The Syclone’s biggest talent was dominating rivals in a straight line, but that came with some compromises. In a 1991 Car and Driver assess comparing the GMC and a Ferrari 348 TS, the truck beat the Prancing Horse over a quarter mile. That, in itself, was a commendable feat, and has since been enshrined into the truck’s folklore, although the magazine did note some of the truck’s limitations became apparent during the assess.
The biggest difference between the two was immediately off the line – the Syclone pulled away by around two car lengths, seemingly leaving the Ferrari in the dust. However, towards the end of the quarter mile, the Ferrari regained ground, catching the truck, but not fast enough to beat it by the time it flew past the quarter mile marker. Indeed, given any longer stretch of asphalt, the Ferrari would have emerged victorious. If nothing else, its 166 mph top speed, compared to the GMC’s 126 mph, would have seen it easily pull away.
Car and Driver also noted that the Ferrari was 6 mph faster at the quarter-mile marker, and that testing took place on a cool day. In warmer temperatures, noted the magazine, the Syclone was prone to “significant power losses.” So yes, the GMC did beat the Ferrari, although not quite as decisively as it might first appear.
[Featured image by Grant.C via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]
