Stock Sy's that are driven right can run 13.2's, and stock Ty's, like the one that I sold to buy my Lightning, can run 13.5's. Mine ran a 13.58 when stock on a 12lb. launch.

Syclones and Typhoons don't have motor or turbo problems if properly maintained and if modifications are done correctly. The oil that is used in ANY turbo car/truck should always be synthetic. Some people have a heart attack when it comes time to pay $75 for an oil change, and they try to cut corners by using regular oil. Regular oil can cook to the bearings of a turbo far easier, and it gets broken down through normal use far quicker.

RTkilla, run far and fast from any tech advice that body guy gives you. Unless someone starts their car and immediately has the engine under load, the turbo isn't going to be doing anything that requires major amounts of oil. The thing that shortens a turbo's life is using cheap oil (See above) and running the turbo hard, then not giving it a chance to cool down afterwards. If someone turns a turbo car off immediately after running it hard, the oil cooks to the bearings, and over time will pretty much assure turbo failure in the first 50K miles. Using sythetic gives you less chance of that happening, but I don't think that anyone has ever said that it was proof against it.

When Sy/Ty's start making big horsepower, they have to keep the intake charge cool, and they NEED to have the proper fuel flow. Elevated intake charge temperatures caused by higher boost levels increase the chance for detonation, which in a forced induction motor can get expensive quickly. Leaning out a motor while under boost can have the same effect.

It's been my experience that while Sy/Ty's are great trucks when they are running well, they are eight to ten years old now and a lot of them haven't been taken care of as meticulously as a turbo car/truck needs to be. Because of that, you can find a lot of them that aren't as fast as they once were.

 

After 6 fun years, I sold my Syclone to buy my '99 Lighining. Loved the little Sy but the L is just a better all around sport truck. If both are stock and the L launches well, a quarter mile race is pretty much a toss-up.

BTW, I owned one of the original turbo Buicks - a '78 Regal. Bought it new. A great car in 1978. Good performance but not anywhere near what they ultimately got out of that motor with the GN's and GNX's of a few years later. However, I neglected to let the turbo spin down prior to engine shutoff one too many times, cooked the impeller bearings and had to replace the turbo. A pricy lesson to learn about the proper way to run a turbocharged engine.

Mike

 

TYPHOON:
I don't know If I would run to far from this body guy, he runs in the arca races, If you don't know what that is, It's basically just like nascar. same cars, and same rules, just not as televised.

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She has allot of toys on her.
MY BABIES STAT'S
Built 5/4/99
# 917 of 4000
2001 ET: 12.???, we'll find out soon.
When the green light drops, the bullsh*t stops.
MY ZING ALBUM: http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4293132307

 

Good info, Hamrhead.

I agree that its all in the tuning. I nuked my stock 5.0 motor in my LX about 6 years ago trying to run too much timing in a supercharged application. Got into the 11s, then I got greedy. So, I've been there, too.

However, I still believe that cast pistons can only take so much abuse before they let go. But, I'm glad to hear you're getting a great bottom end built for it.

Good luck!

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
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