reached 117,216 units, over six years.[9] The Kappa was manufactured at the Fiat factory in Tetti Francesi, Rivalta di Torino and was designed by the Centro Stile Lancia in collaboration with the I.DE.A Institute.

Lancia had earlier used the Kappa nameplate for the 1919 Kappa, with evolutions called Dikappa and Trikappa).[5]

Overview

Kappa SW and Coupé

The station wagon version of the Kappa, designated "SW" by Lancia, was designed and built by Pininfarina and did not differ from the saloon's exterior dimensions, sharing most of its body panels.[5] Only 9,208 cars were built in Pininfarina's factory.[3] The estate version was also available with Boge-Nivomat self-levelling hydropneumatic rear suspension.

The Coupé was designed by Centro Stile Lancia and built by Maggiora. It is technically quite different from the saloon, having a 120 mm shorter wheelbase,[12] wider rear track and a distinctive profile with frameless doors. The front, from bumper to the window screen, was identical to the other Kappa body styles. It was Lancia's first coupé since 1984, when the Beta and Gamma coupés were discontinued and remains the last Lancia to feature this body style to this day. The small production capacities at the Maggiora factory for this essentially hand-made car, and the relatively high price, destined it to be a rare vehicle. For cost cutting reasons, the rear lights were shared with the Delta. 3,263 were manufactured from 1996 to 2000.[5]

Car magazine[12] described the Coupé as looking "top heavy, like a Bentley Continental that's been heated up and squeezed at both ends." However, the car's engine range was praised for matching the vehicle's dynamics, the 2.4-litre five cylinder and the 3.0-litre Alfa Romeo-derived V6 coming closest to "infusing the k Coupe with the classy character its styling tries to suggest."[12] "It's the spiky turbo four that asks the hardest questions of the chassis and the all-strut suspension doesn't flounder. It shines. A viscous coupling helps the front wheels cope with the onslaught of the engine's old school, big-bang turbo delivery, and it feels remarkably untroubled."[12] About the refinement and ride, John Barker (of Car Magazine) reported that the occupants "are completely isolated from any vibration while the ride is smooth at moderate speeds, parrying bumps quietly and unobtrusively."[12] The interior was described as "appealing" and having "curvy, attractive door casings, plump supportive Recaro seats and a good choice of plastics.".[12] The 1997 price was estimated at 24,000 pounds sterling.[12]

Engines

The Kappa has a Transverse engine layout, all powering only the front wheels. The engines were available with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, unless otherwise indicated.[5][7]

2.0 20V

1998 cc, straight-5, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 146 hp-metric at 6,100 rpm and 185 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm
1998 cc, straight-5, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 155 hp-metric at 6,500 rpm and 186 Nm of torqe at 4,000 rpm
uprated to 155 hp in 1996, due to the addition of a variable geometry inlet manifold, called the Variable Intake System (V.I.S) by Lancia.
modified again in 1999.
there were two versions of the manual transmission available for this engine, called Power Drive and Comfort Drive, with gear ratios optimized towards the former or the latter, respectively. Optional 4-speed automatic AISIN AW 596 could be chosen, later replaced by AW 30510.
this engine was not available in the Coupé

2.4 20V

2446 cc, straight-5, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 175 hp-metric at 6,100 rpm and 230 Nm of torque at 3,750 rpm
fitted with V.I.S
from 1998 available with a 4-speed AISIN AW 30510 automatic transmission.
slightly modified in 1999

3.0 V6 24V

2959 cc, 'Busso' V6, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 204 hp-metric at 6,300 rpm and 270 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm
not fitted with V.I.S
slightly modified in 1999
Available with 5-speed manual transmission or 4-speed Z.F. 4HP-18EH automatic or from 1998 with Z.F. 4HP20. The latter marketed as a sequential, adaptive automatic transmission called 'Comfortronic', with manual operation.

2.0 16V Turbo

1995 cc, turbocharged straight-4, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 205 hp-metric at 5,600 rpm and 298 Nm of torque at 2,750 rpm
replaced by the turbocharged 5-cylinder in 1998
5-speed manual transmission only

2.0 20V Turbo

1998 cc, turbocharged straight-5, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 220 hp-metric at 6,000 rpm and 315 Nm of torque at 2,750 rpm
superseded the 4-cylinder turbo in 1998
5-speed manual transmission only

2.4 TDs/JTD

manual is 5-speed, automatic/comfortronic is 4-speed

originally a distributor-pump turbodiesel refitted with common rail in 1998 and thereafter referred to as a JTD engine
TDs - 2387 cc, turbodiesel straight-5, SOHC, 2 valves per cylinder, 124 hp-metric at 4,250 rpm and 246 Nm of torque at 2,250 rpm
JTD - 2387 cc common rail turbodiesel straight-5, SOHC, 2 valves per cylinder, 136 hp-metric at 4,250 rpm and 309 Nm of torque at 2,000 rpm
not available with automatic transmission or in the Coupé

Lancia Kappa

Overview

Model history

Kappa SW and Coupé

Engines

2.0 20V

2.4 20V

3.0 V6 24V

2.0 16V Turbo

2.0 20V Turbo

2.4 TDs/JTD

Concept cars and specials

Lancia Kayak

Kappa Limousine

External links

References