Chrysler Ypsilon - An interesting cosmopolitan supermini

CHRYSLER’S striking Ypsilon supermini is a fascinating car with a very interesting cosmopolitan background linking it with Greece, Italy, the UK and America writes Bryan Longworth.
Chrysler YpsilonChrysler Ypsilon
Chrysler Ypsilon

For the Ypsilon’s name is a letter in the Greek alphabet in Italy it is badged as the Lancia Ypsilon and in the UK it is known as the Chrysler Ypsilon with Chrysler being an American car manufacturer which is now part of the Fiat empire

It is all a bit complicated but there is nothing complicated about the Ypsilon which is closely related to the Fiat 500 because I found it to be a supermini with very distinctive eyecatching styling plus five doors with a roomy and comfortable interior.

My test car was the Ypsilon Black&Red which is a special edition version with the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine costing £14,950 and which has been designed to attract new and different customers to the model range and the Chrysler brand.

It looked quite stunning in its black and red livery with black and red interior and it attracted a lot of attention because many admirers were seeing the Ypsilon for the first time as there don’t seem to too many about yet.

The Black and Red model has £3000 worth of extras on board plus 16-inch multi spoke wheels, foglamps, black glass and body coloured side skirts all as standard.

For the record the turbo diesel engine powers the car to a top speed of 114mph, has a zero to 62mph time of 11.4 seconds with a combined fuel consumption of 74.3mpg and CO2 emissions of 99g/km.

The eager engine which drives the front wheels through a five speed manual gearbox offers a brisk power output for quite lively driving and there is a good ride comfort level with user friendly steering that has a City mode for town driving.

For this size of car there is a roomy rear load area but there is no spare wheel with a puncture repair kit provided as a replacement if there is a flat tyre which would not be my choice.

The Ypsilon has a quality interior with a nice ambience and easy to use controls but the instrument panel with the speedometer and rev counter are in the centre of the fascia and the speedometer is furthest away nearer the front passenger and not the driver.

I suspect this is due to the car originally being built for the left hand drive mainland Europe market as a Lancia but it means that for drivers in right hand drive cars in the UK the speedo is quite difficult to see with the driver having to glance to the left and it would have been better sited where the less important rev counter is situated nearer the driver.

But that apart I liked the Ypsilon which has different and more pleasing styling than many superminis and it is an ideal car for the owner who wants something interesting and is quite unlike the competition.

My Verdict: An interesting cosmopolitan supermini.

Factfile

Model: Chrysler Ypsilon 1.3 MultiJet Black&Red.

Engine: 1.3-litre four cylinder turbo diesel.

Output:95bhp at 4000rpm.

Transmission: Five speed manual.

Top speed: 114mph.

Acceleration: 0 to 62mph 11.4 seconds.

Fuel consumption: 74.3mpg.

CO2 emissions: 99g/km.

Price: £14,950.