VIDEO: Gale Banks talks about developing high performance diesel engines
Traditionally, diesel engines haven't been thought of as performance alternatives but for the past decade Gale Banks has worked hard to disprove that perception. Now in his fiftieth year of building high-performance powerplants, Banks has been working closely with companies like Bosch, General Motors and Cummins to wring performance out of diesels. While most people don't think of saving fuel when they think of racing, the reality is that the best race engineers are always thinking of efficiency. By consuming less fuel to create the same power, the vehicles can carry less weight and perform better. In 2001, Banks built a diesel-powered Dodge Dakota pickup truck that set a world record for trucks at over 213 mph, and could still achieve 25 mpg cruising on the highway. These days he is working on a diesel power dragster, testing a wide variety of alternative liquid fuels in his lab and working with the Automotive X-Prize to evaluate the business plans of entrants. Banks took time out to talk about his interest in diesel during the Detroit Grand Prix last weekend. Check out the videos after the jump.[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
killroy 12:43PM (9/06/2008)
25 mpg Diesel is more like 20 mpg gas in terms of energy and C02 emissions. Not so good IMHO.
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montoym 6:50PM (9/06/2008)
Yeah, it's horrible. I forgot about all those other 200+mph cars that get 40mpg.
Even with your 20mpg conversion, that's still great figure for a 200mph vehicle that also is a truck. The next best cars I can think of are the Corvette ZR1 which achieves 20mpg hwy according to the EPA and the Viper Coupe which is at 22mpg. Everything else out there tends to be lower, more like 15mpg hwy or less. Not to mention being much more aerodynamic cars as well.
There's also the fact that the Cummins in the Dakota makes 735hp and 1300lb-ft of torque. Find me another car with similar HP that achieves 20mpg. You won't find a single one anywhere. It's hard enough to find a production car with that kind of power anyhow.
Read more about the Sidewinder Dakota here: http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/stories/sidewinder/page1.html
Additionally, fuel efficiency likely wasn't a concern when Gale built that truck either, it just happened to be a good side story. This was built to beat the speed record plain and simple.
I also agree with Phil, diesels have been proven time and time again to produce less CO2 than comparable gas vehicle.
27704658 2:28AM (9/05/2008)
Not interested , diesel kills , come to northern italy and
take a lungfull if you dont believe me !
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Phil 3:14AM (9/05/2008)
"Traditionally, diesel engines haven't been thought of as performance alternatives"
This time has long passed. Diesel outperforms the equivalent gas engine in modern car line ups. E.g. Audi A8 4.2 diesel vs 4.2 gas, the diesel is quicker 0-60 with lots more mid range pull (and uses less fuel). Most people would take the quicker, more fun BMW 120d over the 120i (again a lot more efficient too).
Diesel is wiping the floor in the AOC race series like Le Mans.
killroy, you are way off the mark. The difference is closer to 10%, not 25% as your figure suggests, more CO2 per volume of fuel. Since diesels can us 30% less fuel, the CO2 produced is always less.
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protomech 9:27AM (9/06/2008)
Interesting stuff. He really didn't answer the only questions that were posed though - what fuel are you running in your vmax engine, what other manufacturers are you working with.
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