Sport Truck
Q: I really enjoy your magazine. I’m looking for a truck with car-like handling and power. What I’d like to know is if I could take a four-wheel-drive truck, lower it, add a handling kit and a turbocharger to obtain Syclone-like performance? Would the four-wheel-drive hardware be too cumbersome? The truck would be a Chevy S-10 or GMC S-15. Will Olson, El Toro, CA
A: It sounds like a good idea, but making it work would be a big job. There’s a reason that new Syclones and Typhoons cost so much. A lot of sophisticated engineering and parts go into making these rocket trucks. A major flaw in your plan is that there is considerable difference between four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive as used in the Syclone. The all-wheel- drive allows the vehicle to be used on either wet or dry, paved, or loose surfaces. Four-wheel-drive is meant for snow, mud, or dirt. You could take an S-10 or S-15 with two-wheel-drive and add handling upgrades, lower it, and install a turbo charger to achieve drastically improved performance and handling, but it still won’t match a real Syclone.