Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Lancia’s Rally Resurrection: The Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale Marks the Return of a Legend

If you’ve ever spent a late night falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of Delta Integrale stage wins—or if your idea of church is watching Group A cars four-wheel-drifting through a misty forest—Lancia probably occupies a mystical corner of your mind.
And in 2026, that mystique returns to the world stage with a shock of noise, turbo lag, and Italian bravado.

At Stellantis Motorsport’s headquarters in Satory, France, Lancia pulled the wraps off the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, the brand’s first factory-backed rally weapon in decades and its ticket back into the FIA World Rally Championship—specifically the fiercely competitive WRC2 class.

But make no mistake: this isn’t some nostalgia-fueled heritage cash-grab. Lancia isn’t here to celebrate the past. It’s here to threaten the competition.

A Renaissance Built on Reality, Not Romanticism

For all the emotion tied to Lancia’s past—11 World Rally Constructors’ titles, wins at the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, and Carrera Panamericana—the brand’s return isn’t about recreating 1980s posters.
This comeback leans on something far more contemporary: Stellantis’ sprawling engineering empire.

Satory serves as a melting pot where French, Italian, Spanish and German engineers work shoulder to shoulder. Balocco, Italy, delivers Lancia’s chassis sensibility. Turin gives the design its unmistakable Lancia flavor. Together, they’ve turned the new HF family into more than a revival story—they’ve created a performance ecosystem.

That ecosystem already proved itself in the 2025 Trofeo Lancia, where the Ypsilon Rally4 HF attracted over 40 teams and helped Lancia clinch the Italian Rally Championship 2WD Manufacturers’ Title. The return wasn’t just emotional. It was effective.

Meet the New Hammer: Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale

The Rally2 HF Integrale may share a name with Lancia’s greatest hits album, but it’s a modern machine built to modern rules—and with modern firepower.

Specs That Mean Business

  • 1.6-liter turbo, 32 mm restrictor
    287 hp at 5,000 rpm
    425 Nm at 4,000 rpm
  • SADEV 5-speed sequential, twin-plate clutch
  • Mechanical diffs front + rear
  • Reiger 3-way dampers, all-surface tuned
  • New bodyshell + FIA roll cage for rigidity and safety
  • 355 mm Alcon brakes (tarmac), 300 mm (gravel)

If you know Rally2, you know this class is a knife fight—tight budgets, tight rules, tiny margins. Which is why Stellantis drew on the same brains behind Peugeot and Citroën’s WRC dominance (13 titles, 150 wins) to create this car.

The result is a Ypsilon in name only. In character? This thing wears the HF badge like it means it.

Lancia will field the Rally2 Integrale in at least eight WRC2 events in 2026, starting with Monte-Carlo. Customer cars arrive early 2026, sold through Stellantis’ Racing Shop and aligned with the FIA cost cap.

A Whole HF Family, Not Just a Halo

The Rally2 isn’t launching alone. Lancia now has a full staircase for drivers—from their first rally to their first championship hunt.

Ypsilon HF Racing — The Gateway Car

A 145-hp, 1.2-liter turbo, short-ratio 6-speed, mechanical LSD, FIA cage, and price tag of €38,900.
Think of it as the Miata of rallying, if the Miata wore Sparco underwear and slid on gravel for a living.

Ypsilon Rally4 HF — The Trophy Slayer

212 hp from a turbo triple, SADEV sequential, Ohlins three-way dampers, massive 330-mm brakes.
It’s already the heart of the Trofeo Lancia—fast, lively, and durable enough to survive Italy’s worst tarmac.

Ypsilon HF 280-hp Electric — The Road-Going Shock

The first real glimpse at Lancia’s production future.
280 hp, 0–100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, 54-kWh pack, 370 km WLTP.
Alcon brakes, Torsen diff, Delta-esque stance, and Stratos-inspired taillamps.

It’s the first Lancia road car in decades that earns the HF badge instead of inheriting it.

Ypsilon HF Line — The Daily Driver With Rally Notes

110-hp hybrid, HF visuals, Level-2 ADAS, and enough orange stitching to wallpaper a loft in Milan.
It won’t win a special stage, but it makes your commute feel like one.

2025: The Season That Proved Lancia Still Has It

The 2025 Trofeo Lancia was a full-blown phenomenon.
Six rounds, packed Lancia Villages, historic cars on display, and a Rally4 HF that took 25% of all CIAR entries.

Gianandrea Pisani and Nicola Biagi won the championship early, then bagged the CIAR 2WD drivers’ crown—a milestone Lancia hadn’t touched in over thirty years. As promised, the series champ gets promoted to Lancia’s ERC squad for 2026.

It was more than a return. It was a statement: Lancia still knows how to win hearts—and rallies.

2026: The Real Test Begins

Next season, Lancia goes global again.
WRC2, the ERC, and national championships in Italy, France, Spain, and Belgium. New drivers. New updates. New pressure.

And the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale will be carrying not just a badge but the weight of a dynasty.

As Miki Biasion—two-time world champion and official project advisor—put it:

“When someone dreams of rallying, they dream of Lancia.”

For the first time in decades, that dream has a brand-new shape, a brand-new sound, and a brand-new set of stage times waiting to be written.

Source: Stellantis

NEW CARS

2026 MG S6 EV—A Bigger, Bolder Shot at the Enyaq

MG isn’t shy about its ambitions. Fresh off the success of the compact S5 EV, the brand is back with something roomier, longer-legged, and aimed squarely at one of Europe’s most successful family EVs: the Skoda Enyaq. Meet the MG S6 EV, now on sale in the UK from £37,995—a price MG hopes will make shoppers think twice before signing for something European.

