50 Fastest Muscle Cars...

[Hemi Moose]

Originally Posted by Dan Bennett

The Syclone had a bigger engine (4.3 vs 3.8), much bigger tires, and AWD. I think it was quite a bit more scienced out from the factory so the usual mods didn't make the huge difference they did on the GN. Plus, there weren't all that many built so there wasn't the wide range of parts.

The biggest problem I had with the truck was too much traction. I'd get lots of finger pointing as I would stage completely off to one side, out of the groove. It didn't help much as it was almost impossible to turn the tires at all. About this time, I was starting my business so I didn't really put a whole lot of time into working on the car before I sold it.

The big equalizer for these turbo cars is that they were really, really hard to stage and cut a light with. If you held the rpm steady, the engine would be building boost and horsepower. Often times, the GN would roll the beams by sliding the front wheels out of the lights. A rear wheel cylinder change to get more braking was a popular mod.

As for competition with the old musclecars, I'll admit that neither of my cars were among the fastest of their kind so I might not be the one to compare to. The GN would easily run mid 12s and my wife drove it daily and averaged about 24 mph with no driveability issues at all. The Syclone ran low 12s. This was using very minor mods - a chip change, cold air intake, different thermostat, etc.

Comparing to the cars I mentioned in my earlier message, the LS6 ran very low 13s on sticky tires, the Stage 1 ran low 14s, and the 396 Nova ran 13.40s or 50s. All were bone showroom stock with all smog equipment but the Nova had headers. The Duster ran 14 flat bone stock but got into the 12s with headers, intake, carb, and cam.

I know this area is for nostalgia, so I apologize for the thread hijack. But come to think of it, these things are pushing 25 years old but it SURE doesn't seem possible.

Yeah it's hard to believe that the '87 Buick Grand National is officially an Antique, lol, and that goes for anything else older than 25 years old...boy time sure flies. Now as far as some of those other newer cars goes, I think those road tests in the first link compare some other models that were just as quick if not quicker...