Kappa Coupé

[crayzayjay]

For those not in the know, this is a Lancia Kappa Coupe. I guess it's an alternative to the FIAT Coupe, though it is not meant to be as much of an exhilirating drive as the FIAT, but a more refined, spacious and luxurious alternative. It was introduced in '97 and in top guise comes with a 20V, 5-pot turbocharged 220bhp unit. Production ceased in 2000 and the Kappa was replaced by the Lancia Thesis.

cheers
jay

[Stefanel1]

I never found this Kappa Coupé so nice. The design is a little bit heavy. But the Kappa sedan, and, moreover, the SW were beautiful.
The Fiat Coupé is more sporting and less luxuous than the Kappa Coupé.

[crayzayjay]

Youre right, the design isnt quite right, but Lancias almost always manage to appear elegant. This one is no exception, IMO. Its no surprise they are the discreet, classy transport vehicles for the rich Italians.

[Stefanel1]

Are you like me : do you like Italians and French cars ??! I do particularly like thes cars.
Lancia are not everytime classic : I think the Théma, Dedra, Beta or Delta (Integrale is not discreet ! ) are not so classic. The current production (Lybra mainly) would need more character (look at Alfa, they did it and now they sell a lot).

[crayzayjay]

Yes im a big fan of italian cars, and also french cars though not all of them. Thats not important, the thing i like is that these 2 countries make cars with character, more so than other countries... There are exceptions of course, e.g Citroen arent as funky as they used to be (though the Pluriel will help) but the French make bold, elegant cars, as do the Italians.

Youre right, Lancia havent always made classic looking cars, but they did in their successful times and current styling is trying to evoke that. But you are right again, they need a stronger image to market their current line-up. Who said trying to revive a brand would be easy?

[Stefanel1]

Alas, I'm according with you, citroëns are not so "funky" But I think they're on the right way : C3, and C8 are nice. The concept cars C3 pluriel, C6 lignage and Airdream seem to be nice. Don't you think ?
But that's sur that the C5, ZX, AX, etc. were/are not so original.
I like French and Italian cars for the same arguments !! But i like to have an Italian car in France because you don't see them everywhere contrarly to the Pug, renault or citroën that you see everytime (60% of the cars in France are French !!)
But in Italy, I'd buy a French car I like too Rover. And of course, more common cars (BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Audi), but again, we see them often !

[crayzayjay]

Youre right, the Citroen concepts are a definite improvement. The C5, in terms of styling is a disaster. This is such a shame as it is so fantastically relaxing to drive. Styling though, is very, very dull. In fact, if i looked at it for more than a minute it would send me to sleep. :o

Rover, i dont like so much. MG is a big improvement on Rover. The only Rover i like is the 75, and maybe the 25 at a push. I'd take a 75 over a mondeo any day. So much more elegant and classy. But the MG ZR is far superior to the 25 and the ZS infinitely superior to the terrible, terrible 45.

Generally, my favourite cars are German (BMW, Porsche, Merc: you cant beat that engineering ), but i also like Italian cars a lot (Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Alfa and even some Fiats), and some French cars (Venturi, some Pugs and Renaults) but not all of them. I like some english cars (Jags, some Lotus, some TVR)... lol... i like pretty much everything... except American.. Sorry

[Stefanel1]

The C5 is the last Calvet's Citroën. Mr calvet was the previous President of PSA, he had a good politic for peugeot but not for Citroën. Mr Folz is to me much better.
The 75 is my favourite Rover. And MGs are great, particularly the TF.
My father liked much the 75 Tourer and almost bought it, but it was too tiny... so he bought an Evasion !
I do not like either american cars, except some like the PT Cruiser which is interesting ot the Corvette. But the others are not so likable and averall, Americans (as the cars are concerned) are late compared to Europeans and Japanese. Theire car "drink" a lot, they have a bad handling and bad suspensions. That's maybe enough for american highways, but not for europeans roads ans european driving style !
And, to me, japanes cars have not savour at all (again, except some... exceptions) : it's the exact opposite of Italian cars.

What car do you hav e?

[crayzayjay]

I hope this "Mr Folz" will change things well for Citroen. If the recent concepts have been made under his order, then things are heading in the right direction. As for American cars, we share exactly the same opinion.

I drive a mk3 Golf, 1.6 Cl, its not very fast or entertaining. It feels like a boat around corners!

Hopefully I'll be getting a BMW 330ci sport within the next 6 months, though everytime i see an Integrale EVO (i saw a beautiful yellow one today) my heart breaks and i long for it. Decisions decisions decisions...

[Stefanel1]

There is a new designer in Citroën : Jean-Pierre Ploué who designed the Scénic and Twingo... these cars were very new and were sold very well. The Scénic launches the compact vans mode, and the Twingo is still (pretty well) sold 10 years after her presentation.
You already said me that you had a Golf ! I remember; I had a Golf III 1.8 GL for... only two months and crashed it. That's true that it doesn't like the corners ! My Delta is much better, even if it's not an Intregrale !
The 330ci will change from your Golf. Isn't it a too big gap between these two cars ? But it's still a very nice car.
Send me pics when you'll have it !

[crayzayjay]

ahh yes the twingo, those cars dont have a clutch, correct?

as for going from a Golf to a 330, it IS a big jump, but im not too worried. Ive driven faster cars than 330's, most notably my neighbour's M5, which was quite a lot of fun. We did 0-60's and our best shot was a 4.9!!! Insanely fast, a bit scary sometimes when you realise you really should hit the brakes... but its difficult to get off that accelerator!

[Stefanel1]

The Twingo has a clutch. There was a "Twingo Matic" whithoiut clutch but with a gear box. It wasn't well sold.

The M5 is an extraordinarly car. Pretty fast. You can take lot of pleasure with it.
I was wondering that because I've driven an Alfa 166 V6 and I think it would be a big gap with my current car. I'd drive too fast for my driving licence. More, I don't know your age, but I'm only 18 (and had my licence 6 months ago), so my insurance wouldn't want me to have a more powerfull car !

[crayzayjay]

The M5 is indeed extraodinaire! Power delivery is breath-taking, insane, mental, scary, i'll never forget it. Hopefully ill experience it again soon. Its my neighbour's (he's my age, 20) dad's car so we took it out when his dad was asleep and, um... had a bit of fun with it

of course its a big gap going from a sub 2-litre 4 cylinder car to a big V6, but you get used to it fairly quickly as long as you know your limits early on. Im only 20 so you can imagine the bm will not be easy for insurance. As you can see, i completely understand the insurance issue. i f***ing hate it!

cheers,
jay

[Stefanel1]

Definitely, the 330ci is a good choice ! what colour ?

[crayzayjay]

Black, with black leather!

It will look 100% identical to this car below, same colour, same wheels, same beauuuuuuutiful M-aerodynamic body :alien2: