How the GMC Syclone Paved The Way For Performance Trucks

Now that the EV era has begun, reading about numbers like 0-60 mph in under five seconds is no big deal. But, back in the day, that was pretty darn impressive. And, when a pickup truck could achieve it, it was even more special. There were quite a few performance trucks back in the day, but not many made a splash (pun intended) as the GMC Syclone did. The Syclone hit the automotive scene in 1991 and took everyone by surprise. Not a lot of people could fathom a truck that could take on, or probably even take down, some of the most beloved supercars from that era. Here’s a throwback to the truck that gets our hearts racing even today.

1 It Could Do 0-60 mph in 4.3 Seconds

Let’s get straight to the talking point – the performance. The GMC Syclone can do 0-60 mph in just 4.3 seconds. A pickup truck doing this time is impressive even today, so imagine how mind-boggling it would’ve been three decades back! This strong start off the line helped the truck cover a quarter-mile distance in 13.4 seconds. The top speed is rated at 124 mph, which is also fairly impressive for a pickup truck. During its marketing stints, GMC made bold claims like “fastest accelerating vehicle", and "fastest production pickup truck", and managed to back them up to an extent. In fact, it had enough oomph and grunt to take on some of the most popular sports cars back then… and beat them! To put things into perspective, the Porsche 911 Turbo took 4.4 seconds to 60 mph from rest, whereas the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 took 4.9 seconds. Search for videos on YouTube and you’ll find the Syclone keeping up with the Porsches and the Ferraris without breaking a sweat. That says something about this beast incarnate.

2 Powered By A Turbocharged V-6

So, what powered this beast to sprint like Usain Bolt? A turbocharged V-6 that displaced 4.3 liters. This mill made 280 horses at 4,400 rpm and 350 pound-feet of torque at 3,600 rpm. The forced induction unit was a Mitsubishi TD06-17C unit. The same engine in the non-turbo form with a lower power output was seen under the hood of the GMC Sonoma, the truck the Syclone is based on. The engine was mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox and a Borg-Warner all-wheel-drive transfer case that sent 65-percent of torque to the rear wheels and 35-percent to the front. Fun fact: The Syclone almost got the Buick Grand National's engine. The latter faded away into oblivion back in 1987, but the engine was carried over to the Chevrolet S-10, which is the GMC Sonoma’s twin. We wonder how that would’ve turned out in the Syclone. By the way, the Syclone pickup also has a twin called the Typhoon, which is an SUV version of this performance truck.

Engine	4.3-liter turbocharged and intercooled V-6
Horsepower	280 horses @ 4,400 RPM
Torque	350 pound-feet @ 3,600 RPM
0 to 60 mph	4.3 seconds
Transmission	4L60 four-speed automatic
Drivetrain	BorgWarner all-wheel-drive
Quarter mile	14.1 seconds

3 On The Road – Good; Off The Road – No Good

If we didn’t know any better, we’d say the Syclone is a sports car trapped in a pickup truck’s body. Forget hardcore off-roading, this truck can’t even be used for mild off-roading. Although now trucks also have been differentiated, back in the day, they were supposed to be these purely rugged monsters that could do anything thrown at it. However, the Syclone was exclusively a street truck. Trucks were so synonymous with handling abuse that GMC had to paste a warning notice on the Syclone’s cab that read - "This vehicle is not intended for off-road use. The reduced height of this vehicle will not allow it to clear obstacles commonly encountered in an off-road environment. Off-road operation could result in serious damage to chassis and drivetrain." Oy vey.

4 It Couldn’t Tow Or Haul Much Either

If the non-off-roading prowess bit didn’t surprise you, this sure will. The Syclone couldn’t really tug or haul either. The GMC Syclone’s towing capacity was rated at just 2,000 pounds. I mean, even a Tesla Model Y can tow more than this truck! The six-foot cargo bed was pretty much useless, too, since it came with an embarrassing payload capacity of 500 pounds. No wonder the sales tanked.

5 You Can Have It In Any Color As Long As It’s Black

The GMC Syclone was available only in a black exterior shade from the factory. However, 10 examples were painted in red. These were called Marlboro Syclones transformed by the American Sunroof Company. They also came with stuff like Recaro leather seats, a Momo steering wheel, a Targa-style removable roof panel, and Boyd Coddington wheels.

6 A Fairly Rare Breed With Low Production

Performance trucks were unheard of back then, at least when it came to owning one. They were pretty much ornamental and fun to see in action, but not a lot of folks wanted to own one considering all they could do was sprint in straight lines. The Syclone was in production for only two years between 1991 and 1993, and GMC built only 2,998 models. Of these, three were non-existent models, so effectively, 2,995 models were built. 113 copies were exported to Saudi Arabia and the rest were sold in the U.S.

7 SVE Reincarnated The Syclone

Chevy’s long-time aftermarket partner, Specialty Vehicle Engineering, or SVE as we know it, managed to get the license from GMC to resurrect the Syclone moniker. Although it might have hurt the sentiments of some purists since the loved moniker was revived by an aftermarket company, the SVE Syclone seemed to have done justice to it. The company has made two iterations of the truck, one that came out in 2019 and the other in 2020. Based on the Canyon both the times, the truck recorded 0-60 mph times of 4.5 seconds, still unmatched by the original Syclone. It will be returning yet again, with 750 horses powering it.

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