What's your favorite sleeper? Options

[Mr b00st]

everyone loves the concept of a sleeper. As in, it looks like shit and goes like shit. A Q-ship. Sneaky. Under the radar.

while i'm sure everyone appreciates a Ferrari F355 for the beautiful, look-at-me device it is, there's an entirely different appeal to a car with all the performance and none of the stigma. What's your favorite sleeper?


I nominate the 1990-1991 GMC Syclone.

Take one GMC Sonoma, a POS small pickup. Add a fuel injected Mitsubishi TD06-17g turbo, pressurized at 14.7psi (1bar), through an intercooler. Add in an electronic Borg-Warner AWD system and a 4 speed high stall automatic.

Externally, there was a mild bodykit, some flashy graphics, and some cheesy 16 inch alloys. It still looked like a cheap pickup that had driven through an AutoZone.

with 280bhp and 355 lb-ft of torque, the Syclone was exceedingly rapid. The most impressive aspect of its performance was the launch. A significant amount of brake torque could be applied to build boost, and you simply popped your foot off the brake and headed to the horizon. This little truck was clocked between 4.7 and 5.3 seconds to sixty, and mid to low 13's in the quarter mile from the factory.

for reference, check out this video on streetfire of a lightly modified Syclone totally freaking obliterating an SRT-4:

http://videos.streetfire.net/search/Syclon...82c0006c967.htm


and here are some syclone pictures:






etc.


I love these trucks.

Incidentally, there was a Typhoon version which was the same mechanicals in a 2-door Jimmy body, but... who cares?

[PBB]

Mercury Marauder
http://www.sitefights.com/community/art/br..._5__medium_.jpg

Not a sleeper either.
A sleeper is a car that goes way faster than it looks, badass performance in a plain paper wrapper. I'd go as far as to nominate the Marauder for "anti-sleeper" of the decade, it's performance can't back up it's appearance.

Car and Driver, April 2003

Says brand manager Philip Smoker "The new Marauder is a true four-door muscle car--a black shark in a sea of minnows." Hey, easy on the coffee Phil, because a Honda Accord V-6 outruns it to 60 mph--getting there in 7.0 seconds to the Marauders 7.5. Nothing against the Honda, but that's like wrestling your little sister--and losing. We bet every single Marauder owner will utter--at least once--the phrase, "Hmm, this thing feels pretty soft, I wonder if a couple of spark-plug wires fell off."

Any car that looks like it could rip your head off but can't outrun a commuter car is the complete opposite of a sleeper.