Bigger Body, Bigger Promise

Built on MG’s Modular Scalable Platform, the S6 EV stretches the formula of the S5 into something more resolutely family-focused. It’s essentially an S5 Plus: longer, more practical, and with a cargo capacity that embarrasses cars costing thousands more.

Inside, the S6 feels immediately more upmarket than its price tag suggests. A 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster and 12.8-inch central touchscreen dominate the dash, complete with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Step up to the Trophy trims and you’re treated to a slick head-up display, too.

Practicality is the S6’s secret weapon. The boot offers a cavernous 674 liters with the seats up and 1910 liters when folded. MG even squeezed in a 124-liter frunk, something the Enyaq can’t match.

Two Flavors of Electric Drive

MG keeps the lineup simple with two powertrains, both fed by a 77-kWh NMC battery capable of charging at up to 144 kW—enough for a 10–80% top-up in 38 minutes.

Long Range (RWD)

  • 241 bhp
  • 258 lb-ft
  • 329-mile range

Dual Motor (AWD)

  • 356 bhp
  • 398 lb-ft
  • 301-mile range

The Dual Motor variant defaults to rear-wheel drive for efficiency, only waking the front motor when grip gets sketchy or when you summon maximum shove. It’s a configuration more commonly seen on pricier performance EVs, and it lends the S6 an unexpectedly playful character—MG’s engineers clearly had a little fun with this one.

Aerodynamics, by Way of Cyberster

From the front, the S6 EV is unmistakably MG. The high-set DRLs and split grille, borrowed from the Cyberster roadster, give it a clean, modern face. The grille includes active air shutters, and combined with flush wheel covers, MG claims an impressive 30-mile range boost purely from aero enhancements.

Whether buyers will notice the styling similarities to the S5 EV is another matter—but they will definitely notice the space and performance gains.

Value Play: MG vs Europe

MG continues its strategy of undercutting the big names, and the S6’s pricing is a statement:

  • S6 Long Range: £37,995
  • S6 Long Range Trophy: £40,995
  • S6 Dual Motor Trophy: £43,995

For context, the entry-level Skoda Enyaq starts at £39,010, and rivals with similar power and battery size often stretch well past £45k before options.

The MG S6 EV doesn’t just aim at the Enyaq—it aims to embarrass it on value. With strong range figures, honest practicality, and an interior tech suite that feels far costlier than the price suggests, MG has delivered another hit in its slow march back into the European mainstream.

It may not have the badge cachet of its Czech rival, but for families looking to maximize space, efficiency, and performance per pound, the S6 EV is a compelling new addition to the market—and a reminder that MG’s reinvention is no longer a story of potential, but of execution.

Source: MG

NEW CARS

Lexus Goes Full Broadway with the Wicked-Themed Karaoke LX

On most Monday mornings, a Lexus LX rolling up to Lincoln Center wouldn’t raise an eyebrow—not in a city where G-Wagens prowl like alley cats and yellow cabs still demand lane supremacy. But this wasn’t most mornings. As New York City prepared for the premiere of Universal Pictures’ Wicked: For Good, Lexus arrived with something far more theatrical than a standard-issue luxury SUV: a full-blown, karaoke-ready, witch-themed rolling tribute to Oz.

Meet the Wicked: For Good Karaoke LX—a one-off, character-inspired LX that’s equal parts flagship SUV and Broadway stage on wheels.

A Two-Witch Paint Job That Refuses to Blend In

Lexus might as well have swapped its design studio for a spellbook. The wrap is a vivid duet of Glinda pink and Elphaba emerald green, divided across the LX’s vast bodywork with the precision of a Broadway set painter. Gold accents glint off the grille, wheels, and trim, catching the lights of the Lincoln Center plaza like costume jewelry under spotlights.

It’s flamboyant. It’s loud. It’s absolutely intentional.
From some angles it feels like Glinda herself waved a wand at a luxury SUV; from others, it channels the brooding power of the Wicked Witch mid-flight. Lexus says the design pulls inspiration from the film’s architecture and the witches’ evolving relationship. We say: mission accomplished.

A Cabin That Doubles as a Karaoke Lounge

Open the door and you’re met with a cabin that looks like Oz’s VIP room.

Pink and green upholstered seats face a bank of mood lighting zones that shift between the witches’ signature hues. Custom mats continue the film tie-ins, but the real star is the interactive sound system, engineered for what Lexus calls “group sing-alongs.”

Translation:
They built a karaoke stage into a six-figure SUV.

Microphones at the ready, passengers can belt out classics from the first film—“Defying Gravity,” “Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?,” and more. Lexus didn’t just make a themed car; they made a fan experience meant to turn any commute into a full-cast rehearsal.

Luxury, Power, and a Touch of Magic

Under the couture exterior, the LX remains every bit the modern flagship SUV:

  • a twin-turbo V-6 with more than enough muscle to whisk you to the Emerald City (or at least across Manhattan),
  • a plush, three-row cabin,
  • Lexus’ usual blend of whisper-quiet ride quality and bulletproof build.

What makes this LX different is how confidently it embraces whimsy. As Lisa McQueen, senior manager of Lexus marketing, puts it, Lexus wanted to create “more than a vehicle.” Instead, they created a driveable celebration of imagination and self-expression—one that wouldn’t look out of place on a theater marquee.

Final Curtain

The Wicked: For Good Karaoke LX debuts on the premiere’s green carpet at Lincoln Center on November 17, ahead of Wicked: For Good landing in theaters November 21, 2025.

Most special-edition cars lean on subtle trim pieces or a tasteful badge. This one? It invites you to grab a microphone, sing your heart out, and—yes—go full Oz.

It’s ridiculous in the best possible way.
It’s the kind of collaboration that shouldn’t work… until suddenly it does.

And in a city that never blinks, Lexus managed to make even New Yorkers stop and stare.

Source: Lexus