By Conor Twomey

More Aftermarket and Tuning info

The appeal of small, sporty import cars is obvious. They're cheap to run, cheap to modify and offer endless possibilities in terms of tuning and performance. All that stands between your Civic and 500 hp is your wallet and your imagination.

But sometimes work or family commitments mean you have to get something more practical and put those tuning aspirations to one side. Minivans and station wagons don't exactly scream cool, but there is a whole new array of compact and mid-size trucks on sale at the moment that are not just affordable and practical, they're also fast and fun - and they open up a whole new world of tuning, too.

Five new; Canyon,Colorado too

Within the last year the sporty truck segment has exploded, with five brand new sporty trucks launched. First out of the blocks was the GMC Canyon and Chevy Colorado duo, powered by either a 175-hp 2.8-liter four-cylinder or a 220 hp, 3.5-liter five-cylinder engine, both of which come with a slick five-speed box standard. The four-cylinder is offered in a Sport (AKA ZQ8) model that comes with a two-inch lower suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels, leather steering wheel, air con, ABS, and color-coding for a whisker under $18,000. An LS Sport version adds cruise control, CD player, and bucket seats for $19,425, while a convenience package is some $500 more for both models. The five-cylinder engine costs about a grand more and is a little quicker, it's not as easy to tweak because of its unusual layout; nor would we recommend the four-speed automatic because it adds another grand to the price and blunts the Colorado's modest acceleration, while also making it more difficult to regulate the entertaining tail-slides all small trucks are prone to in wet conditions.

This year also sees the introduction of a new Xtreme package on the Colorado LS Sport, which pumps the wheels up to 18 inches, adds a rear spoiler on the tailgate, a new front grille, side-skirts and special badges.

Inside, there's a new instrument cluster and more badges to round everything off, which altogether makes for a reasonably good-value package at around $2500. The Xtreme bodywork mods give the Colorado the look of a mini Silverado SS, but despite their 18-inch diameter, the wheels lack drama and should be replaced with something like American Racing's handsome 20-inch RT-S rims with black spokes.

All in all, we recommend the Colorado as a great starting point for your own modifications: There are lots of parts available already; it has sharp steering, decent handling, and attractive styling. However, the dashboard's pretty grim, the drum rear brakes look lame behind big rims and without a V-6 engine option, it's never going to be a tire-shredder. Check out www.coloradofans.com to see where other Colorado owners have been finding some extra performance in their trucks. Though nobody's building a Turbo kit yet, people are finding ways to fit one.

Taco mackin'

2005 Toyota Tacoma - front  |  

It's also fitted to a longwinded and notchy six-speed gearbox, which makes hard work of getting the most from the engine. Therefore the first modification would be a short shifter from B&M and some Sparco racing pedals to make changing gear a little sweeter. Then let that V-6 breathe a little better with a three-inch Magnaflow exhaust system and K&N induction system - just as soon as they're available, that is. Because it's so new, there are not a lot of engine mods available for the X-Runner just yet, but I'm sure some will be along before long. I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota 's own TRD team whipped up a supercharger in the not-too-distant-future, which should see it pass the 300-hp mark with factory backing.

The X-Runner is doesn't really need any suspension or brake work because Toyota has spent a lot of time making sure this truck handles and stops right. Toyota says it has tuned the suspension to offer more lateral grip than a Nissan 350Z (in the dry, that is) while the brakes use 13 inch vented rotors up front with aluminum four-piston calipers and high-performance pads. Changing these out would pretty much be a waste. Instead, spend your money on some 19-inch 5Zigen Hyper5ZR rims and Falken STZ-01 tires to do that racy body kit some justice. You might also want to think about sprucing up the interior, which is fine except that it looks just like a stock X-Runner. Some new Corbeau TRS buckets and a smaller MOMO steering wheel (though you forfeit the airbag) would be nice. It might also improve steering responsiveness - not a strong point of the X-Runner. Overall, the sportiest Tacoma offer a lot for its $23,100 price tag, but some carefully chosen modifications are needed to make it as fun as it looks.

Dakota fanning

2005 Dodge Dakota front  |  

The model to go for is the ST with the C package, which gives you all essentials like air-con, cruise, power windows and a CD player, but saves you having to pay for alloy wheels that you're going to ditch anyways. For $21,000 (before incentives) you've a mid-size V-8 truck that's primed to accept some gorgeous Enkei RT6 rims and Pirelli Scorpion Zero tires - and maybe with a two-inch drop courtesy of a Ground-Force suspension kit. I'd avoid any wheels with thin, open spokes because, unfortunately, the rear brakes are drums, and don't go crazy on size either because you'll ruin the Dakota's best trait - its handling. Uprate the front brakes with some Disc Italia rotors and look into some SRT10 styling mods like a tailgate spoiler, fender flares, hood scoop and cut down SRT10 bumpers. Inside, Niken pedals, a Streetglow shifter and perhaps even some Tenzo rally seats and Dakota Digital dials will finish your truck off perfectly.

Frontier pioneering

2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO King Can  |  

The Frontier is blessed with a steering that's every bit as sharp as the Dakota's and operated with same steering wheel as the 350Z, too, which is nice. The chassis is a bit on the soft side, though, so some stiffer NISMO dampers and springs might be in order, as will some bigger wheels. 20-inch wheels will fit without too much trouble I reckon, but some 18-inch, chrome American Eagle Series 026 rims are recommended to maintain the Frontier's decent handling balance.

Looks-wise, the Frontier already has pretty bold styling so doesn't lend itself to bodywork treatment as easily as the other trucks. I think spending some cash on chrome mirrors and door handles to match the wheels and bumpers, and if I'd also try to find one in a dark color to make the chromework stand out. A tuned exhaust would be nice, too, to release more of that engine's particularly sweet sound - Gibson already has a 2.5-inch pipe kit for Pathfinder, so the mechanically identical Frontier will have one soon. Further performance modifications won't be hard to come by considering it's the same basic engine as the 350Z. After your cold-air induction kit has been fitted and the head is ported and polished with some NISMO cams fitted, you might want to think about a turbocharger kit from Greddy or a supercharger from Vortec Procharger. A good 400 hp is not beyond the realm of possibility with the Frontier.

The interior is pretty attractive but you'll need to yank out that ugly stereo and slide in something hot like Alpine's new CDA-9820XM which only needs an antenna and an XM subscription to provide CD, MP3, FM, AM, and XM sounds. The gear-shifter will also have to go, as will the rubber pedals, but thankfully NISMO already has a variety of replacements on sale.

There's never been a better selection of mid-sized trucks available and they're all so new a lot of performance parts haven't even hit the market yet. If you've never driven a truck or haven't been behind the wheel of one in while, you be amazed at how much these trucks have evolved in terms of driving fun and performance. It's the perfect mix of affordable and practical, either, while the tuning potential is just incredible. They might not be compact, but they're a lot sportier than you might think.