June « 2008 « Banks Blog - diesel performance

Banks Sidewinder Diesel Dragster Arrives

by Doug Stokes

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Mark down this date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008.

At precisely 8 a.m. the new Banks Sidewinder Duramax-powered diesel dragster stopped being a great idea, a few photos, some artist conceptions, a big stack of PO’s, a bunch of invoices, about a hundred faxes and an equal number of phone calls back and forth to Greenfield, Ind., and actually became a tangible object, a real, honest-to-goodness racing car, all 31.5 feet of it. The 276 inches of that ultra-loooooong wheelbase, swathed in a sleek, all-carbon-fiber body, now sits smack dab in the middle of the Banks Power race shop in Azusa, Calif.

The real thing coming out of its seemingly block-long crate and getting its first taste of the warm California sun made it seem almost as though, with a set of tires and a few decals, the digger would be ready to race.

Crated diesel dragster arrives on June 17, 2008

Just about everyone in the Banks offices on the race shop side of the street was outside to greet the new arrival, many of them noting that it had been what seemed like a long time since Gale Banks was back at his friend Mike Spitzer’s shop in central Indiana putting in his order for this very special chassis.

Diesel dragster unwrapped

Of course, months of prepping this machine are required before it can do battle in the quarter-mile. Today, it’s all pointing and looking. Look at this! Oh cool! Whoa! We all knew exactly what was specified, but seeing the chassis finally here in the shop, sitting on some quickly commandeered little roll-around “wheelies,” really is cool for everyone on the extended “team.” Today is “Christmas in June” for the engineers, engine builders, and technicians who will start with this basic chassis and transform it into a full-out Banks Sidewinder competition car replete with all of the innovations and forward-thinking diesel technology that name portends.

Banks race shop engineers are ready to roll

The Banks Power performance goals for this machine have been long stated: 200 miles an hour in the quarter-mile and doing that 2 bills in the 6-second elapsed-time range. Ahead are a few miles and more than a few late nights and early mornings, but the dragster project is finally steel, rubber, carbon fiber, and Diesel 2 rather than a colorful artist’s conception on some computer.

Day One … one great day!

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Tags: 200 miles an hour, Duramax-powered diesel dragster, performance goals
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Speed Addicts or The Cool Factor

by John Espino

Friday, June 13th, 2008

Power is an interesting and cruel mistress: Get a taste of it and not only do you want more, but you often spend valuable brain cells and neurons scheming of a way to get it. Call it lust — and an addiction if you will. Power can come in many forms, but I’m of course thinking of horsepower. Being who I am, where I’ve worked and what I’m surrounded by on a daily basis, it’s no wonder I have these thoughts fermenting in my skull. Be it for work or for personal gratification, I can’t stop thinking about the mechanisms that can bring about “more.”

I know power is a weakness for me, and I freely admit it. Sometimes you think about doing the dumbest things to get or produce power, but your brain makes up reasons why you’re justified in the quest. A common excuse for tearing into a project that trumps all reason is this: It’d be cool. That’s it; because it’s cool always eases reason, money and wife issues alike. Here are some samples of my own projects (I’m only going to subject you to three of them):

I once bought a brand-new Ford Festiva, and after it was broken-in, I turbocharged it. Maybe I’ll write something on that later, but the result was that it was “cool.”
I was watching my son drive around in his Grave Digger Power Wheels the other day and thought how damn slow it was. It was actually painful to watch it lumber about the yard getting stuck on even slightly off surfaces. Brain to John: We can fix it, make it faster and able to handle rough terrain. Dude, he will be able to smoke those plastic tires! Maybe I can install a button on the dash that lets him switch from stock to 24 volts. Yeah, that’d be cool!
I drive a blown car “econo,” and it’s pretty darn quick. It just might be one of the quickest cars in the employee parking lot, but it could go even faster with some help. Why not add a turbocharger to make it twincharged? Throw on an additional fuel rain and injectors, a 50-hp shot of NOS - yeah, that’d be cool!

The worst part of all this is starting to collect the pieces so that you can actually make it happen. Why is that bad? Well, for one thing you could get carried away and your “small” project could morph into something more perverted than its original plan. Sometimes there’s not enough time, or maybe you’re going to need the help of others in order to implement your mad scheme. Maybe you need special tools. Dunno, but I have to say the worst thing is to not act because the ideas, the parts and your brain begin to taunt and mock you. Either you do it or you just lock the thought behind the same door where you put those bad childhood memories. There are no other choices.

So I guess I’m going to have to start with the simple schemes. Sorry, Son, but your monster truck just isn’t mean enough and as such needs a little testosterone. Should I build a roll cage for it while I’m making modifications? Maybe a ramp so that he can catch some good air when he jumps the driveway to the other side of the yard. Yeah, that’d be cool!

