2012 & 2011 Lancia SUV Reviews & Ratings

Lancia, founded as in independent car maker more than a hundred years ago, was swallowed up by the considerably larger Fiat Group in the late nineteen sixties. Even before and certainly since they took cover under the Fiat umbrella, Lancia had developed a well earned reputation for producing cars of quality, with special attention to comfort and design, and their current range of vehicles continues to demonstrate this ability, particularly in the compact to medium range sector.

In the early part of 2009, with the global auto trade in a state of turmoil, the Lancia/Fiat announced their intended collaboration with the Chrysler group with a view of increasing market penetration across a broader range.

One of the first fruits of this collaboration is a Lancia SUV, based on Chrysler's long running Voyager which enjoyed little success in Europe over the many years that it was marketed there. The Lancia Voyager, since it was launched in 2011 to mainland Europe (not the UK or Eire) has enjoyed better success, while still not exactly setting the heather on fire, at least as yet.

In what appears to be a classic Catch 22 situation the Chrysler/ Lancia are hanging off on revamping their Challenger exterior till sales improve, meaning that the SUV looks little more than the Chrysler with a Lancia badge, and bears none of the classic Lancia style features that have embellished their cars through the years with the minor changes being revamped front and rear bumpers, oversized headlights with integral fog lights, LED rear light clusters. In addition, the Lancia Voyager SUV comes equipped with roof rails and crossbars as standard.

Judged on its own merits, the Lancia Voyager is a hardy, comfortable SUV that has a pleasant if slightly outmoded appearance, offering a comfortable, safe and relatively economical road trip for up to seven passengers with lots of leg and head room equally dispersed, without sacrificing the Voyager SUV's baggage carrying ability in any way.

The Lancia Voyage comes with a choice of two engines, a 2.8 liter diesel, generating 163 horsepower or a 3.6 liter petrol generating 283 horsepower petrol engine. Both engines are paired with a six speed automatic transmission fitted with a torque converter design to reduce spacing between the gear changes, ensuring a smoother drive in all road situations.

Specially designed to be used on European roads, the suspension system for Lancia's Voyager SUV uses a well known and winning framework comprising Macpherson strut system for the front with cross member and wishbones for the rear, with a torsion beam and anti-roll bar added to improve handling performance.

The Lancia Voyager's interior provides few surprises, as it is equipped with all the finest comforts and technologies that the combined efforts of some of the leading lights of the European and North American car industries can throw at it, and are almost too numerous to mention.

Safety is a feature that both Chrysler and Lancia have been well known for throughout their respective histories and this is well displayed in the 2012 Lancia Challenger SUV, which provides no less than forty safety devices spread throughout the vehicle, taking in airbags for the front and sides, four wheels anti-lock disc brakes, electronic stability control , automatically operated headlights, pedestrian protection, rain sensored windscreen wipers, a parking assistance system, and a rear camera.

Coming into the SUV market in Europe will never have been an easy task, and never more so than at the moment. That means that the Lancia Challenger SUV will have its work cut out to make serious inroads into such a difficult market, coming up against the best that Peugeot, Citroen, Volkswagen, Renault and Ford have to offer.