The Turbocharged Intercooled Typhoon

  • Post category:Road Test / Typhoon
  • Post last modified:03/29/2022

Turbo & Hi-Tech Performance

When GMC says “It’s not just a truck anymore,” they really mean it. The Typhoon, their second entry into the field of limited production “super trucks,” features the same engine/chassis combination as the Syclone, released earlier this year (Turbo March ’91).

The turbocharged/intercooled 4.3-liter Vortech V-6 engine with multi-port fuel injection puts out 280 horsepower at only 4,400 rpm and a whopping 350 lbs/ft of torque at 3,600 rpm.

For acceleration enthusiasts, the Syclone is able to run in the low-13’s right off the showroom floor and clock-off zero to 60 times under five seconds. Although the Typhoon “Jimmy” is 200 pounds heavier than the Syclone truck we expect virtually parallel performance.

The Typhoon and Syclone compare the closest to the Buick Grand National, one of the most significant domestic turbo vehicles built. The turbo Buick boasted 245 horsepower in 1987 and would run realistic low-14’s/high 13’s right off the showroom floor.
The introduction earlier this year of the GMC Syclone attracted serious attention, particularly from the hard core devotees of the ever popular Grand Nationals.

Even now, four years after the final Grand National rolled off the assembly line, it still commands attention from the hard core enthusiasts, as evidenced by the feature on the Buick Club Nationals held at Bowling Green featured in this issue.

It’s no secret that the small and mid-size truck market is one of the hottest things going. But is it hot enough to lure Grand National owners past and present (part of the audience to whom GMC was targeting the Syclone) away from style, luxury and a back seat? Many of these Grand National enthusiasts were thrilled about the performance of the truck but, not sure they wanted to give up the comfort of a vehicle that seats four.

Enter the Typhoon. It has the speed of the Syclone with an upgraded four-passenger interior, dark charcoal leather seats with inflatable lumbar supports, a leather wrapped steering wheel and a myriad of other goodies.

Although it is slightly heavier than the Syclone, the Typhoon does offer more in the way of the creature comforts. This alone could lure some of the more mature Grand National owners out of their current ride.

Features include a stereo with graphic equalizer, all of the power and remote goodies, including a keyless remote entry system for both the doors and tail gate. They even remembered the “toys” that require 12-volt power and included an extra cigarette lighter to accommodate two “plug in” accessories at the same time.

Our first test drive in a Typhoon put it at some disadvantage. At the press announcement in the mountains of Montana at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet, even turbo cars don’t run like they do closer to sea level. Even so, the performance was quite evident as the Mitsubishi turbo compressed enough of the thin air to get us well over 10 psi boost. Even at that altitude, acceleration and high speed passing were effortless (and we had plenty of opportunity to test those capabilities).

Even more impressive than the brute power and swift acceleration is the superior handling at virtually any speed. We’ve seen all-wheel drive before; the Dodge Stealth RT, Eagle Talon TSi and most recently the Subaru Legacy (all featured in Turbo)have it, so we’re well aware of its many redeeming qualities. With the Typhoon, high speed handling on good pavement shows a noticeable improvement, but when the weather turns bad the difference is amazing.

During the press announcement we were able to utilize a closed course to get an idea of some of these handling capabilities. All we can say is that “impressive” is a fitting word.

Skidpad testing of the stock Syclone has shown a .82 capability. We are currently working with Suspension Techniques and Turbo City on a project Syclone that should give some flat impressive lap times on a road course.

Features include a stereo with graphic equalizer, all of the power and remote goodies, including a keyless remote entry system for both the doors and tail gate. They even remembered the “toys” that require 12-volt power and included an extra cigarette lighter to accommodate two “plug in” accessories at the same time.

Our first test drive in a Typhoon put it at some disadvantage. At the press announcement in the mountains of Montana at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet, even turbo cars don’t run like they do closer to sea level. Even so, the performance was quite evident as the Mitsubishi turbo compressed enough of the thin air to get us well over 10 psi boost. Even at that altitude, acceleration and high speed passing were effortless (and we had plenty of opportunity to test those capabilities).

Even more impressive than the brute power and swift acceleration is the superior handling at virtually any speed. We’ve seen all-wheel drive before; the Dodge Stealth RT, Eagle Talon TSi and most recently the Subaru Legacy (all featured in Turbo)have it, so we’re well aware of its many redeeming qualities. With the Typhoon, high speed handling on good pavement shows a noticeable improvement, but when the weather turns bad the difference is amazing.

During the press announcement we were able to utilize a closed course to get an idea of some of these handling capabilities. All we can say is that “impressive” is a fitting word.

Skidpad testing of the stock Syclone has shown a .82 capability. We are currently working with Suspension Techniques and Turbo City on a project Syclone that should give some flat impressive lap times on a road course.

Features include a stereo with graphic equalizer, all of the power and remote goodies, including a keyless remote entry system for both the doors and tail gate. They even remembered the “toys” that require 12-volt power and included an extra cigarette lighter to accommodate two “plug in” accessories at the same time.

Our first test drive in a Typhoon put it at some disadvantage. At the press announcement in the mountains of Montana at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet, even turbo cars don’t run like they do closer to sea level. Even so, the performance was quite evident as the Mitsubishi turbo compressed enough of the thin air to get us well over 10 psi boost. Even at that altitude, acceleration and high speed passing were effortless (and we had plenty of opportunity to test those capabilities).

Even more impressive than the brute power and swift acceleration is the superior handling at virtually any speed. We’ve seen all-wheel drive before; the Dodge Stealth RT, Eagle Talon TSi and most recently the Subaru Legacy (all featured in Turbo) have it, so we’re well aware of its many redeeming qualities. With the Typhoon, high speed handling on good pavement shows a noticeable improvement, but when the weather turns bad the difference is amazing.

During the press announcement we were able to utilize a closed course to get an idea of some of these handling capabilities. All we can say is that “impressive” is a fitting word.

Skidpad testing of the stock Syclone has shown a .82 capability. We are currently working with Suspension Techniques and Turbo City on a project Syclone that should give some flat impressive lap times on a road course.

We have already heard from both Kenne Bell and Turbo City that the stock pistons do not like more than 17 psi boost without additional fuel/timing modifications.
For drag racing, both Compucar and NOS have announced nitrous oxide injection kits for the Syclone that bring them off the line like a slingshot, and have already seen low-12 second times on otherwise stock vehicles.

Many of these same companies worked with us back in early 1986 when the Buick performance programs were getting started, so there seems to be a certain amount of déjà vu.

The only difference here is that these shops are now better educated in electronics and fuel injection tuning, meaning we should see even a faster evolution of performance for the Syclone and Typhoon than we saw with the Buicks.

At the time of this writing, the Typhoon is scheduled for release in the fall of ’91.

We feel that with its combination of drag strip ready performance, sports car handling and luxury appointments it will immediately target its own specialized audience. In our opinion, the Typhoon will outsell the Syclone due to the room and convenience of the “Jimmy” configuration.

By now many of the performance shops that specialize in Buick aftermarket products have purchased and are in the process of testing the Syclone to see just how much performance can be reliably and, even more important, legally obtained.