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A Meeting of Engineering Minds

by Doug Stokes

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

More than 50 members of the Society of Automotive Engineers gathered in the tech bay of Banks Power’s North Engineering building on Tuesday evening to listen to company president and founder Gale Banks speak about the many great aspects of high-performance diesel power. The attendees, gathered from all around southern California, represented a wide cross section of industry and academia. Automotive engineers from Honeywell, Subaru, General Motors, Nokia, Mazda, Denso, HR Textron, US Hybrid Corp., and more mingled well into the night with representatives from local universities Cal Poly Pomona and the University of Southern California.

Gale Banks speaks to members of the Society of Automotive Engineers at Banks Power in Azusa, California

Gale took the attentive group on a 45-minute slide “tour” of his company’s long involvement in diesel design. The man who has led the growth of Banks Power from a one-man shop to raise college tuition to a multimillion-dollar business employing more than 200 and boasting upwards of 600 dealers covered many highlights of his company’s 50 years in business.

Gale spoke of the teamwork and engineering savvy required to seek and attain world speed records. He recalled the vision and dedication that his teams have shown on the Bonneville salt flats, on road courses, and on dragstrips to make clean diesel power a new and respected symbol of high performance.

Ever the futurist and always up on the cam, Gale was most enthusiastic when he began talking about his plans for breaking new ground (and records!) using diesel power. He indicated, smilingly, that there is still plenty of record-setting performance in both the Dakota Sidewinder Bonneville truck and the S-10 drag truck. He also talked about plans currently afoot to break the 200-mph barrier in the quarter-mile with a new rear-engine Duramax V-8 Top Dragster and to blast past 300 mph in a Banks Bonneville “streamliner” (one guess on the fuel for that one) also equipped with a Banks Duramax.

After Gale’s presentation, many attendees took the opportunity to stroll through the Banks race shop, dyno rooms, and design facilities and to chat with the legend of the automotive aftermarket. And, as often happens when engineers get together, a number of informal mini-seminars broke out on the shop floor.

Peter Treydte explains how competitive testing is done at Banks Power

A completely instrumented Chevy Silverado test vehicle was located just outside the bay, and factory test engineer Peter Treydte was on station to explain how Banks tests not only its own products but all competitive units as well.

Two BMW 7-Series sedans (one hydrogen- and one diesel-powered) are on loan to Gale Banks for his insights

A couple of high-tech BMW 7-Series sedans, one powered by liquid hydrogen and one by turbo diesel, were given more than a once-over by the engineers in attendance. Both machines are on loan to Gale Banks for his evaluation and feedback to BMW.

Hayes Diversified Technology displayed its 600cc diesel-powered motorcycle at the SAE event

Hayes Diversified Technologies brought in one of its diesel-powered motorcycles. The 600cc paramilitary machine is a marvel of technology that a lot of civilians would like to get their hands on — power, torque, and diesel fuel economy on two wheels!

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Tags: Gale Banks, S-10 Drag Truck
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Diesel Roundup or Boschs Armada

by John Espino

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Howdy thar, partners. A couple of blog entries back I gave the lowdown on Gale’s and my venture with Bosch in Las Vegas during the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference, but I didn’t get to write much about the demonstration vehicles we had there for our Ride & Drive event. Bosch has corralled a pretty impressive array of diesel steeds for the press to drive and write about. The idea is to get out not only the word but also the feeling one gets from driving any one of the examples of modern-day diesel - and to let people know that they’re available on the market today.

I kinda gushed about my all too short time in the BMW 123d, but there were plenty more examples to be impressed with. As a Banks insider, I managed to get ahold of the spec sheets for each of the vehicles Bosch has in its stables. I’m not going to post any photos of Bosch’s diesel fleet because, really, they look like what you will find in any dealership here. No special wings or warp-drive engines protruding from the body; rather, a plain-Jane kind of look by today’s “look at me, I’m driving a car that looks like a shuttle craft from some sci-fi movie because I love the Earth and bunny rabbits” style. And why not look like you are from this planet while driving something fun with no compromises? It’s a car, not a statement.

Anyways… Where was I before I started to rant? Ah yes, the diesel vehicle spec sheets. They’re all here, so take a look and think about it for a little while. Yes, the price of diesel has now risen to stupid levels, just like gasoline, but when you look at the mpg compared to the stats on the standard powerplant that’s available in the same vehicle you’ll see that you can go farther, and in the long run for less dough, on diesel than on gasoline. Do the math. Figure in that most new cars today that are worth a darn to drive use super unleaded fuel, and the argument becomes even more in favor of diesel. Those that run on regular unleaded fuel often remind me of a boring kiddie ride. I’ve been to Disneyland; I’ve been on the People Mover and Autopia “attractions,” and they’re not very fun for an adult. Why drive one of those two examples when you can drive Guilt-Free Performance^TM every day?

Check the specs and see how diesel is kicking gas:

2006 Smart ForTwo
2007 Audi A6
2007 Audi A8
2007 Audi Q7
2007 BMW 745d
2007 Chrysler 300
2007 Honda Accord 2.2i CTDi
2007 Jeep Cherokee
2007 Mercedes Benz E320
2008 Audi A4
2008 BMW 123d
2008 BMW 535d vs 540i
2008 Honda CRV CTDi
2008 Mini CooperD