Saleen Ford Explorer - Truck Trends - News - American Car

Why the sudden flurry of Explorer tuners? Simple. When Ford installed the Mustang's old 5.0-liter V-8 in the world's most popular SUV, it invited in a herd of shops familiar with the powerplant. Now the King Gorilla of all Mustang tuners, Saleen Performance, has thrown its hat into this increasingly crowded ring.

Saleen calls its entry the Saleen Explorer Performance Utility Vehicle, and promises it will feature a number of aerodynamic performance and handling enhancements and be available with either two- or four-wheel drive. The company is still mum on exactly what will be done to these 5.0-liter trucks, but owner Steve Saleen promises that "it will be as exciting as our Mustangs."

Iron Curtain SUVSJust when it seemed there couldn't possibly be another entry into the SUV market, here come the Romanians. East European Imports of Miami, Florida (305/461-4070), is now bringing in the ARO, a Jeep-like vehicle that was a staple of armies on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain during the hazily remembered Cold War. With power from a U.S.-built 3.0-liter/140-horsepower V-6 (they won't tell us who builds it) traveling through a five-speed manual transmission, the 3653-pound, part-time four-wheel-drive ARO won't be a rocket sled, but for less than $13,000 no one should expect Viper-like performance.

About the size of a Jeep Wrangler, the five-seat ARO is hardly a leading-edge vehicle and features such throwback technology as front drum brakes and manual locking hubs. However the front suspension is a coil-sprung independent design and the rear elliptical springs are thick with seven leafs. The importer claims the ARO is extremely rugged and has competed in such tough contests as the Paris-to-Dakar rally. And it survived the fall of communism too.

Aftermarket TestAxis Toyota Tacoma TurboJust about everyone has a story about some Toyota pickup that lasted despite contemptuous abuse-trucks that racked up four or five hundred thousand miles despite molten magma in the crankcase and mutated locusts consuming the electrical system. Trucks that withstood lugging monumental cargos through earthquakes, riots, and mortar attacks from the Mozambique army.

With the Toyota Tacoma's stout reputation for reliability in mind, James Chen of Axis Sport Tuning acquired one of the compact pickups as a parts runner-though a shop truck without some modifications wouldn't be much of a calling card for Axis. And if a few mods made the truck more attractive, then a complete turbocharged and super-tweaked version of the truck would be even better. Can't argue with logic like that.

Starting with a two-wheel-drive Tacoma with the standard 142-horsepower DOHC 16-valve four in its nose, Axis threw on so many parts it's an open question whether they all could even fit in the truck's bed. Under the hood, a Raudi exhaust manifold leads to a Garrett T0-3/T0-4 hybrid turbocharger that, in turn, sends boost back through an HKS air-to-air intercooler and eventually into the engine with a peak 10 pounds of boost pressure.

Use the above as your guide and the turbo system sounds simple. But in fact, there's a lot of carefully bent tubing and a whole bunch of other parts involved. Those include an HKS wastegate, bypass valve, air filter, exhaust system and electronic valve controller, an MSD shift light module, Bosch high-pressure fuel pump, Vortech fuel pressure regulator, and the skin of many knuckles. The result, Axis claims, is about 240 total horsepower going from the four out through the standard five-speed manual transmission. Taking advantage of that power is a chassis with Tokico shocks, Eibach springs and 245/40ZR18 front and 275/35ZR18 rear Nitto tires on SSR Agle wheels.

Finishing things off are Recaro seats, PIAA auxiliary driving lights, enough vinyl graphics to cover every lounge booth in the state of Nevada, and a Pioneer stereo system. It's just your normal shop truck.