The GMC Syclone returns, sort of
When the GMC Syclone entered the market in 1991, sports cars didn’t know what him ’em. The all-wheel-drive sport truck, powered by a very likely underrated 280-horsepower, turbocharged 4.3-liter V-6, was like a Grand National with a bed. It spooled up and tore down the dragstrip with 13-second elapsed times, leaving Mustang GTs and pricey exotics in its turbocharged wake.
If you’d like to relive those halcyon days of blown GMC V-6 sport trucks, Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE) will be happy to oblige. The company, formerly known as Street Legal Performance (SLP) has developed high performance versions of the Camaro, Firebird, and Pontiac G8, and is now producing a limited run of 100 new Syclones based on extended cab 2WD and 4WD GMC Canyon pickups.
The new pickups will again use a forced-induction V-6; this time it’s supercharged. The boost increases output from the factory’s 306-hp rating to 455, the same power as the LT1 V-8 found in the Camaro. The Syclone package also includes a brake upgrade, with 13.6-inch front rotors and six-piston calipers, and a “Sport Suspension Package” that lowers the truck two inches in the front, five inches in the rear, and adds a rear sway bar along with upgraded shocks.
Each truck will also wear the proper Syclone emblems in the same cool font you loved from the ’90s. They’ll be found across the tailgate, on the bottom of the doors near the rocker, on the engine cover, and throughout the interior.
If you’re hoping for a Typhoon to follow in a year, just like it did in the ’90s, there’s no rear-drive-based SUV coming to GMC (or Chevrolet for that matter) that’s the proper size. The new Trailblazer Chevrolet (probably) isn’t headed our way, either, and it’s front-wheel drive. However, if you’re in the market for an SUV with more power and more seats, SVE still has you covered. Tahoe, Yukon, and Escalade engine packages range from 500–1000 horsepower.
